If you head over to Hazelwood Brewing any time soon, you may notice a new beer available – the Black is Beautiful. And, in a couple of weeks, you’ll catch the brew at Cottontown Brew Lab as well. And these two breweries are just two of 989 across the world, and 10 in SC, that are in the process of brewing the Black is Beautiful beer.
So what is it? Why is everyone brewing it?
The idea for the collaborative beer, Black is Beautiful, started with Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, TX. in an effort to “raise awareness for the injustices people of color face daily and raise funds for police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged.”
Weathered Souls started the initiative and invited breweries around the world to participate in the collaboration. The brewery created a stout recipe, described as dark and strong, that it shared with all participants.
All participants were encouraged to put their own creative spin on the recipe and were asked to donate 100% of proceeds from the beer to local foundations that support police brutality reform and legal defense for those who have been wronged. Each participating brewery was also asked to use the same label, designed by KD Designs, for canning with their individual logos placed on the design.
Over the weekend, Hazelwood Brewing officially released their version of Black is Beautiful. All proceeds from its sales will go towards the Columbia Urban League, an organization that promotes financial stability and racial inclusion in our community.
When the brew becomes available at Cottontown Brew Lab, all proceeds of its sales will be donated to Open Door Ministries, a local church, and Black Girls Code, an organization dedicated to introducing programming and technology to girls of color.
Check out a list of all of the participating breweries, across all 50 states and 19 countries, here.
