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More than a dozen Dallas-area breweries have teamed up with San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing Company to produce a series of beers that will benefit organizations working on police reform and racial equality.
The “Black Is Beautiful” project was started by San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing. Participating breweries are invited to put their own spin on the base recipe, an imperial stout created by Weathered Souls “to showcase the different shades of black.”
So far, 56 Texas breweries have signed up for the project, including 13 in the Dallas area. They include breweries like Legal Draft Beer Company in Arlington, Celestial Beerworks in Dallas and Lakewood Brewing in Garland, plus breweries in smaller towns such as 903 Brewers in Sherman.
The craft brewing industry has received criticism in recent years for being largely white and male. One aspect of the #BlackisBeautifulBeer project is getting breweries to commit to the longterm work of equality, according to the website. Participating breweries will donate 100% of the proceeds of the beer to local organizations of their choosing that support equality and inclusion. Weathered Souls has chosen Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Campaign to receive their proceeds.
“This platform and collaboration is about understanding and supporting people of color and inclusion,” the website reads. “We ask that you please stand with us to create something that has never been seen before and show the world the brewing community is one of a kind.”
“As someone who has personally dealt with the abuse of power by the police, this recent turmoil the country is facing has hit home for me,” Baskerville, who is also head brewer at Weathered Souls, wrote on the project’s website. “As I write this, I contemplate how the country can move forward, how we as the people, can create change, and what it will take for everyone to move forward with a common respect for one another. For us, we feel that this is our contribution to a step.”
