Why Aren't There More People Of Color In Craft Brewing?
Michael Ferguson sometimes jokingly refers to himself among colleagues as "the other black brewer."
That's because Ferguson, of the BJ's Restaurants group, is one of only a small handful of African-Americans who make beer for a living. Latinos and Asian-Americans are scarce within the brewing community, too.
"For the most part, you've got a bunch of white guys with beards making beer," says Yiga Miyashiro, a Japanese-American brewer with Saint Archer Brewery in San Diego.
Sure, there are prominent exceptions — like Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, and Celeste and Khouri Beatty, the owners and operators of Harlem Brewing Co. There are a few others, too — but that's out of more than 2,600 breweries nationwide.
So how did American craft brewing end up so lacking in diversity?
It's a puzzle, agrees Wall Street Journal beer reviewer and author William Bostwick, who is working on a global history of beer to be titled "The Brewer's Tale." He says that virtually every culture in the world's human history has made alcoholic beverages.
"It's one of the few things that all cultures share, so why it's now dominated here in the U.S., and maybe in Europe and Australia, by white males is something I can't explain," Bostwick says.
Frederick Douglas Opie, a food historian at Babson College, says that cultures in western and central Africa have "a long history of artisan brewing." People of the region, he says, made beer from sorghum and millet, as well as palm wine — which, he says, was considered by some a luxury product.
"So, why that discontinues in America after the Atlantic slave trade, I don't know," Opie says. Blacks, he notes, often made moonshine liquor and bootleg beer in the 1920s and '30s. But these days, they're all but absent from the craft beer scene. "It could be that beer is like a lot of things in the food industry which, as they grow popular, become very hip, yuppie and white."
Looking at the nation's community of home-brewers also sheds light on the matter, says brewer Jeremy Marshall, of Lagunitas Brewing Co.
"Craft brewing is rooted in home-brewing," Marshall says. "And if you look at home-brewing, you see nerdy white guys playing Dungeons and Dragons and living in their mom's basement, and I know this because I was and am one of them."
Duke Geren, of the Portland, Ore., home-brewing shop F.H. Steinbart, says his shop's customer base is primarily white. People of other races and ethnicities – particularly the area's Ethiopian community — do purchase brewing supplies from the store, he notes. "But we don't see this moving up into the commercial level," Geren says.
In 2011, Andres Araya opened 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Chicago, which he says is the first Latin American-themed brewery in the United States. Araya says most American craft beers pay homage to the European nations that brought beer to America — especially Germany and England. Each of Araya's beers, though, is made using an ingredient from Central or South America.
Araya, who has worked in Mexico's beer industry, says that "home-brewing doesn't really exist in Latin America." And when Latin Americans immigrate into the United States, Araya says, very few start brewing beer.
But a few, at least, do.
Near Napa, Calif., Carneros Brewing Co. is owned and operated by a Mexican-American family. The brewery opened this summer and makes, among other brews, a wheat beer playfully named "Jefeweizen." ("Jefe," in which the J is pronounced like an H sound, is Spanish for boss.) Co-owner Amelia Ceja told The Salt that her company is one of three Latino-owned breweries in the country. (The Brewers Association, a Boulder-based trade group, doesn't keep statistics on the ethnicity or race of people in the industry and could not confirm this claim.)
Ferguson at BJ's — who hosted the first episode in a new television series called "Beer Geeks" this weekend — believes the lack of color in the brewing industry reflects a simple cultural preference: "It seems to me that craft beer isn't a catch phrase among the black population."
With 1,600 yet-to-be-opened breweries now in their planning stages, according to the Brewers Association, perhaps the ethnic void in the beer world will begin to fill out.
But for now, Ferguson says, "we are an incredible minority."
"It's mostly just me and Garrett Oliver," he says, somewhat jokingly. "He really is like the Tiger Woods of brewing."
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Kwa nini Hakuna Watu Wengine Wenye Rangi Katika Ufundi wa Kuoka Bia? Michael Ferguson nyakati nyingine kwa utani hujirejelea mwenyewe miongoni mwa wenzake kuwa "mtayarishaji mwingine mweusi wa bia". Ferguson, ambaye ni mmoja wa wauzaji wa bia wa BJ's Restaurants, ni mmoja wa wachache wa Kiafrika-Wamarekani wanaofanya bia kwa ajili ya maisha. Walitino na Wamarekani wa Asia ni wachache ndani ya jamii ya utengenezaji wa bia, pia. "Kwa sehemu kubwa, una kundi la watu weupe wenye ndevu wakitengeneza bia, ""anasema Yiga Miyashiro, mtengenezaji wa bia wa Kijapani-Mmarekani na Saint Archer Brewery huko San Diego." Bila shaka, kuna tofauti mashuhuri kama vile Garrett Oliver, brewmaster katika Brooklyn Brewery, na Celeste na Khouri Beatty, wamiliki na waendeshaji wa Harlem Brewing Co. Kuna baadhi ya makampuni mengine ya bia, lakini ni zaidi ya 2,600 nchini kote. Kwa nini utengenezaji wa bia wa mikono wa Marekani umekosa sana utofauti? "Wiki hii, mwandishi wa jarida la Wall Street Journal, William Bostwick, aliandika kitabu cha ""The Brewer's Tale.""" "Mwanamke huyo anasema: ""Kila jamii ya watu duniani imewahi kutengeneza pombe." """Ni moja ya mambo machache ambayo tamaduni zote zinashiriki, kwa hivyo kwa nini sasa inatawaliwa hapa Marekani, na labda Ulaya na Australia, na wanaume weupe ni kitu ambacho siwezi kuelezea,"" anasema Bostwick." Frederick Douglas Opie, mwanahistoria wa vyakula katika Chuo cha Babson, anasema kwamba tamaduni za Afrika magharibi na ya kati zina "historia ndefu ya utengenezaji wa bia kwa mikono". Anasema kwamba watu wa eneo hilo walitengeneza bia kutokana na sorghum na millet, na pia divai ya mitende - ambayo, anasema, ilionwa na wengine kuwa bidhaa ya anasa. "Kwa hiyo, kwa nini hilo linakoma katika Amerika baada ya biashara ya watumwa ya Atlantiki, sijui", Opie anasema. "Wazungu walifanya ""moonshine"" na ""bia ya kinywaji"" katika miaka ya 1920 na 1930."" Lakini siku hizi, wao ni wote lakini haipo kutoka eneo la bia ya ufundi. "Inaweza kuwa kwamba bia ni kama vitu vingi katika sekta ya chakula ambayo, kama wao kukua maarufu, kuwa hip sana, yuppie na nyeupe. """ "Kutumia teknolojia ya utengenezaji wa bia ya nyumbani kwa ajili ya utengenezaji wa bia ya nyumbani ni jambo la kawaida, ""alisema Jeremy Marshall, mwandishi wa Laguna Brewing Co. ""Ujenzi wa bia ya mikono ni msingi wa utengenezaji wa bia ya nyumbani." "Na ikiwa utaangalia utengenezaji wa bia ya nyumbani, utaona wavulana weupe wa nerd wakicheza Dungeons na Dragons na kuishi katika chumba cha chini cha mama yao, na najua hii kwa sababu nilikuwa na ni mmoja wao. """ Duke Geren, wa Portland, Ore., duka la bia la nyumbani F.H. Steinbart, anasema wateja wa duka lake ni wazungu hasa. Watu wa jamii na makabila mengine - hasa jamii ya Waethiopia katika eneo hilo - hununua vifaa vya kutengeneza bia kutoka kwenye duka hilo, anasema. "Lakini hatuoni hii ikiendelea hadi ngazi ya kibiashara", Geren anasema. Andres Araya alifungua 5 Rabbit Cerveceria huko Chicago mnamo 2011 na kuanzisha kiwanda cha bia cha kwanza cha Amerika ya Kusini. Araya anasema bia nyingi za ufundi za Amerika zinatoa heshima kwa mataifa ya Ulaya ambayo yalileta bia Amerika - haswa Ujerumani na Uingereza. Hata hivyo, kila moja ya bia za Araya hutengenezwa kwa kutumia kiungo kutoka Amerika ya Kati au Kusini. Araya, ambaye amefanya kazi katika sekta ya bia ya Mexico, anasema kwamba "kufanya bia nyumbani hakupo katika Amerika ya Latini". "Wakati wa kuhamia Amerika ya Kusini, ""wachache sana huanza kutengeneza bia.""" Lakini angalau wachache hufanya hivyo. Karibu na Napa, California, Carneros Brewing Co. inamilikiwa na kuendeshwa na familia ya Mexico-Amerika. Kiwanda hicho cha bia kilifunguliwa majira haya ya kiangazi na hufanya, miongoni mwa bia nyingine, bia ya ngano inayoitwa "Jefeweizen". ("Jefe", ambayo herufi J hutamkwa kama sauti ya H, ni Kihispania kwa ajili ya bosi.) Mmiliki mwenza Amelia Ceja aliiambia The Salt kwamba kampuni yake ni moja ya viwanda vitatu vya bia vya Latino nchini. Chama cha Brewers Association, ambacho ni chama cha biashara cha Boulder, hakifanyi uchunguzi wa kikabila na kikabila cha watu wanaofanya kazi katika sekta hiyo na hakikuweza kuthibitisha madai hayo. "Ferguson, ambaye alishiriki katika kipindi cha kwanza cha mfululizo mpya wa televisheni ""Beer Geeks"" mwishoni mwa wiki hii, anaamini kwamba ukosefu wa rangi katika sekta ya bia huonyesha upendeleo rahisi wa kitamaduni: ""Inaonekana kwangu kwamba bia ya ufundi si kauli mbiu kati ya idadi ya watu weusi." Kwa kuwa viwanda vya bia 1,600 bado viko katika hatua za mipango, kulingana na Chama cha Brewers, labda utupu wa kikabila katika ulimwengu wa bia utaanza kujazwa. Lakini kwa sasa, Ferguson anasema, "sisi ni wachache sana". "Kwa kawaida ni mimi na Garrett Oliver tu", anasema, kwa ucheshi. "Hakika yeye ni kama Tiger Woods wa utengenezaji wa bia". Copyright 2021 NPR Kwa maelezo zaidi, tembelea www.nl.org.