SPEAKER_06 1:45

Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we dive into the inspiring journey of April Dove, a trailblazer in the craft beer industry who is breaking barriers and paving the way for diversity and inclusion. April is the innovative mind behind the Community Brew, a brand not a brand that not only delivers unique flavors, but also brings a sense of community and representation to the forefront. April's passion for brewing was sparked during her time at Beer School, where she immersed herself in the world of craft beer, determined determined to blend education with her love of brewing brewing. April is championing a movement to create beers that resonate with local community tastes, making craft beer accessible and enjoyable for everyone. How are you doing today? I'm doing well. Thank you for having me. The Community Brew. Okay. Your upbringing. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? Siblings?

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Um, so I am born and raised in South Carolina, which is, you know, like very rare nowadays. Um I was born in Goose Creek, um, went to school um mostly in North Charleston, and then my parents um during my middle school moved to Somerville, so I went to the School of Yarts in Somerville and then went to Somerville High School. Um I have one brother. Um I went to Clemson University for a psychology major. Um, thought I wanted to be a doctor, but couldn't pass the MCAT. So I went um graduated with my psychology degree and then went to MUSC to be a nurse. Um so I am a nurse by trade and by night. I thought it was very interesting. Yeah, so that's what I that's that's my bill paying job. Um and then I started travel nursing for a little bit. Um that's what a money is. I heard that's right. Yeah, so I did that for six years, um, which was pretty cool. And that's kind of where like I found my love of beer. Like I started drinking beer early days of college. Um, you know, my roommate was white, and she was like, you know, if you're gonna live with me, you have to drink beer and like baseball. And I'm like, well, I don't like either of those things. And she's like, well, you know, figure it out. This is what we're doing. All right. And I was like, okay, cool. So, you know, like I started like dabbling into like, you know, like Michelobes and like Bud Lights and all that kind of stuff. But it probably wasn't until I started my nursing career and moved to Greenville to work at Spartanburg Regional, is when I started going into like the small craft brewery scene, started drinking like more things like Blue Moon and like, you know, like going to like the small little breweries because like in 2000 and let's see, I graduated MUSC in 2013. I moved to Spartanburg or Greenville in 2015. So 2015 was kind of like maybe the boom of like craft beer, kind of.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Um started when you started seeing a little bit of craft breweries kind of pop up every now and then. The biggest one in like Spartan Burg was RJ Rocker's, so I would like go there and drink Son of a Peach and all that kind of stuff, and that's kind of like how it got started. And then so when I started traveling, I would go to find different breweries in the different towns that I was in and like become like a little bit of a local for the 13 weeks and kind of like you know go from there. So um what really solidified it is I went to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is where I call my happy place, um, and lived there for about a year and met like some of my best of friends. Um, and one of my girlfriends took me on a 13 brewery, three-day brew tour in Portland, Maine.

SPEAKER_06 5:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Um, and we hit up all the big breweries in Portland, Maine, and it was Alagash that was like the solidifying factor. I was like there, and it was like, I don't know, like God like opened up the heavens, and like there was like these angels, and I was just like, nope, don't want to be a nurse anymore. This is what I want to do. I want to drink beer and be here and be merry. Um and that was like kind of like the turning point. And then, you know, like COVID happened, and then it kind of got like really, really crazy. I was working like two assignments then, but still like frequency breweries, and like, you know, I was like a pretty regular at a lot of breweries in Boston at the time, and a lot of breweries were like, you know, how are we gonna get you beer? You know, and I was like, you know, I don't know. I was like, maybe I could just pay for it over the phone, and then you guys can kind of just deliver it. And they're like, that's genius. Like, yeah, let's do that, or whatever. So it happened that like I would have like these deliveries every week of like different breweries around town just dropping off beer because like you know, I'd I'd pay for it, and they would just drop it off, or I'd go and pick it up or whatever, and it was just like this thing. So when I left Boston in 2020, I left like I think 15 cases of beer.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Lord Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

In my like little Subaru, and like my dad was like, I remember coming home, and my dad was like, Um, you need help unpacking the car, and I was like, Oh no, no, I'm good, I'm good. And he was like, No, no, I'll help you, I'll help you. And he opens up the back and he's like, April, dub. He's like, Where what are you gonna do with all this? What are we gonna do with all this beer? And I was like, like my correction, we are not gonna do anything. I am gonna drink it. For people, for parties and stuff like that. And that's kind of how like the traveling hotista came about and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, that's a little bit about my journey. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

I like your earrings. Thank you. Yeah, beer earrings.

SPEAKER_06 6:58

I love to see when people step into their what they really want to do. They full force, just yeah, put everything into it.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yeah, and you kind of had to, you know, because COVID burned you out so much, you know, like you just lost a lot of respect for the field and for the career, and it's like, you know, like I'm either gonna go home and cry, drink my sorrows away, or I'm gonna find a passion. And like, I got to drink my sorrows away and find my passion at the same time. You know what I mean? And it just turned out. Yeah, and it just felt great to do that, you know. And then I went through this low where I had surgery and I couldn't work for four months, and I was like, what am I gonna do for four months? Like, I have been working steadily for the last six years, living out of a suitcase, living out of my car, like, and now I can't do anything. Like, you know, I gotta put the energy somewhere. So like I just kind of did a delt dive on like there's gotta be other people that look like me in the industry. Like, there has to be. And I found one girl, her name is Eugenia, she's a black beer chick out of Charlotte, and she started this initiative called Road to 100, um, where she was getting a hundred women of color to take the Cicerone um program, which is Cicerone is kind of like a Sami Lear program for beer, but it's just a beer related, and there's like four different levels, and she had an initiative where she got a hundred black women to take the first level. And I kind of reached out to her and was like, you know, I really want to do this. And she's like, you know, just fill out the survey and see if you get it or whatever. And then like I remember getting this, getting into the program or whatever, and like hitting like join, and there was like a hundred people that look like me. And I was like, holy shit now. Yeah, your comedians are like, you know, it was like it was like whoa. And it's like you start meeting all these people, you start opening all these doors, and you realize there's just like a whole world of black people that love beer, and it's like being up north, there's like nobody like that. You know, like I'm the only one in the in the brew house, you know, I'm the only one in the tap room. Like, there's no one that looks like me, which is fine, and I don't mind that, but like still it's one of those things where it's like when you find your village and you can open that door and see that there's other people that look like you that enjoy the same things as you do, it's a whole different game changer.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

To change a confidence level.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

It felt like you could actually jump into your experiment and everything.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Yeah, it was like it was like gung-ho after that. And then, you know, then you know, we did the program and I was like, I want to learn more. And I'm like, you know, how can I learn more? And she's like, you know, you can go to beer school, and I was like, What? So until you beer school, you're like, I'm like, You mean like get a degree? And she's like, Yeah. She's like, why not? And I was like, All right, okay, cool. So, you know, I started doing research and I was like, one, I'm like at I'm in my early 30s at this time, and I'm like, my parents are definitely not gonna pay for me to go back to school. They're not gonna take over my bills. Like, so I gotta figure out like where is there a program that's gonna fit my needs. And I found the American Brewers Guild in Middlebury, Vermont that um was an online program. And you got a like a degree for brewing, and it's called fermentation science, you know, and you learn everything, you learn the science behind brewing. You don't actually learn how to brew, but you learned all the science behind it from like learning what happens when the water hits the grain to what the hops do, to what the yeast does, to the water chemistry, to building a brew house, to you know, learning about fermenters and you know the system and all that kind of stuff. So it was like really eye-opening and really cool. And you know, I kind of delve into that for you know six months to a year, and you know, it was really awesome.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

So I mean I have a stupid question. Yeah. You ready? Yeah. So what what is in a in a 211 steel reserve?

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Steel reserve is malt liquor. So it's not a beer.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

So this that's why that's what I'm happy to say. That ain't beer at all.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Well, it's malt liquor. So they use malt.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

But it's not um beer, whereas they use like beer uses four main ingredients malt, hops, yeast, and water. So still reverb doesn't use hops, it just uses malt, water, and yeast.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Ah. That's the first time someone ever told me that. I'll leave it off as that.

SPEAKER_06 10:50

I want to know the process, you know, that you were saying that you learned in school.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Yeah, so like fermentation, so basically fermentation science. So like beer is a ferment fermented beverage. So basically, what you start off with is you start off with some grain. So you can start off with like turo, which is usually some type of wheat or some type of barley. You have adjuncts where you can do rice, you can do fonio, you can do any any type of like extra corn, stuff like that. Um, and you take, you make that grain and you put that grain in basically let's dumb it down into a bucket with water, hot water, and you let it steep like tea for about an hour. And then once that is happening, when that water and that grain is together and they're steeping in this 150, 140 degree water, what's happening is the water is going inside of the grain and breaking down its sugars and pulling the sugars out of the grain, so dehydrating the grain. And then that liquid that water in there that has all that sugar and is something that we call liquor. And then that liqueur is what we take off of the grain and then we boil it to like 211 degrees, and then that's when we add our hops. And hops are just like wild flower cones that are grown, they're usually grown wild, but then we have lots of like hop farms like Yakima Valley in Washington State. We have some up in North Carolina, um, we have some in the Midwest, you know, this kind of like all over. But when you um usually get the hop, it's usually in a pellet form. So they've taken the hop, they've broken it down, um, they've like basically cut it in half, taken the lumen out of it, which is the inside, which is like the pollen, the flowery little part, um, and pelletized it into the small little pellet, and you dump that into your boil. And that's what, you know, depending on what time you dump it through your boil, which is usually 60 minutes to 90 minutes, it determines how many alpha acids or beta acids you're gonna get. So you're gonna get alpha add alpha acids for bitterness and beta alpha beta alpha um alpha beta acids for aroma. So when you're dropping it in like at the very beginning of the boil, you're usually trying to get that for bitterness. The later you drop it into the boil, you're getting it more for aroma. So aroma, like when you pop open a beer and you smell it, that's the aroma that you're getting from the late additions of the hops. Whereas when you drink it and you get that bitterness in the back or you know, that hot burn or whatever, that's what you're getting from the very beginning. So then after that, then you cool it down. Um, you get it down to as whatever low you're gonna do. So let's say you're doing just like a regular ale like this one here, um, you're gonna probably cool it down to probably like 60 degrees. You're gonna throw in some yeast, and there's different many different types of yeast. Um there's the most common one is USO5 that homebrewers use. Um and but there's all different types of yeast. There's Saison yeast, there's Belgian yeast, there's uh New England yeast, there's all kinds of different types of yeast. So you pour that into your fermenter, which looks like a big old um like bowel of a thing, um, and you pour that in, and then you kind of put it in a dark room and let it just go for two weeks, and then it starts to ferment. So what happens is that sugary water that you that we got from the very beginning, the yeast eats the sugar and poops out alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So we like so then that's how the alcohol is made in your beer. So you let that sit for about two weeks, depending if you're ailing it or you're lagering it. If you're lagering it, which is something that like is you know, a longer beer, which is like a um like a Heineken lager or like a Pilsner or anything like that, that's usually for six to eight weeks, you know. Well, five to six weeks, five to eight weeks. Whereas an ale takes two to three weeks to make. So this beer here only took two to three weeks to make. I've done lagers where they take six to eight weeks to make. So um, so yeah, so that's basically like the process of it all kind of dumbed down.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

So you did a great job. Yeah, explaining that to people that don't know. I think our audience is gonna really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_06 14:34

I did. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Yep, and I'm not gonna be gonna be drinking no more two elevens after that. Um, man, that is so cool. Yeah, um, I guess the next question is, and that this is a question that our audience are asking, anybody might ask you this, because obviously you're working as an RN, you're doing all they pay pretty well, don't you pay pretty well? Um the question of why pops in. Why? What was your inspiration going into it? Since it's not as popular for what we like to call and put quotation marks, the culture.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Um, but it the culture in that field, it has changed over the years drastically. I I've watched it and witnessed it. Um, and that's the big question. Like, why?

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Yeah, so the community was never supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be like a one beer thing. So, like, literally, when I was in school, my boyfriend at the time was the first black server at Holy City Brewing. Um, and he was telling the brewers about me that I was going to the school, and the the owner was like, Well, I went to that school too, and a lot of brewers in Charleston went to that school. And he's like, you know, if she ever wants to come by and like put what she's learning to like actual what's what's happening, tell her to come by. And so I would go by all the time. And it just happened that the owner, I mean the owner struck up this accord, and he was just kind of like, you know, he asked me the question. He was like, you know, how can I get more people of color into my tap room? And I'm like, dude, just because I'm black does not mean like I know. Like I've been the only one for a long, long time, you know. So like, you know, and that was like me just coming back to Charleston, just like getting re-acclimated. Like, I'm still using like Google, like, you know, like Apple directions just to get around because I hadn't been in Charleston in six years. Like, I didn't know what the culture was like here. Like, I didn't have any like really good friends here. Like, all my friends have moved on, like living in different places. So, like, I didn't know what the black culture was here. And I was like, you know, like, so he was like, Well, just think about it and just get back to me. He's like, No big deal. And I had just, me and my boyfriend at the time had just joined a homebrew club or whatever, like that. And like, we were like the only black people in the homebrew club. So it was like, wow, you know, like, okay, you're asking me this question. And I was like, you know, like one time it just came to me. I was like, you know, we sit down bars, we frequent a lot of breweries. I've been to every brewery in Charleston, which is like 40 and counting. And I was just kind of like, you know, there's all these beers, but like, what's the point of them?

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Like, my culture, our culture talks about stories. Like, everything we do is stories from songs to food to quilts to clothing to like all that. Like, it's all about storytelling. And it's like, you can have 40 beers on a tap, but like, what's the meaning behind them? Like, why? Why do you have those beers? Are you making those beers just because that guy that has the beard and the flannel shirt says, like, oh, I want an IPA? Or are you really trying to think like out of the box and think like how can I bring more people in and what flavors do they want to bring in? Right. So I told him, I was like, well, why don't we brew to the culture's palette? Like, why don't we brew to the community's palette? Like, you're in Holy City, you're on Spruel Avenue. This like black owned. Like, this was like black real estate when the Navy Yard was here. Like, my parents couldn't even get a house on like this area, but they like they worked on the Navy Yard, and my parents were both Navy. So, like, you're in a black neighborhood. So, like, you really honestly have no excuse why you shouldn't be diverse. Like, you're in their backyard. But like, if you're only catering to one type of community because that's what you're worried about, then you're never gonna grow. You know, so I was like, you know, like why don't we brew a beer that's like to their palate? Like, what do black people drink? Like, black people drink like Heineken, they drink coors, they drink, you know, my dad drink used to drink uh big bull uh blue big bowl, like 44, like the malt liquor can be. Yeah, he used to drink that all the time. He used to pour that in my like with my baby formula and put me to bed. Like, you know, it worked, you know. So like I was like, we gotta do something like that. And he was like, all right, we'll come up with a recipe and then go from there. So I hit up my friend Paul, who's like been my ride or die, he's an older white gentleman. Um, and he taught me how to homebrew at home, and he was like, and I was like, we got a project, and he was like, oh shit. He's like, okay, what? And I like just dropped off a 30-pack of like Heineken, and I was like, we're gonna make this. And he was like, he's like, this sounds terrible. I was like, no, it's gonna be good. And I was like, we're gonna, he's like, all right. He's like pulls out his whiteboard and he's like, all right, pop up in two bottles. And I was like, all right, and we pop up in two bottles and we just sit there all night and we just drink, drink Heineken, and we're like, okay, what flavors are we getting? What aromas are we getting? What bitterness are we getting? And we're just like dissecting this beer, like you know, drinking one after another, and we get this recipe, and I was like, all right, cool. I was like, next weekend I'll bring over my equipment, you bring over yours, and um we brewed it. We you know, we homebrewed the beer, you know, and then taste? Yeah, just from taste alone. We broke it all the way down. The only thing, the only thing that we did in our beer that is different from Heineken is Heineken does not use corn, which is very weird because it has such a corn aroma and crumb corn flavor, but does not use corn.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Did you figure out where they got that with the aroma came from?

SPEAKER_02 19:27

It comes from just like the um fermentation, and it comes from um the green bottle. Gives it a little bit of a corn flavor. Because it's a little bit oxidized. Oh, gosh, you know what? So all of that plays a role into it, how it's stored in Oh yeah, like a green bottle versus a white bottle versus a brown bottle. Like, that's why Corona is so skunky. Like that's the reason why people love Corona. Corona is skunked, which means light struck in a s in a bottle for a reason. That is how they sell their beer. If you drink a corona in a brown bottle versus a corona in the white clear bottle, it is two totally different beers. Okay. Yeah, like specific out. It's completely two totally different beers. So, like, literally, if if Corona was to put a beer, put a Corona beer in a brown bottle and put a beer in a in the clear bottle and sell it, they would have two totally different uh markets. Markets. Two totally different markets. But they grow, they grew their market on light struck beer, oxidized beer. That is that is their profile. Whereas most beer snobs are like, I'm not gonna drink a Heineken'cause because I don't want to drink anything that's called that's skunky, that's you know, has that like bitterness, kind of skunky flavor, you know. I don't want to put a lime in my beer. I want to be able to drink my beer regularly, but like, but that's not what it is. So when we brewed the beer, we did the home brew and we brought it to you know Chris. I was like, here's the beer, and he was like, All right, he's like, let's give it a try. And he was like, you know, that's pretty damn good. He's like, All right, well, let's brew it. So I was like, all right. Wow. I was like, so you you want to brew this beer? Wow. He was like, Yeah, and he's like, we're gonna brew it on the system. He's like, you know, and you know, at the time I had been like, you know, just kind of like jumping around Charleston or whatever, and you know, this kind of goes back to, you know, it was so crazy because you see, like, when you go when you go into breweries and you see another black person, you're really excited. And for me, I get really excited. I'm like, oh, I like go to the bartender, I'm like, all their beers are on me. You know, um, and that's when I met my then business partner, um, David White, and you know, he was from Charleston and he had good reviews and stuff like that. And, you know, I told him, I was like, you know, I've got this opportunity to make something really big in Charleston.

SPEAKER_05 21:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Um just to tell you who I am. Like, I'm the first female black brewer in Charleston, you know. I um, you know, I got my degree, I had to get my degree. Like, if they were gonna take me seriously and really understand what I was about, like, and know that I wanted to change for the culture, I had to have a degree. Yeah, like I couldn't go into it, like how you could go into it. You can go to a brewery probably today and be like, yeah, I want to make a beer, here's what my you know, my background is, and this is what I want to do for the community, and they'd be like, Okay, go for sure. But if I go and do that, it's like mm-mm, no. Yeah, you know, and that's that's part of being a black person and being a black woman. Like, you're not taken seriously. So you gotta have those guns in your belt and ready to come blaze. So we did the beer. Um, I told David White, I was like, your role in this is definitely to bring the black people because I don't have that connection with them. Like, you know, I've been gone for six years. I don't even know where black people hang out. Like, yeah, you know, like my their that crowd and me are like separate identities. Um because you know, you go to clubs and stuff like that, and they don't have craft beer. No, there's no city.

SPEAKER_06 22:29

That's what I'm trying to figure out. How did you market? How did you market it and what strategies did you guys use?

SPEAKER_02 22:35

So when we marketed, um, it was really big on just getting black people to understand that there was something new that they could do. And a lot of black people don't go to breweries because they don't feel safe and they don't feel wanted. You know, 2020 was a time where like a lot of people were going through a lot of different things. And 2021 was no better. Like they were just getting out of the house, they were just re-entering society, you know. They were just kind of like trying to figure out like what in the hell did I just go through? Like, I just went through, you know, PTSD. Yeah, like traumatic, you know. And I'm like, now I gotta re-enter the world. It's almost like a prisoner that's been in prison for most of their life, and now they gotta like re-enter the world and be like, okay, how do I operate the cell cell phone? You know? So the marketing was more of just like a community. Like we we basically said, you know, this beer is like what you would drink at your cookout, which you could take to any family gathering and drink. Like, we want you to drink this beer, and it instantly takes you back to a family cookout, a family gathering, you know, where the music is playing and all that kind of stuff. So we made a playlist, we invited all the people. And it became this new thing for Charleston. It was like, oh, okay. Okay, well, if she's doing it and he's a part of it, then it must be okay. And that night we had 125 black people in in Holy City and we displaced the white people at Holy City.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Shut the front door.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Like white people were like, why are there so many black people at Holy City? And I was like, because we belong here. Yeah. Like we started this. And it goes back to like present-day Mesotopia. Like back in Egypt, like black people started beer. Like we're the first ones to do beer. You know, so like that culture got lost. You know, it started with black people doing beer and you know, you know, the Egyptians and all that kind of stuff, and then it like modern date, and then women were doing it to make like a business, and then it got taken from women because it was like this, oh, you're being a witch, and you're, you know, you're adding all this stuff to it, and then it got taken to Europe, and Europe was like, oh, us white men can do this and all this kind of stuff, and then it got taken over to America's, and it was just it was just a white man's beverage and all this kind of stuff. And then you have a black man named Ted Mack, who is like the first black brewer in you know the United States, and he opens people's brewing. So it like all kind of like goes in this circle, and it was like, you know, we belong here just as much as you do. You know, we started this, right? You know, so that was the big market, and that night we sold, I think we did 10 barrels, which is a barrel is 31 gallons, so that's like over 3,000 gallons, and we had over 100.

SPEAKER_06 25:08

Everybody was drinking.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Were there Ubers and Lyft going on that night?

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Oh, I have no idea because I my parents were there. I was there, my brother was there. I mean, it was so many people, and they started us outside. That was the funny part. Because I don't know if you've ever been to Holy City, but it's like it's like a big building, and then there's like an outdoor area. And they're on a lot of land. So like they started us outside, like we weren't even inside the brewery. And then as people started coming in, the outside getting started getting packed, and people didn't realize, like, oh, the event was actually outside. So they started sitting inside. So they started taking out tables and sitting at the bars. So, like, you know, the regulars would come in and be like, What's going on? Where are all these people? You know, or whatever. And then they would like try to find a table and they walk outside and they see like this mass of black people, and they're like, What the fuck is going on?

unknown 25:49

You know?

SPEAKER_02 25:50

And people have these cans in their hands and all that kind of stuff. And it's like, you know, we sold 40 cases that night.

unknown 25:55

God.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

40 cases. Like, I had one guy buy 10 cases, and that was before the law came out where you only could buy so much. But we had one guy buy 10 cases.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

10 cases of the beer. He sent it, took it home. And this was just supposed to be a one-time thing. Like, I did not want it to get spake. I was like, I'm just doing this just because like I got asked a question. And then like we got all this press, you know, we got Charleston City Paper, we got the Post and Courier, like all these different things, you know. And it just kind of took off. And other breweries were like, you know, I want to do this too. Like, I want to make my space available for all people. Like, I want to be a part of this movement. And I was like, all right, well, cool, let's do that. You know, so you know, it kind of just evolved, and I did beers with like Holy City. Um, we did that beer a couple times. We did it with Frothy Beard, we've done a beer with Munkle. Um, we've done a beer with Indigo Reef, we've done a beer with Oh wow, so you partner would have loved it. Okay, I've done 13 beers so far.

SPEAKER_06 26:44

Oh wow, okay, yeah. And then it's just supposed to be one.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

And it was just supposed to be one, you know, and then after that, you know, breweries wanted to be a part of it. Um, and you know, it becomes one of those things where, you know the brewery community, I will say, swooped me up and took me in, and they were like, we love what you're doing, and we're gonna, we're gonna protect you and we're gonna do those things, which was really good. And my brewing community, even to this day, is like my family. Like the white men are my family. Like, I can call Chris at Holy City any day of the week and be like, this is what I'm doing. Tell me if I'm crazy, whatever. I can give him any idea and he'll do it. You know, like Chris from Holy City is the is my Charleston and wine food connect. Like he does all my beers when I do Charleston Food and Wine. I do Charleston Food and Wine every year. And Chris Brown from Holy City is the one that brews my beer every year. Um, I've got great connections with two blokes that we did the um the cornbread cream with.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yeah, that looked interesting interesting.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

You know, I've got friends in that, like today is the South Carolina Brewers Guild um uh beer festival, and they were like, Are you coming up? Are you coming up? And I was like, Oh, I got a podcast to do, I can't come up, and they're like, Oh no, you know, but like it's like all these yeah, no, but it's like all these different things. Like, I'm big in the beer community, and you know, with this beer taking off, like how it did, like a lot of people wanted to be on board. But you know, it does come get to that fact where like a lot of people, a lot of the consumers didn't realize there was a black woman behind it. You know, you can say, like, I can I s I was there that night. Like I was there that night, I spoke that night, like I told everyone about my story that night, and people didn't realize it was me behind the beer. Yeah, had no idea. Uh-huh. And that's hard, that's a hard pill to swallow. And when I talk to my mentors about it, they're like, Yeah, this is this is welcome to the beer world. This is your first introduction to what black women and women brewers deal with all the time. They can have a black you just overlooked. Overlooked. People think the male, your male counterpart is the person that did the whole thing, and you're like, baby, I made the recipe. Baby, I brewed this. Like, this person knows nothing about beer. Like, no, like, no, you know. So, you know, after the second beer, it was pretty much I was on my own with that, and I, you know, I've been running this business since 2021 by myself. You know, I've done every all 12 beers have done. I've come up with a recipe, I've brewed it with, I've done the collaborations with the breweries, everything. You know, and it's just been me, a one-woman show.

SPEAKER_06 29:02

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

I mean, I get Alex.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

I thought that was wild. What? Yeah, I thought, all right, so I was looking at, all right. We thought that was wild. Because now I understood the reason for the edit. Yeah. And that had a so what's she talking about? Yeah. Someone go look. You're crazy.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Yeah, I'm the only person. Which is a sign. I'm a Capricorn. Okay. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 29:27

Y'all work hard.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:29

Y'all work hard.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Yeah. So I mean, it's me. Like, I don't have I had an assistant at one point, like a PR specialist. Yeah. You know. Um, shout out to Tawana Tolbert, you know, but then like I wasn't travel nursing anymore. And like, you know, it was hard, you know, keeping her on payroll. Um, you know, I have Alex who does all my can art mostly. Um, because she was a beautiful artist. When I saw her, I was like, oh, I want you on my can. Yeah. I want you to do all my cans. Um shout out to her. She's having a baby soon. So she's like on retirement right now. So um, but yeah, so it was just like, you know, I had this team, but like in the end, like, you know, things dissolve and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, it's just kind of like I've just been a one-woman show. Like, you know, all my Instagram and stuff like that, it's not the greatest. I'm not the most creative person. Um it's just me, you know, and I get it done, and you know, and I I go to breweries and I'm like, you know, you don't have enough black people, and that's my pitch. I'm like, you know, you talk about being inclusive and diverse and all this kind of stuff. I'm like, but where's your people? What are you doing to be different? Yeah. Oh, just because you host the Beyonce night, you think that you're you you're it? You check the box?

SPEAKER_05 30:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

And a lot of, you know, when I did the first like 10 beers, it was a lot of breweries checking the box. Okay. A lot of breweries saying, Okay, we did the beer with you. All right, we got the party. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Diversity.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

That's it. Okay, where's my black people? And I'm like, well, you know, that's not how it works.

SPEAKER_06 30:44

And then they expect for you to bring all of that. Like, yeah, it's like, well, what have you done that's different?

SPEAKER_02 30:49

Like, do you still have the three man, the three-person white band on Saturdays? Yeah. Do you still have the same food trucks? Yeah. Are you still not diversifying your space because you're worried about who's gonna patronize your business? And how often are these events? Yeah, like you gotta do more. Like, I can't do that for you unless you're gonna pay me to do that, but you're not gonna pay me to do that, right? Yeah, like I'm not gonna you're not gonna benefit and take credit off my blackness because you want black people. Or your community. Yeah. Yeah. Like you have to do something. So we did a little bit of a shift this year, so I didn't do as many beers this year. I was kind of late to the game. So I did Charleston Food and Wine, like I always do every year, and then I kind of took a break because I wanted to figure out how to change up the community. How, because I was having these events and there wasn't many people coming or whatever, and I was like, how can I get this beer in front of them? Like, maybe what's going on is that instead of me asking them to come to me, why don't I go to them? Why don't I partner with big black businesses or big black organizations? Yeah, because the black people are already there. All you gotta do is just come to them and bring my products to them. Yeah. So that's what we did for the Clemson beer here. We worked with Kite Hill Brewing and we did it for the Clemson Black Alumni Association. Oh, so they're huge. Yeah, they're a huge organization, you know, and we were like, okay, we'll do a beer for you or whatever. And I hadn't been back to Clemson since I graduated, so I was like, well, this is probably the perfect time to do it. Yeah. Um, so we did this beer for them, and we gave all of our proceeds. Yeah, we did all their proceeds, um, went to Clemson Black Alumni Association. And we were partnering with the Gibbs this year um for their reframe and their, you know, the Gibbs Museum does their black artistry residency. So we got all the artists to do can art for our art beer, um, and we are partnering with them and we are giving them beer to showcase during the residency programs or whatever.

SPEAKER_06 32:39

So it's like cross-promotion. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Cross-promotion, bringing awareness to them, but also bringing awareness to me, but also bringing the beer to the community. To the community. Instead of asking the community to come together.

SPEAKER_06 32:48

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:49

You gotta meet the people where they're at.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Yeah. You know, if they're not willing to come to the brewery, which I totally get, yeah, it's a it's a foreign space, you know? And bring it to them, you know. You know, I'm not in the popular crowd, I've never been. And I've always been that quirky person, you know, all that kind of stuff. But if I can find a way to get my beer and what I love to other people, then I'll do anything I have to do to do that. And if that means partnering with black organizations or black businesses and all that kind of stuff, you know, like for their parties. I'm like, it's no reason why a brewery won't make a small batch of beer for your event, you know?

SPEAKER_06 33:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

And you know, all you have to do is just get the liquor license to sell it.

SPEAKER_06 33:24

That's probably what sets you apart from everybody else because you're out here doing going to the people instead of them.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

And you're taking, you're actually using your knowledge to make that happen. Like part of it, like you say, knowing is half the battle back in the day with old school television cartoons. No, it was half the battle. G.I. Joe. But yeah, you knowing how to do and say, hey, you know, they'll actually make this for us so that we can actually access and use it, it's a big thing. Um, I know we're about to have to get ready to wrap up, but I did want to ask you about this if you could just explain Black Brewers Day.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Yeah, national Black Brewers Day, yeah. So that was started by the MB N B2A. So that is um most of the big, big wigs in uh brewery. So it's like Garrett Oliver, Celeste Betty, Alicia Mersado, um uh who else is on there, Marcus Bakersfield, who did Black is Beautiful. Um, they basically made a group, an organization of 5013B or six or something like that. Um they made a group and they were like, we are all gonna get together and we are gonna band together and we are gonna make resources for black brewers. Because black brewers only make up one percent of the brewery community.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

There's only 80 black breweries in the whole United States out of 65,000 brewers. And that just shows you the difference in diversity. Yes. And the reason why is because we can't access capital and we can't access resources.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

That's part is a business thing.

SPEAKER_02 34:50

It's a business thing. The banks will not give a black person a loan to open up a brewery. They're like, why should we give you money to open up a brewery when there's five of them that are closing right now? Like, why are we gonna put our money on you? Yeah. Like you you're you're the unicorn, like it's not gonna happen. Right. You know? Um so the black brewers so the black the National Black Brewers, the NBA MB2A, they basically came up with a group and they resourced money from these big breweries like Ann Heiser Busch, Samuel Adams, all of them, and said, You need to support us if you want to make a change.

SPEAKER_06 35:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

If you're so much about making a change and support our organization, money with a balance give us the money to give to the to the black brewers to make it accessible for them to open up breweries and be in this space.

SPEAKER_06 35:34

You're basically doing a work for them. Yeah. But providing for our people. Yeah. And bridging the gap. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

So yesterday, October 10th, was it yesterday? I don't know. My days, I work nights, so like Thursday. I work nights, so like everything's got to be just like 121. Um the 10th was uh Black Brewer's Day. Oh, so it was a national day. Um, there's I think there's 13 states that have made that a national day. Um, I thought about making it down here in Charleston, but since I'm the only Black Brewer, I was like, oh, I don't know if that will be just gonna be me.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Y'all come see me.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Y'all can show up for me. It's already kind of like a stretch to get kids the community, kid the community date um deemed as October 1st. So I was like, maybe I'll wait until maybe there's a little bit more about the National Blackbird's Day and they're a big association at Crown and Hops with Teo and uh Benny Hunter are all in that, and Kevin Asado, the the NBA player. Um, yeah, so it's like it's a really cool.

SPEAKER_06 36:32

Do you have any um events coming up that we can attend or yeah?

SPEAKER_02 36:36

So we'll be doing something with Gibbs Museum. Gibbs Museum is doing the reframe, so I think that's their introduction of the artist um at I don't know where the location is, but look up the Gibbs Museum reframe November 3rd. Um it's in the afternoon. Our beer will be out there. Um we're doing it with Snapchat.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Art Circle Playground.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

Yeah, so we will be doing it with them. Um the beer of taste will be a chewy uh brown ale, um a chewy porter. No, a chewy pasty strout, sorry, a chewy pastry strout. So, you know, Charleston Chewies, we're using it, we're doing it with Daddy's Girl Bakery. We're making, we're taking the Chewies, putting it in a beer, and making a Chewy pastry stout. Oh, wow. So it should taste like a Chewy. And then we're doing a banana pudding sour. So we'll be taking um this will be the second time we've done it. We were taking Daddy's Girls Bakeries, banana pudding, and putting it into a beer and making a sour.

SPEAKER_06 37:27

I love the the collaboration.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Yeah, so we'll be doing that, and those will be at reframe for people to try, and that will probably be the beer that they'll be using throughout the year or whatever. Man, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 37:37

Well, you can definitely DMS some um flyers and we'll promote it for you.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we can definitely do that for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:43

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Awesome.

SPEAKER_06 37:44

Well, I want to try it.

SPEAKER_02 37:45

Yeah. Me too.

SPEAKER_06 37:46

I'm not really a beer person, but I want to try it.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

That is the people that that I like go to. I go to the people who say they're not beer drinking. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

I don't want to bother my wife because she likes to say, I don't like no beer. I don't like no beer. You know, I have people that say that they're like hours.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

Yeah, they're like, oh, I don't like beer, and then they drink my beer and they're like, Oh, I kind of like your beer.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

And I was like, Yeah, so maybe for you. That's what that's why I like it.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

There's over a hundred different styles of beer. There's a beer for everybody. I don't care what anybody says. Yeah, okay. Everybody should be drinking beer.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

You know what I tease her about this to my wife? Because she doesn't like sugar, right? So like we drink a lot of salsa waters. Oh, I do too. I'm like a physical. And I'm like, and you don't like beer, but you say you don't like sugar drinks and nothing like that. You like salsa? I like her, you would like beer because she likes sours and so I'm like, then you would like beer. Yeah, sours the type of beer.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

So Lambic, it goes back all the way to the Lambic stage, you know, like flander reds, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. It's like a whole evolution of beer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:36

Do you have um are is there anyone that you would like to work with, collaborate with in the future?

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Uh I'm trying to work with Alagash because you know that's like my first love. So I'm doing a beer called Frika uh Frika. So Frika is a grain that started in Africa. It's mostly eaten in Middle Eastern Asia and Northern Africa right now. Um Marsh Head Mills, which is a good partner of mine that usually gives me grain, and they're like, here's some grain that we figured out. Go make a beer with it and let us know how you do. And I was like, okay. So we did a Frika beer with that. We did a Frika wheat. Uh basically we used the grain um and I brewed it. Um there is a black beer festival, the biggest in the country, called Barrel and Flow. Um, so if you guys don't know about that, that's day Bracey. Everybody should go to Barrel and Flow. It's so dope. It's like literally barrel and flow. Barrel and Flow. Oh it literally is like 5,000 black people drinking beer. It is a sight to freak and see. Um, it is absolutely amazing. Um we introduced that beer to Alagash, the owners of Alagash, and they really enjoyed it. So we just sent some samples up to them, and hopefully soon they will want to brew that beer, and that will probably be my biggest collab. Um, but there's also different black brewers that I want to brew with, like um Rhythm Brewing out of Connecticut. That's Lisa Machado, who I think we're supposed to be doing a beer next year with um for Bale and Flow. Um, you know, Crown and Hops over in Los Angeles would be awesome. There are some of my mentors, Teo and Benny, um, Garrett Oliver. I'm hopefully connecting with him to do a Fonio beer, which is like the big beer that he's been working on, which is a grain that's only grown in Africa, that will not be grown in the Americas at all if it's up to him. Um, and it provides um funding for African farmers in Africa with this beer for Charleston Food and Wine. So I'm working with Amistus Ganway with that and Charleston Food and Wine. So that's I'm supposed to be their um their beer sponsor for the year um next year. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_06 40:33

That's big.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:35

And you're a one-woman show. Do it. That's how you do it. I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_02 40:45

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

So you can do it if you want to do it.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Yes. And I always tell people, like, they're like, oh yeah, we like your beer or whatever. We'll come and get it. And I'm like, you guys don't understand. Like, when I put out beer, you have to go get it. When I tell it. Because it doesn't stay. Like, my beer sold out in three months. That's easily fast. My banana pudding sour sold out in two months. That means you're loyal, yeah. Loyal customers. People just love it, you know. You know, black people, white people, brown people, green people, purple people, they all love it. Yeah. And it's like if you don't get on it, like, it's crazy, you know.

SPEAKER_06 41:17

So where can everyone find you on social media and stay in touch?

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Yeah, so they can find me on my personal page, which is traveling hoptista, which is used to be my um um flight business. Um, and then um you can find the community on the community.brew. And then we're also on Facebook, the community.brew on Facebook as well, too.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Man, I gotta one one last question. We're gonna get out of out of here, but you work nights. I do. I used to work nights.

SPEAKER_02 41:47

Yeah, I just got off this morning. Yeah. Um, so I got off this morning. So I'm in nursing administration, so I'm no longer at the bedside. Okay. Um, so I am a house supervisor. So I basically got off this morning, slept for two hours, worked out at the gym at from 10 to 11, went back and took a nap, and then woke up and came here.

SPEAKER_06 42:06

And still got the workout in.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Still got the workout in. No excuses.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

I told you, Capricorns, you can't.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Yeah, y'all different. Yeah, y'all very different breeds.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

So I'm running off of like four hours of sleep, but like this kind of like revitalized me, so now I'm like, oh, I'm ready to go drink a beer.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Well, we aren't gonna hold you anymore. Um for the Hilltop Globe podcast. This is DJ and what?

SPEAKER_02 42:29

Tamaya.

unknown 42:29

Mike.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

And our esteemed guest.

SPEAKER_02 42:31

April Dub. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

I'm gonna thank you so much for joining us today. We have been enlightened today. Yes, I'm gonna be my interests. Yeah, inspired. You don't see I was just putting a bunch of stuff in my tabs. I'm gonna go look at this later. Yeah. Um, but like we always like to tell folks, please let somebody next to you you know, uh next to you, let them know that you love them, that you cherish them, that you care about them. And into the next time. This is the Hilltop Glove Podcast. We signing out. Peace. Peace.