Brown, Black & Brews Highlights BIPOC Breweries

Brown, Black & Brews promotional flyer. Image submitted.

Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient will return for a second installment later this summer, offering craft beers along with a dose of culture — all while highlighting Black and Brown-owned breweries from across the Midwest.

Hosted by HYFIN, Radio Milwaukee’s Urban Alternative channel, this year’s tasting event will feature more than 10 local and regional breweries including Milwaukee’s own Soul Brew Kombucha.

Founded by Alesia Miller, Soul Brew is the first Black woman-owned brewery in the state.

“Wisconsin is known as a beer state, but the region is home to very few minority-owned breweries,” said Tarik Moody, program director for HYFIN.

Last December, Moody hosted the first Brown, Black & Brews at The Sugar Maple. He said the inaugural event aimed to “lift up the work” of BIPOC-owned breweries while showing up-and-coming brewers that success is possible.

“The community response was amazing and we are excited to have HYFIN presenting the event this year at a larger venue, Pilot Project Brewing,” he said.

This year’s event is set for Saturday, August 26 and will be held at Pilot Project Brewing, 1128 N. 9th St. The new-to-Milwaukee brewery incubator partners with new breweries — especially minority-owned breweries — that face additional hurdles in the start-up phase, the company stated in a news release.

“When Pilot Project launched in Milwaukee, we were immediately greeted with open arms by Tarik and the HYFIN family,” said Dan Abel, co-founder and CEO of Pilot Project. “As a business focused on lowering the barrier to entry in brewing, we’ve been fortunate to work with an array of brewers from all backgrounds.”

At the upcoming event, attendees can expect samples from regional breweries including Funkytown Brewery, Moor’s Brewing Company, Black Horizon Brewing Company, Casa Humilde Cerveceria and Soul Brew Kombucha.

Funkytown is a brewery partner at Pilot Project.

“Partnering with the HYFIN crew on Brown, Black & Brews gives us a massive opportunity to spotlight some of the creators Pilot has helped launch and we appreciate the team at Radio Milwaukee for including us from day one,” Abel said.

Moody will be DJing at the event and HYFIN will host a pop-up shop featuring snacks and other items from its community partners. Special guests from the BIPOC brewing community are expected to attend.

VIP and general admission tickets for Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient are available for purchase online. VIPs will receive early entry and a special tasting from noon to 1 p.m., plus a swag bag of goodies. General admission sampling will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.