'Black, Queer-Owned' Brewery In ‘Beer City’ Says It Closed Because Of 'White Supremacy’
A brewery in Asheville, North Carolina that boasted it was black and queer woman-owned shut down, and offered this reason for the closing: “white supremacy.”
Black Star Line Brewing Co. of Hendersonville was one of numerous breweries near the city of Asheville; according to exploreasheville.com the city has more breweries per capita than any U.S. city.
But last week, the brewery bemoaned its closing on Facebook. On Monday, the brewery stated, “Like many people of color on this land, displacement at the hands of white supremacists policies and institutions is not past, but present.”
That was followed by a post on Wednesday that acknowledged the brewery had bought “oversold” supplies and utilized hand-me-down equipment. The post added, “Black Star Line was sabotaged by white supremacists, government officials (J. Edgar Hoover), and policies and procedures that were invoked to intentionally end the operations of Black Star Line.”
Company founder L.A. McCrae complained to Munchies, “White supremacy shut us down. Our world has been rocked,” although McCrae admitted that the brewery had been underfunded when it opened last summer. She claimed a lender had given the brewery $50,000 but the brewery could not contact the lender before the brewery was evicted from its premises.
According to WLOS, the brewery had received racist, threatening emails from an anonymous source in November, and the brewery claimed it had suffered numerous break-ins. Mountain Express reported that when vandals damaged the brewery’s equipment, other breweries showed their support, and the a Black Star official allowed that the Hendersonville police response to the emails was “swift and conscientious.”
Mountain Express noted: “Representatives of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. traveled to Hendersonville to repair Black Star Line’s damaged equipment. New Belgium Brewing and Wedge are both donating proceeds from beer sales at their respective taprooms to the brewery, and Black Star Line’s GoFundMe has been reinstated due to requests from the community for opportunities to contribute. Additionally, a keg swap with nearby Sanctuary Brewing Co. on Nov. 19 was met with a resoundingly positive response.”
