BREWDOG has revealed details of its partnership with Crowns & Hops, a US craft beer lifestyle brand aiming to introduce brewing to a more diverse audience.
Crowns & Hops will be the first beneficiaries of the independent Scottish brewer’s revamped Development Fund, an initiative that sees BrewDog making up to £200,000 available each year to help small craft breweries, brands and start-up businesses.
BrewDog will also be providing material support to brewers, such as assistance in sourcing ingredients and brewing materials, offering its state-of-the-art laboratory for beer analysis and supporting growth by introducing recipients to its international sales network.
Crowns & Hops is the brainchild of LA-based craft beer enthusiasts Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter. The pair are determined to expose a lack of diversity in the global craft beer culture and open the industry up to all by challenging ingrained stereotypes that black and brown people don’t drink craft beer.
Hunter said: “We’ve grown weary of asking for our presence to be acknowledged in a community that has never truly embraced us.
“So instead of waiting for it to happen organically, we’re doing it ourselves, and creating a community that will become a mecca for those that are searching for it.”
“The spontaneity and creativity that exist in brewing is the same that exists within great jazz and hip-hop. We hope to stay true to the excellence of the craft in a way that brings the best products to our community.”
Through the Development Fund, BrewDog will be assisting Crowns & Hops with the establishment of its first-ever BrewPub in Inglewood, California, and the production and distribution of Crowns & Hops’ signature line of beers.
The Scottish firm will also brew Crowns & Hops beers alongside its own headliner beers in its world-leading brewery located in Ellon.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt added: “Beny and Teo’s passion for changing the world of craft beer is infectious. The Crowns & Hops movement is inspiring brewers, bars, and beer enthusiasts around the world to take an honest and critical look at the ways craft beer culture has consciously and unconsciously excluded people of colour.
"When I first met Beny and Teo, I was blown away by how unapologetic and uncompromising they are, and it opened my own eyes to a very serious issue we have in craft beer. It’s these qualities that made us such great partners, and I can’t wait to see what they can achieve with BrewDog’s support.”
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