Annie Johnson, the first African-American ever (and first woman since 1983) to win Homebrewer of the Year.

This article, from Thrillist of all places, does most of the work for us in asking the interesting question here:

So, in the absence of statistics, I set out to answer a simple question: where the hell are all the black craft brewers, bar owners, bloggers, aficionados, and nerds? Why is craft beer — the consumer side, and especially the business side — so white?

The article goes on to explore this idea in greater depth, touching on several possible explanations/causes, and asking the big questions:

1. Black people don’t drink much craft beer

2. There is an ugly history of racism in beer

3. Craft brewing requires money and time

4. Does it even matter?

And however sticky it may be, this last point offers the most interesting debate. The article makes a strong case that the lack of diversity in participants also leads to both a lack of diversity in creativity, and a lack of sharing in the associated economic opportunity. These are basically irrefutable arguments.

What may be tougher to tackle are how these play out on an individual level:

Do enough people care enough to push change, from either side?

For those in the craft beer scene, how do they feel about the current makeup of the crowd? What could they do on a personal level to change it? How would they personally benefit?

For those outside of it, do they even want to be brought in? Why or why not? Are they missing out, or just sitting out?