Diverse Breweries Database
NOTES
Part-owners are listed. When part of the ownership team is not from an underrepresented group, their name is not included.
The breweries listed here are either owned by a member of an underrepresented group, or the brewhouse is headed by one. So for example, Brooklyn Brewery is listed under Black breweries because Garrett Oliver is the longtime master brewer. I focused on identifying only companies where the head of brewing operations is from an underrepresented group (whether that person is called a master brewer, head brewer, or some other name), and didn’t include those with assistant brewers. While it’s fantastic that breweries are now hiring a more diverse group of talent, this database is designed to highlight the leadership.
Each sheet is arranged by state for easy searching.
When a brewery’s leadership is a member of multiple groups, the additional identity is noted under “intersection.” Briana Brake owns Spaceway Brewing, for example, and is listed on both the women and Black pages.
Because “Asian” is an impossibly large category, I’ve tried to indicate a more precise background where I could find the information.
Recent polling shows that just 3% of Latinos refer to themselves as Latinx, a recent, academic designation, so I stuck with that name. Similarly, I used the “I” from BIPOC rather than other designations, like the “American Indian or Native Alaskan” the Census uses.
I’ve included the name of the brewer or owner where that information is publicly available (either on the website or in news stories). Not everyone wants to be in the limelight, and some may feel safer out of it. I want to bring attention to the fine people doing this work, but have no interest in outing anyone.
Acknowledgements
This is a crowd-sourced project, and to date scores of people have contributed the names of breweries. Instrumental in getting started was Black Beer Travelers’ Diversify Your Palate list of Black breweries. It also includes wineries, shops, and other resources, so please check it out. Ruvani de Silva (Amethyst Heels / Craft Beer Amethyst) helped me think through the structure and contributed many breweries.