Unlikely to feel the gnat bite of a conservative boycott because it brews beers with flavor, Guinness Brewery is teaming up with Black community members in Maryland to create a series of craft brews that evoke signature flavors from Black culture, the Baltimore Sun reports.
At its Open Gate Brewery in the Baltimore suburb of Halethorpe, Maryland–its only brewhouse outside Ireland–Guinness has worked with amateur brewers, chefs and beer enthusiasts from the Black community to create brews with flavors and scents familiar to Black families.
“It actually does taste like a sweet potato pie,” said Courtney Holden, a Black beer enthusiast who helped create “See Us,” a brown ale infused with the flavors of sweet potato, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and a whisper of vanilla. “It tastes like the hug from a aunt you haven’t seen in a long time.”
The project is part of the beer giant’s Guinness Gives Back Baltimore Community Fund, a million-dollar commitment to support three areas in the Baltimore region’s Black community: economic justice, community empowerment and equal representation. The expected $200,000 in proceeds from the beers will go to an initiative to create jobs in low-wage communities in Maryland.
One hundred cases of each brew will be available at the Open Gate Brewery, which features a Guinness store and restaurant. The location features classic Guinness beers brewed on-site, as well as smaller-batch recipes that are only available at the brewery.