HYFIN, Radio Milwaukee’s sister station at WYMS-88.9FM HD2, will host its second annual “Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient” beer event from 1 until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26 at Pilot Project Brewing, 1128 N. 9th St.
The event will focus on regional Brown- and Black-owned breweries, including Funkytown, Moor’s Brewing Company, Black Horizon Brewing Company, Casa Humilde Cerveceria and Milwaukee’s Soul Brew Kombucha, and will offer samples.
In addition, organizers and program director Tarik Moody will DJ and there will be a pop-up shop with community partners selling items and food.
The first installment was held last summer at The Sugar Maple in Bay View.
“Wisconsin is known as a beer state, but the region is home to very few minority-owned breweries,” said Moody. “Last year, I organized an event at The Sugar Maple amplifying the BIPOC-owned breweries that do exist in effort to lift up the work they are doing and show other Brown and Black folks interested in brewing that it’s possible.”
“The community response was amazing and we are excited to have HYFIN presenting the event this year at a larger venue, Pilot Project Brewing.”
In addition to its expanded capacity, Pilot Project is a Funkytown brewing partner.
“When Pilot Project launched in Milwaukee, we were immediately greeted with open arms by Tarik and the HYFIN family,” said Dan Abel, cofounder and CEO of Pilot Project Brewing. “As a business focused on lowering the barrier to entry in brewing, we've been fortunate to work with an array of brewers from all backgrounds.
“Partnering with the HYFIN crew on ‘Brown, Black & Brews’ gives us a massive opportunity to spotlight some of the creators Pilot has helped launch and we appreciate the team at Radio Milwaukee for including us from day one."
VIP and general admission tickets for “Brown, Black & Brews: The Fifth Ingredient” are on sale now at brownblackbrews.funraise.org. VIP tickets include early entry and a special tasting from noon until 1 p.m., plus a swag bag.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
