Marcus Baskerville is the co-owner and head brewer of Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, Texas and one of the few Black brewery owners in the industry. After police killed George Floyd in Minnesota and protesting began, Baskerville wanted to use his brewery to help spread a singular message: Black Lives Matter.
“As a Black business owner, I wanted to use our platform to get the word out about equality and the lack of respect that people of color feel,” Baskerville told San Antonio magazine.
What was meant to be a single beer release from Weathered Souls has become a country-wide collaborative project called Black is Beautiful. Breweries who have signed on to the project will brew a stout base — its recipe can be found on the project website — with a unique spin from the participating brewery. For Weathered Souls, the beer will be a 10 percent ABV imperial stout with dark chocolate. Home brewers can get in on the collab, too; Black is Beautiful has an oatmeal stout recipe for brewing amateurs.
Participating breweries will donate profits to organizations that fight for equality, support police reform or provide legal defense to those who can’t afford it. Weathered Souls will be supporting the Know Your Rights Camp, the Colin Kaepernick-founded organization that supports Black and Brown communities.
As of June 3, over 183 breweries have signed on to the Black is Beautiful initiative. Baskerville said Weathered Souls will release its beer the first week of July.
Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
