Celeste Beatty

Celeste Beatty
Beatty speaking at Smithsonian Food History Weekend in 2017
Born
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
EducationShaw University
OccupationBrewer
Known forFirst Black woman to own a brewery in the United States

Celeste Beatty (born 1964) is the first Black woman to own a brewery in the United States.[1][2][3] She established her brewery, Harlem Brewing Company, in 2000.[4][3]

Personal life

Beatty was born in 1964 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[5] She graduated from Shaw University in 1984 with a degree in International Relations.[6] Beatty was interested in studying at Shaw in part because the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights organization, had been founded there. Some of Beatty's family members had moved from North Carolina to Harlem during the 1950s and 60s, and in the early 1990s she followed in their footsteps, moving to Harlem.[7][8] Beatty has a son, Khouri, who was born around 1982.[9]

Career

Beatty first started working in the non-profit sector for organizations that ran homeless shelters and worked with artists.[10] However, after experimenting in the 1990s with a homebrewing kit that she had received as a gift and teaching homebrewing classes in her home, Beatty's interest in brewing turned professional.[11][10][9][12] Beatty was also influenced by her interactions with Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream company. Beatty helped operate Ben & Jerry's first partner shop in Harlem at the intersection of 125th St. and 5th Ave, which opened in July 1992. The ice cream shop was operated in partnership with Harlem Ark of Freedom, a non-profit organization that operated a shelter for men experiencing homelessness, some of whom worked as employees at the ice cream shop.[13][14][15] Beatty cited her experiences working there as inspirational in understanding how small businesses could engage the communities around them.[16]

Beatty founded her brewery, Harlem Brewing Co., in November 2000.[17] Beatty had the support of Sylvia Woods, founder and owner of Sylvia's Restaurant, who helped Beatty promote Harlem Brewing Co. in her restaurants.[17][9]

Beatty has cited the histories of the Harlem neighborhood and West African brewing techniques and ingredients as influences in developing her beers.[18][19] Harlem Brewing Co.'s beers include Harlem Sugar Hill Golden Ale, inspired by Duke Ellington's song Take the 'A' Train [to Sugar Hill]; Harlem Renaissance Wit, flavored with cumin, grains of paradise, orange peel, and coriander; 125th Street IPA, an India Pale Ale named in honor of one of Harlem's most iconic avenues; and Queen Stout, a stout flavored with coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon, brewed in honor of Beatty's mother, Rachel Patterson Beatty Jackson.[20][21][22]

In 2006, Anheuser-Busch offered to acquire Harlem Brewing Co., but Beatty declined.[20] Harlem Brewing Co.'s beers are sold in Whole Foods, Walmart, and Fairway Market and distributed in New York, Virginia, and North Carolina.[23][20] Beatty's "Renaissance Wit" won the "Best Brew of New York City" in a 2018 competition.[1][4]

Beatty has collaborated with Black brewers across the country. In 2018, Beatty partnered with Briana Brake, founder and head brewer of Spaceway Brewing Company, LLC, to open Rocky Mount Brewery in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.[24] Briana serves as the head brewer and CEO, while Beatty is the Co-Brewer and Adviser.[24][25] In 2021, Harlem Brewing Co. collaborated with Montclair Brewery, a Black-owned brewery in Montclair, New Jersey, to create a porter called "Noble Like It Is" in honor of Gil Noble, a Black journalist who was born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrant parents and lived in Montclair. Brewers chose a porter style because porters and stouts are favored by Jamaican beer drinkers and they flavored the beer with Jamaican pimento (allspice).[26]

In 2020, Celeste Beatty and her brothers Carl Beatty and Pernell Beatty incorporated Harlem Brew South, a brewery, taproom, and training center in a former tobacco warehouse located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The team plans to open the facility in 2023.[27][28][29][30]

In 2021, Beatty was featured in the documentary film One Pint at a Time, which also featured Alisa Bowens-Mercado, Teri Fahrendorf, and others.[31]

Beatty is also a member of the New York State Brewers Association, the Brewers Association, and the New York City Brewers Guild.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Gmoser, Justin. "Meet the first black woman to own a brewery in the US". Insider. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  2. ^ a b Angotti-Jones, Gabriella; Wang, Vivian (2017-06-15). "New York Today: Brewing in Harlem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  3. ^ a b Winfrey, Graham (September 2022). "He Helped Build the Craft Beer Industry. Now She's Working to Make It More Diverse". www.inc.com. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b Dzhanova, Yelena. "The brewing industry is facing a social reckoning. Now Black brewers are making craft beer more inclusive". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  5. ^ "Harlem Beer Distributing is looking to diversify Charlotte's craft beer scene". Q City Metro. 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  6. ^ "Alumna Celeste Beatty Brews Beer, Breaks Barriers | Shaw University". www.shawu.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  7. ^ "Harlem Brewer Mixing Things Up In The Beer Industry". 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  8. ^ "Celeste Beatty Is Forging A Path For Black Women In The Craft Beer World". HuffPost. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  9. ^ a b c "Take the Ale Train and Discover Harlem Brew". Edible Manhattan. 2010-03-07. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  10. ^ a b Michalska, Aleksandra (2020-01-25). "Harlem brewer taps her African-American roots for flavor". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  11. ^ Grant, Stephanie (2020-02-28). "Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty on Ghosts and Beauty in Rocky Mount, NC". CraftBeer.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  12. ^ "Black History Month: Harlem Brewer Mixing Things Up In The Craft Beer Industry". www.cbsnews.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  13. ^ "Celeste Beatty Is Forging A Path For Black Women In The Craft Beer World". HuffPost. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  14. ^ Staff (26 July 1992). "BEN & JERRY'S INTRODUCES STORE, FLAVOR TO HARLEM". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  15. ^ "POSTINGS: Coming to Harlem; A Ben & Jerry's For the Homeless". The New York Times. 1991-10-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  16. ^ "Celeste Beatty Is Forging A Path For Black Women In The Craft Beer World". HuffPost. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  17. ^ a b "Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty on Ghosts and Beauty in Rocky Mount". CraftBeer.com. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  18. ^ Grant, Stephanie (2020-02-28). "Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty on Ghosts and Beauty in Rocky Mount, NC". CraftBeer.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  19. ^ "Black History Month: Harlem Brewer Mixing Things Up In The Craft Beer Industry". www.cbsnews.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  20. ^ a b c Winfrey, Graham (September 2022). "He Helped Build the Craft Beer Industry. Now She's Working to Make It More Diverse". Inc.com.
  21. ^ Michalska, Aleksandra. "Harlem brewer taps her African-American roots for flavor". U.S. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  22. ^ "QUEEN STOUT | Harlem Brewing Company". www.harlembrewing.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  23. ^ "NY Craft Brewer's Beer to Be Sold at Walmart | News". www.specialtyfood.com. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  24. ^ a b "Briana Brake and Celeste Beatty Team Up to Launch Brewery at Rocky Mount Mills". MediaRoom. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  25. ^ Corp, Riley Davis NC News Intern (3 August 2020). "N.C. breweries are joining the Black is Beautiful beer collaboration, but only two in the state are Black-owned". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  26. ^ King, Rebecca. "Black History Month: Montclair Brewery & Harlem Brewing Co. release brew inspired by Gil Noble". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  27. ^ "Story". Harlem Brew South. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  28. ^ "Celeste Beatty Is Forging A Path For Black Women In The Craft Beer World". HuffPost. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  29. ^ "'A Black Woman Made This Beer' — How Historically Black Colleges and Universities Shaped a Generation of Black Women Brewers". Good Beer Hunting. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  30. ^ "Black-owned Harlem Brewing Company expands in Rocky Mount". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  31. ^ "The Cast". One Pint at a Time. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
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