GABF spotlights Black brewers in special section at this year’s beer festival

Despite being a longtime beer drinker and brewery owner, Celeste Beatty has only attended the Great American Beer Festival once in its 40-plus-year history.

In 2001, she founded Harlem Brewing Co. and began contracting with other beer makers to bring her original recipes to market. Beer has been Beatty’s way of connecting with her heritage and community. As a Black woman, she looks to the Harlem Renaissance, the Sugar Hill district, and icons like baseball players Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson for inspiration in her craft.

Beatty has always wanted to share her beers – and the unique stories they honor – with drinkers at GABF, but was unsure if she’d fit in with the “big guys” who typically serve there. This year, however, Beatty jumped at the opportunity to pour on the fes...