HELLA COASTAL BREWERY AND THE INCLUSION BATCH PROJECT

This month we’ll be focusing on a relatively new brewery out of Oakland called Hella Coastal. They have been doing great work lately, not only with their beers (whether on their own or in collaboration with the likes of Dokkabier, Weathered Souls, and Rare Barrel), but also in their work helping create a more diverse and open community for people of color, women, and LGBTQIA people in the beer industry. They are members of the Bay Area Brewers Guild Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, who created the Inclusion Beer Project. By signing up for the IBP, participants agree to form a DEI committee within their organization and help budding brewers by collaborating with one of their host breweries (Dokkaebier, Alvarado Street, Ol Factory, Cooperage Brewing Co, Headlands, and Oakland United Beer Works are the inaugural host breweries), sharing their knowledge and helping establish connections within the industry. This has led to some great beers and has helped some smaller brewers get more exposure as well.

Hella Coastal's purpose is to highlight  beer drinkers and producers that are not well represented in the present day craft brewing scene. Our focus is to show the diversity and inclusivity of brewing in all aspects. Whether it's the lifestyle, just two guys that turned beer drinking into beer crafting, that’s now growing into the first Black owned brewery in Oakland. We strive hard to represent the work and pride of what goes into the art of craft brewing, but also the inclusivity of what makes where we come from as a whole, what it is…...diverse. We want to maintain and grow upon the tradition of the brewers that were unrecognized before us. And with that, bring those traditions to the forefront to be recognized. Additionally we want to raise, address and educate the public on the historical, economic, social and health issues concerning our communities.

Cheers! 

Justin Malesheetz

Beer Buyer