A Black, family-owned brewery is slated to open in Bronzeville later this month, NBC Chicago’s Vi Nguyen reports.
A new brewery is set to open at the corner of 47th Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood this month.
The founders of Turner Haus Brewery told NBC Chicago they’re not just inspired to fill pints, but also to fill a need in their community.
“I’m feeling excited, exhausted, and excited,” co-founder Steven Turner said.
The Black-owned and family-operated brewery will open on Nov. 30 in a shared space with Sip and Savor Coffee Shop.
“We’re very excited to be an option for people to gather, socialize, and drink in our neighborhood,” he said.
The business has been 10 years in the making for Turner and his family, who brew everything off-site and call it a labor of love.
“We named all of our beers after a matriarch in our families, and we really think about who they were as a person as we’re coming up with a recipe to honor them, so we really put that into the ingredients,” co-founder Blair Aikens said.
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One of the beers on tap is named after their beloved grandmother Helen.
“One of the things we have in our slogan is that these are people that poured into us and now we pour pints of them,” Turner said.
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According to the National Black Brewers Association, less than 1% of craft breweries are Black-owned, a statistic Turner’s family is hoping to change.
“I look at it as an opportunity because at that point it’s an opportunity for us to get into this community, educate them not only who were are, but beer and craft beer in itself,” he said.
Turner lives in Bronzeville and wanted to reinvest in the community with help from the owner of Sip and Savor.
“It’s going to be a real good thing for the community,” Sip and Savor Hospitality Group owner Trez Van Pugh III said. “We’re going to create jobs in the community. It’s going to cause a lot of buzz, which it already has.”
The plan is to open four days a week from Thursday through Sunday. Customers can choose from five craft beer options on tap, including a grapefruit lager.
Turner is eager to share his love for craft beer with people in the community.
“We hope that inspires other people to come into this area as well and do what we’re doing, to give people more options in Bronzeville to hang out and entertain,” Turner said.
Turner Haus Brewery officially opens on Thursday, Nov. 30 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
