Brandi Hunter takes listeners to Memphis to explore what it takes to build a craft beer brand in an industry where less than one percent of breweries are Black-owned, and systemic barriers continue to limit growth.

at the center of this episode. A former economic development executive for Memphis, Kolheim turned his hobby into a full-time business. The nuanced craft beer flavors he creates, such as King’s Ransom and Space Age Sippin’, reflect the city’s culture and complexity. Like many independent brewers in the U.S., Kolheim is navigating the economic challenges of owning and growing a business. He relies on contract brewing to produce his beer as he works toward opening his own production facility.

Brewers Association (NB2A), and beer journalist Dennis Malcolm Byron, better known by his pseudonym, Ale Sharpton, provide industry and historical context for Kolheim’s experience. Byron elaborates on findings from the 2024 State of the Black Brewers report, a survey of Black brewers nationwide. He details how Black brewers face more structural obstacles than their white counterparts, including limited access to capital, equipment, and reliable distributor partnerships. Byron and Asato also discuss the through-line from centuries of racial bias to today’s lack of representation, starting with enslaved African brewers and continuing through targeted malt liquor marketing in the 1980s and 1990s.