Visiting the municipal buildings, they said, was like visiting their aunts and uncles. Hunter, who was born in Inglewood, wanted to return to the city and bring a business for Black and brown beer lovers, one that could provide inspiration to others that the same pathways to entrepreneurship are open to them too.Īshburn and Hunter worked to build a relationship with the city of Inglewood. that we can also be a part of what we consider revitalization of our neighborhoods.” We are putting in a new business model and showing. I think that’s what separates what we’re doing. “It is businesses or individuals that do not know or aren’t from these communities that set up shop with no attribute or affinity or tie to the culture that is already there. “One of the first signs of an area gentrifying is a craft brewery,” Hunter said. What’s more, Hunter and Ashburn say, beer is often tied to gentrification - white gentrification, which has prompted discussions on how they could build a new facility without driving up costs and while preserving the neighborhood’s culture. “It’s all of those smart business resources you need to start any business … and I don’t think those same opportunities are available to people of color, and if they are, opening a brewery is definitely not going to be the first business choice if there is capital available, most likely because craft beer hasn’t been part of our culture pretty much ever - it’s always been big beer.” “A lot of these brewery owners are partners with someone who’s in finance or someone who’s a lawyer, “Ashburn said. survey, 88% of craft brewery owners are white in contrast, Black brewery owners make up only 1% in the study’s findings. While cost is a hindrance, so is access to business know-how.Īccording to a 2019 Brewers Assn. There’s room to grow, but even though the city is home to vacant commercial properties ripe for breweries, the cost is often prohibitive - all over Southern California - for large and resource-heavy businesses, and rents are high. Nowell has seen increased interest in Inglewood’s beer scene. Those are two things that are incredibly important to me when it comes to looking at other breweries, because there’s a lot of misaligned and contrived ideas and individuals behind a lot of these businesses, and don’t pay the proper homage to the beer.” Crowns & Hops, she said, has “the full package, really.” “They have the intent, and they have the integrity. “The momentum has been really incredible and a source of pride for anyone in the area that’s believed in what they’re doing,” said Alexandra Nowell, brewmaster and co-founder of Three Weavers. Together, they’ve placed Crowns & Hops on shelves of roughly 350 retailers in the last year and, this month, they started kegging their beer for rollout to Southern California bars. Hunter develops the recipes for Crowns & Hops with the aid of consultant Jon Carpenter, while Ashburn oversees marketing and brand strategy. in Santa Rosa, and Three Weavers Brewing Co. In 2020, that partnership expanded to include the launch of their own line of canned craft beer, which they brew through two contract facilities: HenHouse Brewing Co. (“We’re the most unsuccessful successful Tinder story ever,” Hunter joked.) They didn’t work out romantically, but the pair became business partners and formed a marketing and events platform and hype machine for Black and brown brewers and other entrepreneurs. A dating app linked Hunter, whose love of craft beer began in the aughts when a friend left a Dead Guy Ale in his cooler after band practice, with Ashburn, a marketing veteran who didn’t care much for beer and grew up never knowing much about it, beyond the sips of Heineken she would sneak from her mom at barbecues.
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