Despite challenges, Black-owned beer businesses still hopping in Atlanta

A crowd of craft beer lovers recently packed into Terminal West, eager to raise a glass of Piano Keys stout to Dennis “Ale Sharpton” Byron, the Atlanta-based beer expert.

The late February evening served partly as a release party for the new version of the beer Byron launched in 2020 with New Belgium Brewing. Now made in partnership with Athens’ Creature Comforts Brewing Co., the dark brew features deep flavors of vanilla, fig and cocoa nibs from Athens-based Condor Chocolates. It’s a balance of soft and sweet but packs a strong buzz of 9.6% alcohol by volume.

The event also celebrated Byron’s 30th year of covering craft beer in media using the alias “Ale Sharpton.”

After being introduced by Fenwick Broyard, vice president at Creature Comforts, Byron hit the stage wearing a brown leather blazer and a forest green Kangol hat — the same garments he wore in a photograph that became his official “Ale Sharpton” logo. Byron has personally slapped sticker versions of that logo on brewery walls in Atlanta and beyond.

Credit: Ale Sharpton

Credit: Ale Sharpton

Byron has gained respect across the brewing industry as a consistent voice in beer — Black or otherwise. It’s why Broyard, who is also Black, wanted to recognize him at the event.

“We know how significant an influence this man has been on this industry,” Broyard told the crowd. He thanked Byron for helping him feel “seen, valued and appreciated” as another Black man in an industry not known for diversity.

In 1996, well before the explosion of social or digital media, it was a lonelier space for Black beer enthusiasts, Byron told the audience. He believed beer could bridge cultures and became one of the first craft beer influencers in Atlanta, writing an unpaid column for a local hip-hop magazine.

“It was about educating readers that beer is not malt liquor. Beer has these flavors. And it’s not expensive. Get these quality beers. And soon enough, watch: A lot more quality beer is going to come into the city and the state,” Byron said.

Credit: Courtesy of Creature Comforts Beer

He was correct.

Since 1996, a lot has changed in Georgia beer, including increased limits on ABV from 6% to 14% in 2004. Sunday retail sales of alcohol became legal in Atlanta in 2012, and breweries started winning ongoing legal battles to sell larger amounts of their beer on-site directly to consumers.

These and other factors led to a craft brewing boom in Atlanta and across the state and nation.

As more breweries successfully launched, growler shops opened and retail stores began offering beers people had yet to try, there was an increasing thirst for variety. This led to growing interest and discovery among a more diversified base, including Black people.

But the heady froth of craft beer’s rise has settled. Several brewers have closed their businesses, investment dollars have dried up because of economic changes, consumer habits have evolved and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have waned. This has created concerns that craft beer is losing its fizz.

Credit: Mia Yakel

Atlanta’s Black craft beer scene has seen specific changes. Hippin Hops, the first Black-owned brick-and-mortar brewery to operate in Georgia, is still in its original East Atlanta Village location, but its larger second location in East Lake closed in less than two years of opening in 2022.

“It was a tough decision,” owner Clarence Boston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2023, “but if you make $1 million and you give distributors 40% of that, that’s a lot of money to put on the table.”

Atlantucky Brewing, the Castleberry Hill brewery owned by members of the rap group Nappy Roots, celebrated six years of operation in February. It has found success by hosting regular events like “Slow Drag” in its 6,000-square-foot facility located near the historically Black colleges and universities of the Atlanta University Center.

Others, including Khonso Brewing and Down Home Brewing, have struggled to gain footing.

Khonso continues to brew in partnerships with other breweries, and has long planned a brick-and-mortar location called the Oasis, but there have been limited public updates on progress toward completion and opening since 2025. Down Home, which operated from a space in the now-closed location of Blue Tarp, has ceased social media activity since 2024 and did not respond to the AJC’s request for confirmation on its operational status.

Credit: Bob Townsend

Alcohol is overall experiencing downward-trending sales. A NielsenIQ report measuring industry results for the first half of 2025 saw total beverage alcohol sales fall 3% year-over-year. Beer declined 3.1% overall in dollars and 4.7% in sales volume.

Black-owned breweries face a particularly persistent set of headwinds.

In its 2024 “State of the Black Brewers” report, released last year, the National Black Brewers Association listed key challenges, including access to capital; lack of industry connections, market access, visibility and representation in media and industry; and a lack of Black beer drinkers.

Credit: Courtesy of Our Culture Brewing Company

But it’s not all doom and gloom, according to Shakeel Radford, one of the partners at Our Culture Brewing Co.

Preparing to launch with wider distribution through a contract brewing agreement with Creature Comforts, Our Culture has seen early success from beer collaborations like its Fonio lager, made using the ancient West African grain. In 2025, they brewed 60 barrels of Fonio, made them available for presale and sold out within 90 days of the beer being canned.

“It’s gonna be difficult for a bank to say no,” Radford said of their go-to-market strategy.

“We’re looking at an entry-level brand product that is receptive to all individuals. We’re posed differently to receive funding. I understand that can be challenging for most breweries, but we have the experience and proven methods of success.”

Organizations like the Michael James Jackson Foundation, which Our Culture supports through its beer sales, continue to fund scholarships for technical education in brewing and distilling for people of color in the U.S. By removing the financial barriers to entry in education, they aim to facilitate career opportunities.

In the foundation’s 2025 impact report, executive director and pioneering Black brewmaster Garrett Oliver made a plain case for inclusion.

“Our industry faces challenges, and we need everyone’s participation to thrive. In a country where 45% of people have non-European ancestry, creating a truly inclusive brewing and distilling community is essential for growth and innovation,” he wrote.

Blake Tyers is a co-founder of Creature Comforts. During a conversation with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that included Byron, Tyers — who is white — lamented the continued lack of diversity in the broader beer industry and made what might be the simplest case for craft beer to embrace DEI: pure economics.

“Everyone should be interested in diversifying who drinks beer. If your eggs are in one basket and that taste shifts, it’s really disruptive to how you want to continue doing business,” Tyers said.

“Our purpose is to foster human connection. We truly want to bring all people together. The more people come together, the healthier we are as a community,” he said.

Another area of success has been beer-themed events targeting Black culture.

The Crafted For Action Craft Beer Summit, aimed at pushing diversity in craft beer, will host its sixth annual gathering of Black beer enthusiasts in June. The gathering will include panels, tastings and cultural experiences in Atlanta.

Credit: Jessica Miller

Draught Season, a Black-owned brand focused on combining craft beer with clothing and cultural events, has also helped grow interest by creating events like “Beer Starts With Us” and making beers in collaboration with breweries in and outside Atlanta.

Another event, Ale Max, combines sneaker culture and craft beer. Its founder, Craig Stroud, grew from hosting Ale Max at a single Atlanta brewery in 2022 to eight markets this year, including Portland, Oregon; Miami; and Washington, D.C.

Stroud, a marketer by trade, said while he understands the overall challenges facing the beer industry are making it tough on everyone, it would be a strategic mistake for the industry to move away from attracting more Black beer drinkers.

Credit: John R. Walder

“You have to play to your general consumer and keep them coming back, but any good marketer or business is going to continue trying to grow. And your growth doesn’t come from your loyalists. It comes from attracting a new consumer base — an offer to consumers that haven’t been coming through your doors,” he said.

Kraig Torres is CEO and founder of retail beverage chain Hop City Beer & Wine, known for selling a wide variety of craft beer, including Piano Keys. He’s seen the industry contraction up close and laments the tougher time people of color have breaking into beer.

“It’s been a very, very difficult operating environment for all craft brewers. And so, as you can imagine, that has an amplified effect for those looking to get into the industry,” Torres said.

He acknowledged the consistent issue of access to operating capital.

“With interest rates being what they are and the market being soft, it it’s not really an amazing time for anyone, including the Black community, to get their feet wet in this industry,” he said.

Still, Torres, who is Hispanic, said Hop City’s customer engagement among diverse groups is increasing, to which he credits the shops’ events. He said it also comes from regularly putting kegs of beer from Black-owned breweries like Atlanta-based Deuce and a Quarter on his stores’ bar taps.

When the first location of Hop City opened 17 years ago, he estimates 75% of customers were white men. Today, he said his customer base reflects Atlanta’s diverse population.

“I definitely, 100% see more female guests, more Hispanic guests, more Black guests, as a mix of our overall customer base, which is amazing and I’m so proud of it,” he said.

Credit: Courtesy of Creature Comforts

Meanwhile, there’s universal praise for Byron’s “Ale Sharpton” effect — from connecting sippers and brewers to being an industry resource in his own right. With his wife, Andrea Janise, he runs the nonprofit BrewGether, which helps support Black-owned farms.

Radford, who attended Byron’s Terminal West party, commended him for representing Blackness in craft beer before the community was large enough to fill a music venue. Stroud agreed: “He’s been doing it forever, well before it was overly cool to the masses.”

While Byron appreciates the love, he said he’s focused on continuing to expose more people to craft beer, including people who look, speak and drink like him.

“We have a lot of creative avenues that are not just about brewing beer but being part of a community,” he said.

About the Author

Atlanta coffee shops give power, and caffeine, to the people

Glitzy rooftop bar now open downtown and more from metro Atlanta’s restaurant scene

A glittery rooftop bar debuted downtown, a food-focused Midtown hotel got a new chef and Cosm, the shared-reality entertainment venue, got an opening date.