The National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) has announced that Cajun Fire Brewing in New Orleans, LA and Montclair Brewery in Montclair, New Jersey have been chosen as the recipients of its 2024 Brewing Equipment Donation Grants.
Cajun Fire Brewing will receive a 20BBL brewhouse generously donated by Russian River Brewing Company of Santa Rosa, CA. The brewhouse has been used by RRBC for more than 20 years to brew its beers, including the iconic Pliny the Younger and Pliny the Elder. Earlier this year, it was used to brew the 103rd batch of Pliny the Younger.
Longtime supporters of the NB2A, Russian River co-owners Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo saw their brewhouse as a way to help the organization in an even more tangible way.
“Natalie and I are thrilled to be shipping our old 20BBL brewhouse to Jon Renthrope at Cajun Fire Brewing,” commented Vinnie Cilurzo. “Anyone that has opened or owned their own business knows that along the way you need some help from others as well as a little luck. Over the 30 years I have been in the beer business, there have been plenty of friends and acquaintances who have helped me and our business. It just felt like the right thing to do to pay it forward with our old brewhouse. I also hope that us donating our old brewhouse will inspire others to maybe take the same steps as they upgrade equipment. We want Jon to know we are here to support him with any help he and his team may need as they reinstall it and get going on the first brews on our old equipment. Maybe even one day Natalie and I can get out for a collaboration with Cajun Fire!”
The Montclair Brewery will receive a packaging line donated by Optimism Brewing in Seattle, WA.
Montclair Brewery, a family-owned craft brewery established in Montclair, NJ, in 2014, was chosen to receive a canning line from Optimism Brewing. Known for its diverse and culturally inspired beer offerings, Montclair has been a pillar in its community since its founding, fostering local collaborations and supporting various social causes.
The brewery is in the midst of an expansion, with the goals of doubling its system size and tripling its production capacity. Co-founders Denise-Ford Sawadogo and Leo Sawadogo are also working on a second New Jersey location where the donated canning line will be implemented. Their new equipment will support the tripling of its production capacity, enabling the brewery to pursue additional markets and significantly broaden its distribution reach.
Optimism Brewing, operating in Seattle for more than eight years, had a leadership team aware of just how white craft beer is, but it wasn’t until the protests following George Floyd’s murder and the brewery’s support of Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied movement that they truly reflected on their privilege. Like many breweries, they brew “Black Is Beautiful” and “Reparations” beers, donate profits to BIPOC groups, host events to try to increase awareness, but while helpful, this level of giving alone will not create radical change.
“When I look at equipment that we own, I see our hard work, but I also see the embodiment of generations of advantages,” explained Gay Gilmore, co-founder of Optimism Brewing. “Sure, we could have sold our canning machine and put a much larger dollar amount on our balance sheet than what this tax deduction will net, but this equipment transfer will mean so much more to Montclair than those dollar signs ever will. We had a big leg up, and now we are giving someone else that same help. This is why partnering with the NB2A is so important. We could not have done this without the NB2A that volunteered their time to help publicize this donation, select a fitting brewery, and everything they do for Black breweries around the country.”
The NB2A was founded to address the systemic barriers that Black brewers face, including limited access to capital and resources necessary to thrive in the industry. Its Equipment Donation Grant Program was launched this year as a tangible step towards breaking down these barriers, providing Black-owned breweries with the tools they need to maximize productivity and sustain their businesses. From May through June of 2024, a dedicated task force carefully reviewed applications from passionate breweries, selecting recipients based on criteria designed to identify those who could most benefit from these life-changing donations.