Not to get all political on here, but historically speaking, Black people have not exactly been welcomed into the halls of power in the American beer industry. There are a dozen well-documented reasons for that, many of which stem less from endemic characteristics of beer or brewing than from the systemic racism baked into this country’s laws and institutions. But to this day, less than 1 percent of the country's ~10,000 breweries are owned by Black people — a sobering state given Black people represent around 13 percent of the overall population in the United States. So the National Black Brewers Association has its work cut out for it. Joining the show today is three-decade beverage-industry veteran Kevin Asato, the NB2A's executive director, to talk about the newly formed trade association's historic debut at the 2023 Craft Brewers Conference, the unique challenges its constituents face, and how the org hopes to tackle them. Don't forget to like, review, and subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.