BEER
lack Brew Dialogues: Exploring Diversity in Craft Beer
Follow host Collin Knight as he travels the state and gets a behind the curtain, VIP tour, of some of the state’s most popular breweries.
Learn alongside him as watches the brewing process in full swing, hears their start-up story, meets the owners and brewers, and then has a candid conversation over a beer about that brewery’s diversity & inclusion efforts.
Q&A With Collin:
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I was Born and raised in Roxbury, I live in Roslindale with my family. I am also the owner and operator of one of the only black-owned tour companies in city, called Live Like A Local Tours Boston.
Live Like A Local Tours is a series of walking tours that gives people a chance to explore the food, history, and culture of Boston’s Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica plain neighborhoods.
How did you get involved with the Mass Brewers Guild?
Because I am a beer lover – I was introduced to Katie Stinchon, executive director at the Mass Brewers Guild. We started to talk about diversity and inclusion in the Massachusetts beer culture. She was in tune with the way that I felt in brewery spaces.
Last March, I came up with the idea to do a beer show. I pitched it to Katie and she loved it. It evolved into a show that talks about all aspects of diversity and inclusion in the craft beer industry. 2020 has been a time of reckoning of sorts. It pushed the brewing industry, and many other industries, to think about how they can be more inclusive.
Black Brew Dialogues will give me the opportunity to travel the state, try different beer, meet different owners, and talk to them about what they are doing in their own space to be more welcoming.
Why did you want to create this show?
2020 was a crazy year when we talk about racial injustice, – George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, the list goes on and on. As industries are focusing on ways to change, they have to think about their systems – what are they doing to be more inclusive – and do something about it.
I’ve been a huge craft beer lover for the last ten years. This show will open up an important dialogue for business owners and we hope to inspire others.
Do you feel welcome at breweries?
It’s not as if there’s a white only sign above the brewery door or that I’ve ever experienced someone telling me I am not allowed – but I do force myself into the space for the beer. It’s not an easy thing to be inside a taproom and be the only one in there that looks like you. Breweries are a natural space for white people – I’d like that space to feel natural for me as well. I want to be included. I do it for the beer.
How can breweries be more inclusive?
Historically there hasn’t been a lot of outreach or marketing efforts featuring people of color. No one wants to be pandered to – so it needs to be authentic and smart – but showing representation is a great first step to invite in marginalized groups – people of color, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and close gender and generational gaps.
Breweries should also reach out to community activists in their neighborhoods, create events that offer education about craft beer. What jobs are available? What’s the science behind beer? These are things people would love to know and be a part of if they were introduced to it in the right way. There are a ton of ways to be more inclusive, breweries need to find what way works for them.
How did you get introduced to craft beer?
Like a lot of people of color, I was introduced to craft beer by my white friends. I grew up drinking bottled domestic beer from the liquor store – typically in 40 oz bottles. I drank that because it was the only option in my neighborhood. That’s why marketing and introduction of craft beer to communities of color is so important.
A former boss turned me on to beer on draught and once I started to realize there was another level of beer to drink that’s fresh – that interested me. There’s a whole industry of beer that’s being made in small batches. It doesn’t matter where I am — I am going to ask the bartender what’s local on tap. I want to try it. I want to support a local brewery no matter where I am at.
The First Episode Features White Lion Brewing Co.
Owner & founder of White Lion Brewing Co., Ray Berry is one of six black brewery owners across the Commonwealth. Join Collin as he has a beer with Ray to hear firsthand his story of how he broke into the trade and how he hopes to open the door for more people of color in the brewing industry.
