Beginning in earnest today at Atlantucky Brewing, Crafted for Action Craft Beer Conference is bringing craft beer experts and enthusiasts together to address the need for more diversity and representation in the beverage industry.
The four-day hybrid event, which kicked off on the evening of Juneteenth with a beer-sharing opening party, will include panels, fireside chats, tastings, and networking opportunities. Crafted for Action closes with an annual state-of-the-craft-beer-industry address on Friday.
“There are so many women and people of color doing amazing things,” founder Jen Price, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview. “I hope these conversation spark interest, inspire people and encourage them to tap further into the craft beer community.”
Post-conference events include meet-and-greets for guests to bring beer to share, a beer dinner with courses honoring Atlanta’s Black history hosted by beer influencer Dennis “Ale Sharpton” Byron, a game night, and a community service volunteer project at a farm.
Credit: Kee Images
Credit: Kee Images
This year’s theme for the conference is “Craft, Community, and Culture.” Price says those are three things needed to build infrastructure in the industry.
“It wraps all of what we’re doing in Atlanta into one lane,” Price said.
“We tried to make sure we’re weaving in creating, shifting and highlighting the culture the Black craft beer community has established here in Atlanta.”
Crafted for Action’s virtual conference schedule has sessions on creating beer recipes, dealing with grief and mental health in the beer industry, and how to start collaborations with Black-owned craft breweries.
The in-person workshops include panels on content creation around craft beer, beer ingredients, peer-to-peer speed networking, persevering as an entrepreneur, and a session on product branding and marketing led by Ale Max Day founder Craig Stroud.
Credit: John R. Walder
Credit: John R. Walder
Crafted for Action has also added a winemaking workshop led by The Dahlonega Winemaking Studio and a chat with Billie Harris, the founder of The Vino Van, a Black-owned wine vineyard touring company.
The pitch competition features six cohorts from Crafted Fellows Program, Crafted for Action’s incubator and accelerator program that supports minority-owned beverages. The participants are competing for a grant and ongoing support following the conference.
Price, who has a full-time job as a city planner and project manager, said Crafted for Action is a platform that helps those from marginalized and underrepresented groups in craft beer and the beverage industry build their products and brands.
“Most of us in the beer industry are doing this as a side hustle,” Price said. “There’s a lot of growth to be made, and I hope these conversations can spark interest and encourage people to keep going.”
Credit: Kee Images
Credit: Kee Images
Kevin Irvin, Atlantucky’s operations manager and co-founder of craft beer lifestyle brand Draught Season, joined the Crafted for Action team last year.
He said conference activities were planned to include something for everybody.
“We have things for the connoisseur who wants to learn about the detailed part of the process,” Irvin said. “We’re also able to help someone really try to grow their brand or have events for the average person, who just has an interest in the craft brew scene.”
Irvin said Crafted for Action is an opportunity for Black-owned breweries based in smaller markets the chance to raise awareness about their products to other craft beer consumers.
“State laws around beer distribution usually keep Black-owned breweries from getting their product to market outside of their state,” Irvin said.
“Atlanta’s beer scene has tastemakers, influencers and other brewers. It’s a challenge that we welcome because it helps give exposure to these businesses and teaches us different systems to work through.”
Credit: Bob Townsend
Credit: Bob Townsend
The original concept for Crafted for Action was a retail beer store and tasting room to be called Atlanta Beer Boutique, planned for location in Glenwood Park. After securing a loan in 2020 to start her business, Price said the coronavirus pandemic caused her to pivot from a brick-and-mortar.
“Everything stalled at City Hall and I couldn’t get any permitting done. It was dragging on and I didn’t have the financial bandwidth to keep that going.”
A year later, as Price was trying to decide if she wanted to still pursue a venture in craft beer, she decided to produce a conference.
“I envisioned it for people to use it as a space to come, meet each other, and talk about beer dreams,” Price said.
“I still wanted to give back and be part of the community as a resource to people, and the conference does that in a different way.”
Price says her goal for Crafted for Action today is for attendees to find a niche in craft beer and pursue it.
“People should make new friends, get phone numbers, and use it as a leverage to further their dreams and goals they’re pursuing in craft beer,” Price said. “They can find the missing pieces and connect those dots here.”
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