Urban Garden Brewing, the first Black woman-owned beer company in Washington, D.C., is looking to plant roots in the city and is fundraising $20,000 to support the effort.
Founder Eamoni Collier is close to signing a lease on Urban Garden Brewing’s new home in the Fort Trotten area but she’s in need of a significant amount of financial backing to help make her dream a reality, WTOP News reported.
“To support that process, we’re looking to raise $20,000 in order to help with our legal requirements and permitting to help speed the process along,” said Collier. “So we’re just reaching out to our community like, ‘Hey, you’ve seen what we can do, you see the passion behind this, the people behind this.’ Now we’re just asking for the help to get us to that next point so we can make this dream come true.”
Urban Garden Brewing has made waves in Chocolate City by collaborating with breweries around town and hosting “lots of events” to get its handcrafted beers into the hands of potential customers, the outlet reported. Though the reception for her one-of-a-kind brews—made with ingredients found in her uncle’s District Heights, Maryland, backyard—has been warm, Collier has found it challenging to keep up with the demand for them.
“Very difficult, extremely difficult. And it’s also very expensive,” she said.
The costs related to home brewing large batches of beer can be relatively low, with the average price of a five gallon batch being around $40; however, the costs associated with opening a business in the Fort Totten area, Collier has her sights on are much more expensive.
Still, she believes the beer industry needs what she’s bringing to the table.
Infusing her beers with creativity and unique flavor, Collier’s goal is to appeal to more women customers, thus broadening the consumer base of the popular beverage.
“I think a lot of people aren’t aware of how beer even started,” she said. “Beer started with women. We were the first brewers. And I think beer has come a long, long way from its roots and it’s left a lot of people out. So I think it’s just important because there’s a whole world in craft beer and I think it’s important that people are welcomed into the community to find their own passions.”
By and large, those left out of the beer industry are both Black and woman. Collier claims that about 99% of the craft beer industry is white, the outlet reports.
“Diversity and inclusion is important, especially when we’re talking about ownership and equity. We deserve a piece of the pie,” she said. “Those numbers have to change. And we have to begin the process starting here, right? You know that this is the nation’s capital.”
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