8 Trill Pils. What’s in a name? If you ask the folks at BrewDog, you will get more than enough of an answer. 8 Trill Pils is part of an initiative (#8TrillsPils) by Scotland-based craft brewer BrewDog to bring more racial equality by selling and promoting beer.
The brewer, which has US headquarters in Canal Winchester, Ohio, is partnering with Los Angeles’ first black-owned brewery Crows & Hops on the initiative. Founded by Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter, Crows & Hops makes the beer that shares the initiative’s namesake.
In a time when the nation’s psyche is fractured by social upheaval, Crows & Hops’ mission statement is crystal clear: to preserve culture, expansion of the palate and community building through world class beer. By creating spaces that are community centric with underserved communities of color in mind, Ashburn and Hunter hope to drive diversity, inclusion, economic growth, and ultimately, racial equity.
One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to organizations promoting racial equity. In addition, the breweries are supporting a $100,000 development fund to help start more Black-owned breweries.
Why not through craft beer?
8trillpils.org is designed to be a craft beer resource that helps connect black-owned craft beer brands with industry leaders and tools, offering development and foundational support in various areas of business. The initiative was inspired by a statistic in a W.K. Kellogg Foundation study that said the US could see an $8 trillion gain in the gross domestic product if the racial equality gap were closed by 2020.
On its end, BrewDog will help amplify the 8 Trill Pils initiative by selling beer online and at all its locations in the US, United Kingdom and Germany. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to organizations promoting racial equity. In addition, the breweries are supporting a $100,000 development fund to help start more Black-owned breweries.
To help support the movement, interested craft enthusiasts can help in three ways:
- Buy beer — You can purchase the Crowns & Hops “8 Trill Pils” Pilsner in the US, UK and Berlin.
- Get social — Post about 8 Trill Pils on all your social media platforms to help drive awareness and take action towards racial equity.
- Push — Push and advocate for taking action toward racial equity in your own space and industries by downloading and sharing the tools from our site.
For more information on the initiative, visit 8 Trills Pils.
Story by Michael J. Pallerino, editor of Craft Brand & Marketing magazine. Over the past 30-plus years, he has won numerous awards, including the “Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award,” recognized as the Pulitzer Prize for business-to-business magazines. He can be reached at mikep@ccr-mag.com.