Michigan’s bustling craft beer scene is about to get its first fully Black-owned brewery.
Terry Rostic and Jamaal Ewing, who bill themselves as “craft beer heads,” are set to open Black Calder Brewing Co. on Black Friday, with the release of its Black IPA (7% alcohol by volume), in the Grand Rapids area.
Black Calder will sell the Black IPA exclusively out of Broad Leaf Local Beer in Kentwood, with plans to collaborate with other Michigan breweries in the coming months. It will contract with Broad Leaf Local Beer and Grand Rapids-based Brewery Vivant during its “start-up phase,” with plans of opening a physical location in Grand Rapids in 2021.
“Black Calder Brewing Company was established to make great beer and provide a platform for innovation, art, culture, and inclusion in the craft beer industry,” Rostic said in a news release. “We appreciate the significance of being recognized as Michigan’s first Black-owned brewery. It’s something Michigan and the craft beer industry has been longing for, but it’s not the only thing we want to be known for.
“Our motto is simple: Make dope beer for dope people.”
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Rostic and Ewing, both Michigan-born, have been in the craft beer community for years, supporting local breweries and developing their brewing skills. They expressed excitement to be a part of the movement toward diversity and inclusion in Michigan’s craft beer scene.
“The craft beer industry was full of flavor, community, and creativity,” Ewing said in a news release. “The passion that brewers, owners, and staff put into creating a unique experience was refreshing. What we didn’t see was diversity and themes that spoke to the culture that we represent. As we grow, we will also explore distilling and crafting wine for our non-beer drinking fans.”
While craft beer has experienced a boom in the past decade across Michigan and the rest of the United States, diversity hasn’t followed suit. A 2019 Brewers Association survey found that 88% of craft brewery owners who responded to the survey are white, as opposed to just 1% Black. Furthermore, just 4% those breweries’ employees are Black, and just 7.5% reported employing a woman with the title “brewer.”
In Michigan, diversity and inclusion in craft beer made headlines late last year when the state’s largest brewer, Founders Brewing Co., faced a racial discrimination lawsuit from one of its former employees, leading to a months-long closure of its Detroit taproom and boycotts within the Detroit community. Founders has since settled the lawsuit and reopened the Detroit taproom, with commitments to donate profits to local charities and better develop relationships with local nonprofits.
Black Calder Brewing Co. plans to offer a variety of beers, from imperial stouts to fruited ales to kettle sours to craft ciders, as well as IPAs and lagers. For now, it will sell its Black IPA — a dark beer dry-hopped with Mosaic and Idaho 7 hops — in 16-oz. cans for curbside pickup, starting at 3 p.m. Nov. 27 at Broad Leaf Local Beer, 2885 Lake Eastbrook Blvd in Kentwood.
Customers can preorder Black IPA here.
Michigan breweries are subject to the state’s 3-week shutdown of indoor dining service, which begins at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and runs through Dec. 8.
Spirits of Detroit writer Brian Manzullo covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: bmanzullo@freepress.com and on Untappd, bmanzullo and Twitter, @BrianManzullo and @SpiritsofDET.
