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New Resource Helps Consumers Find Ohio-Grown Beers

Fresh Hop Ohio Campaign Helps Consumers Drink Beer Grown Here COLUMBUS, Ohio – For craft beer lovers – especially the "hop heads" – this is the best time of year. Harvest season gives Ohio breweries an opportunity to showcase one-of-a-kind beers made with locally grown and freshly picked hops. To help consumers find these once-a-year beers at breweries across the state, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association and the Ohio Hop Growers Guild have launched Fresh Hop Ohio, a guide to the first beers brewed with the 2022 hop crop. Most of the beer consumed around the world is made with hops that are kiln dried and pelletized for longer shelf life and ease of storage. The beers featured in the Fresh Hop Ohio campaign are all brewed with fresh, unprocessed hops grown by Ohio farmers. Fresh hop beers offer uniquely robust aromas and flavors, and are only available during the fall harvest season. "As Ohio's craft brewing industry has grown to more than 400 independently owned breweries, Ohio's hop growers have also increased in number, acreage and available varieties," said Ohio Craft Brewers Association executive director Mary MacDonald. "Brewing beer with locally sourced hops, barley and other ingredients is a great way for our industry to further our commitments to supporting the local economy and practicing environmental stewardship." The beer list at the Fresh Hop Ohio page continues to grow as farmers around the state complete their harvesting and brewers schedule their brew days to use the hops at the peak of freshness. Consumers can see the name and location of the brewery, the name and style of beer, the name of the hop grower and varieties used in the beer, as well as an estimate of when the beer will be available at the brewery taproom. Additions are made to the list as new information comes in from the breweries. See the beer list at https://ohiocraftbeer.org/freshhopohio Founded in 2007, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association is a nonprofit guild that exists to promote, preserve, diversify and unify Ohio’s craft brewing industry. We aspire to be recognized as the industry leader at both state and national levels for preserving the art of making high-quality, unique craft beer; to serve as the unified voice for craft brewers across the state; to advocate on behalf of the Ohio craft beer industry; to contribute to systemic, local community development by driving economic and job growth, while creating experiences that bring people together; to promote safe, responsible enjoyment of Ohio craft beer; and to serve as a beacon for local production and manufacturing through craft beer, resulting in diverse choices for consumers.

Beer Diversity And The Need To Be Better On Both Sides

So one of the things that I have recently decided to do was to look at writing again and to provide a little something different than the video content that I often share. I mean, I do have a journalism degree so it kind of makes sense. I do hope you enjoy the writings which of course will still be focused mainly on beer, and my take on the various subjects that I look to share. These will be looking to be weekly and most will probably be short but some may be longer depending on the topic, but I will try to keep them all entertaining for sure. This being said, let's go ahead and dive in.

So what from beer has caught my attention recently? One thing has been still that I see is a lack of diversity still in beer, not just from the brewery side of things but also on the consumer side as well. Recently, Pittsburgh just held its Barrel and Flow Fest which, unfortunately, I was not able to attend as the date conflicted with previous family obligations. However, it looked to be another rousing success from what I saw read from the event. This is awesome in that it keeps pushing forward and each time since its creation has been growing, even as we faced a pandemic.

But seeing and knowing this and from what I know from my marketing background as well as advertising education which I gained under that journalism degree that I mentioned, I am still kind of but not totally surprised by missed opportunities to not just black people but all people of color that can benefit the brewing industry. There is a fondness for craft beer in Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and anyone else that I may have missed communities. And if I missed your community then I do apologize as I was looking here at the major ones as a whole. But, as I sat in a brewery this past week for the longest time I was the only Black person there, staff or patron, and the thought just pondered my mind. 

The funny thing is that while there, the music being played was either hip-hop or r&b and I was like, well, this is interesting. Now music can be loved by anyone of any group and as a former radio DJ I will easily attest to this, but it just was one of those things that made me go hmmm. After a little time, I did see another Black male arrive as well as a Black female, they were with separate friends but in the time our numbers tripled, lol, so we were on a roll.

Now I will tell you that I never have had an issue being the only Black person anywhere, I think my early years in Catholic school probably laid the foundation for this. But still, it is funny more so maybe with craft beer than in other industry areas because there are so many touches of things that reflect on the Black community with everything from the ambiance at a brewery to the names of the beers and the culture kind of being taken for granted I feel in many cases. I feel this also happens a little with the Latino community as well with beers being called Mexican lagers, which there is not even a BJCP style as far as I know, and no one really has a definition for it. Tasting them, they are most often just the same as an adjunct lager made here in the states so what's the difference, adding a lime wedge?

But I digress and going back to my main point that drove these thoughts, how does diversity increase more? If we are having our cultures tapped into then we should also have some representation as well across the bar to which we can relate. Anything else can be seen as stealing and exploiting in some type of fashion. This doesn't mean that this is the goal of the brewery but merely, the perception that may be received. Maybe it's also on us to show up at these places that we enjoy and also ask these questions as patrons and consumers. I would like to see more people of color behind the bar, one because I used to be one back in the 90s, and is great for social skills building. And two, having other people will bring other views and other opportunities that can even help brewing grow more. Beer is a great unifier and what better place to build unity and have great conversations than a brewery? The Black Is Beautiful initiative started by Weathered Souls has been a great start for awareness, hopefully, we keep building on top of that and keep moving things forward to even higher success.

Special Edition Podcast with Linda Cooley CEO Of Mad River Brewing

This episode is a replay of our Tuesday night Brewsday event from July 20th, 2022 where we spoke with Linda Cooley who is the CEO Of Mad River Brewing located in Northern California. We took some time to discuss the great things they are doing out there and tapped into conversations on diversity and inclusion among many other things. Take a listen and enjoy, and if you ever make it out to The Golden State then definitely try to make a visit, I know I will! Cheers!

Brewsday With Linda Cooley