HYFIN to host “Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient” on Aug. 26 at Pilot Project Brewing

Radio Milwaukee’s Urban Alternative channel HYFIN (WYMS-88.9FM HD2) will host “Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient” on Saturday, August 26 at Pilot Project Brewing, the station announced Wednesday.

“Wisconsin is known as a beer state, but the region is home to very few minority-owned breweries,” said HYFIN Program Director Tarik Moody. “Last year, I organized an event at The Sugar Maple amplifying the BIPOC-owned breweries that do exist in effort to lift up the work they are doing and show other Brown and Black folks interested in brewing that it’s possible.”

“The community response was amazing and we are excited to have HYFIN presenting the event this year at a larger venue, Pilot Project Brewing.” 

Started in Chicago, Pilot Project Brewing opened a Milwaukee tasting room and brewhouse in November 2022. Located in the former home of Milwaukee Brewing Co., the new site contains a full kitchen and an expansive production facility. 

Beyond their own beer production, Pilot Project aims to be a resource for new breweries, especially minority-owned breweries that face additional hurdles in the start-up phase. Their model is based on the music industry, offering assistance with fine-tuning recipes, production scaling, business development, marketing, distribution and more.    

“When Pilot Project launched in Milwaukee, we were immediately greeted with open arms by Tarik and the HYFIN family,” said Dan Abel,  Co-Founder and CEO of Pilot Project Brewing. “As a business focused on lowering the barrier to entry in brewing, we’ve been fortunate to work with an array of brewers from all backgrounds. Partnering with the HYFIN crew on ‘Brown, Black & Brews’ gives us a massive opportunity to spotlight some of the creators Pilot has helped launch and we appreciate the team at Radio Milwaukee for including us from day one.”

The event will feature sampling from regional Brown- and Black-owned breweries, including Funkytown, Moor’s Brewing Company, Black Horizon Brewing Company, Casa Humilde Cerveceria, as well as Milwaukee’s own Soul Brew Kombucha. Moody will be DJing at the event and HYFIN will also host a pop-up shop of its community partners selling items and offering tasty small bites. Special guests from the BIPOC brewing community are also slated to attend.

VIP and general admission tickets for “Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient” are available for purchase at brownblackbrews.funraise.org. VIPs will receive early entry and a special tasting from 12-1 p.m., plus a swag bag of goodies. General Admission sampling will be held from 1-4 p.m. 

HYFIN, NPR’s Black-led digital music and media movement, launched on Juneteenth Day 2022. The urban alternative channel from Radio Milwaukee can be heard online at hyfin.org, on-air at 88.9FM-HD2 and through the HYFIN mobile apps on Android or Apple devices. 
Promotional graphics for the event can be found at bit.ly/BrownBlackBrews. For more information or interview requests, please contact Sarah Lahr at [email protected] or 815-260-7218.