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Back when Funkytown Brewery got its start, the three founders sought to make beer that would appeal to Black communities they felt had been shut out from the industry.
Just a few short years later, they’re brewing in the big leagues.
The Black-owned Chicago brewery went up against five beer-makers in a Samuel Adams competition and took home the grand prize: the chance to partner with one of the nation’s largest brewers on a beer collaboration.
“There’s not going to be a limit on what our imaginations can come up with a beer with them,” said co-founder Zack Day.
Winning the competition also means Funkytown will get mentorship and access to capital and business resources from Sam Adams to help strengthen its startup operation. Day and co-founders Greg Williams and Rich Bloomfield hope the partnership will stir up interest from investors, as well to help with expanding their brand.
And while their Sam Adams collab will only be sold at the Samuel Adams Boston Taproom, the opportunity to spread the word about Funkytown was huge, they said.
“The beer is great, and the beer will sell itself,” Day said. “But getting in front of people ... and actually showing what Funkytown is all about, because you are the only ones truly representing it? You get a good dosage on what it is and what it can be.”
It’s a big step for the fledgling brewery, which launched out of Pilot Project in Logan Square in 2021 with a focus on folks who are new to drinking beer, especially in the Black community.
After the trio met in grade school, they attended college together at Grambling State University, a historically Black college in Grambling, Louisiana. They drank cheap beer with their fellow collegians, but eventually graduated into craft beer.
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At functions, where they were surrounded by Blackness, the three friends would frequently be the only ones drinking beer, they said. It created a lot of questions from curious friends and acquaintances.
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“They were genuinely curious, though, like (asking), ‘Why y’all drink that? What does it taste like?’” Williams said. “And we wondered why they had such an adverse response to it.”
By 2017, they decided to start home brewing, with the hopes of eventually going pro. It was a path they’d largely have to pave for themselves — fewer than 1% of craft breweries in America are Black-owned, according to a 2021 study by The Brewers Association.
“We saw that, yo, there is a lane here for us,” Williams said. “(What if) we introduce our people to beer the proper way?”
[ Black-owned breweries are rare, but more are opening in Chicago. Here’s why that matters. ]
In hopes of appealing to new drinkers, Funkytown beers are typically less bitter, and branded to reflect the founders’ love for their heritage and community — past labels have featured The Fugees, Mary J. Blige and depictions of historically Black college and university homecomings.
Recent creations include the Black Is Beautiful imperial stout, which pairs the beer’s roasted vanilla notes with caramel and a hint of blueberry. The Stroll, named for a stretch of State Street in the Bronzeville neighborhood, is a brown ale winkingly called a “bronze” ale in celebration of the corridor’s history as a hub of Black culture.
And while their plans for the Sam Adams collab are still in the early stages, they hope to bring that same Chicago-born spirit to Boston.
Shelli Nicole is a freelance writer.