Earlier this year, Marcus Baskerville, Founder & Head Brewer of Weathered Souls Brewing (San Antonio, TX) put out a call-to-action for breweries around the world to join the Black is Beautiful initiative; “a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its customers, in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that many People of Color face daily”.
We at CBW are proud to answer the call and join in Marcus’ mission to “bridge the gap that’s been around for ages and provide a platform to show that the brewing community is an inclusive place for everyone of any color”.
Photo courtesy of Weathered Souls Brewing Company, San Antonio TX
A COLLABORATIVE STOUT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
For Black is Beautiful, Weather Souls provided a base recipe for a stout and asked participating breweries to add their creative spin for a unique take on this collaborative effort. Our take on Black is Beautiful is a 9.5% ABV imperial stout that balances alcohol notes, roasted bitterness and dark chocolate flavors in a warming, smooth beer.
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL BY COMMUNITY BEER WORKS
On Friday, October 23, 2020 we will release our version of Black is Beautiful in limited sixteen ounce four packs at our 7th Street brewery. Four packs will then be available in select stores around WNY soon after that.
For our charitable collaboration behind Black is Beautiful, we’ve decided to focus on two key efforts:
- Making a long-term impact on the broader brewing industry.
- Supporting an organization that makes everyday impacts right here in Western New York.
The first $1,000 of our proceeds for Black is Beautiful will be donated to the Michael Jackson Foundation, a grant-making organization that funds scholarship awards to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within the brewing and distilling trades. Through these scholarships, the MJF—started this year by Garrett Oliver, long-time brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery—presents an opportunity for members and patrons of the brewing and distilling industries to directly fund a more just, equitable, and dynamic future.
Garrett Oliver at Brooklyn Brewery, Photo courtesy of imbibe.com
To ensure a healthy and generous endowment to the MJF and the scholarships that it funds, we’re making a $1,000 donation to the Foundation upfront, before we sell a single can of Black is Beautiful.
Any amounts raised over that initial $1,000 will then be donated to Open Buffalo, an organization working to advance racial, economic, and ecological justice through skill building, network connecting, and activating leadership opportunities throughout WNY. Over the summer you helped us raise $640 for Open Buffalo by purchasing Black Lives Matter lawn signs from our website (in partnership with Zoom Copy). Let’s keep that momentum going with Black is Beautiful!
Photo courtesy of Open Buffalo
THIS IS ONLY A START
Our hope is that through Black is Beautiful, our local beer community–and broader brewing industry–will keep an open dialogue around the inequitable distribution of craft beer and craft brewing opportunities for People of Color. That’s why we intend on brewing a fundraising beer for the Michael Jackson Foundation once a year, every year, begining with Black is Beautiful in 2020.
As of October 15, 2020, 1,177 breweries worldwide have participated in the Black is Beautiful movement, including several right here in Buffalo. We’re proud to join these breweries in standing with Marcus and Weathered Souls.
RESOURCES
Recent Comments