The Churn
With New Belgium Brewing Collaboration, Atlanta’s Ale Sharpton is Building Bridges with Craft Beer
Mike JordanApril 8, 2021
Ale Sharpton isn’t new to craft brew. The longtime Atlanta resident has become a well-respected ambassador for craft beer, particularly in Atlanta, where new breweries have been constantly opening for the last decade. Now, with Piano Keys, his new beer collaboration with New Belgium Brewing, Sharpton is hitting new high notes as a beer industry bridge-builder.
“Working with a major brewery like New Belgium, it’s everything I wanted to do,” Ale said in a phone interview. “When they brought me on as a consultant, I said we need to make beer that brings good people together. And through that vehicle I can also educate and flex my creative muscle.”
The Piano Keys brand is co-owned by Ale and New Belgium, which is the fourth-largest craft brewery in the U.S. According to the Colorado-based brewery, Piano Keys was born from an idea Ale had to make a beer that wasn’t already available from New Belgium’s repertoire — one brewed with cocoa nibs from Atlanta chocolatier Xocolatl, and imported vanilla beans from Uganda.
It was also spurred on by a chat in which Ale expressed the need for changes in the brewing community, as they pertain to people of color.
“What started as an honest conversation about increasing the presence and participation of under-represented communities in craft beer with Ale Sharpton, has led to both an incredible beer and relationship,” New Belgium said in a statement.
After two successful previous releases — first only on draft at select Atlanta bars in spring 2019, and debuting in black-topped cans during a limited 200-case run in fall 2020 — Piano Keys is back in its widest release yet, with 2,000 cases of ready-to-drink beer. The imperial stout is currently stocked in 4-pack 16oz cans at grocery stores and beer shops around Atlanta.
Ale says he got into craft beer as a journalist because he wanted to help build exposure and push to have brewing companies promote something other than malt liquor to Black beer-drinkers.
“I’m a hip hop head. And I wanted to write something different for magazines like XXL, HipHopDX, and people like them. I thought beer would be a nice angle to teach more people about it, because African Americans have especially been forced to just really be exposed to those big macro brands that really didn’t show the amount of flavor that beer could produce.”
Ale also said he wanted better minority visibility and representation in all aspects of the beer industry because of beer’s African origins. “There’s marketing, technology, chemistry, engineering, and design. It’s wide open! I’d like to see that more, where the community is affected directly in a positive way.”
Ale also wants the craft of brewing itself to have more Black involvement.
“We need to see us producing beer,” he said. “I think that Piano Keys also shows people that a Black man’s name can be on a can, in the front, exposed for everybody to see.”
Piano Keys is 10% alcohol-by-volume (ABV), and is described as having a deep black color, with hazelnut-brown foam. The flavor profile is chocolatey, with moderate notes of coffee, roasted malt, and hints of vanilla and red berry. The sweetness at the beginning of each sip turns slightly bitter, and ends smoothly, making it a well-balanced beer that avoids the heavy, syrupy outcome that is common among imperial stouts.
In addition to Piano Keys just being a damn-good beer, it’s also doing good with the revenue it generates. For every case of Piano Keys sold, $2 will benefit BrewGether, a collaborative project established by Ale. Recipients of funding from BrewGether have already included the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, HEY! [Helping Empower Youth] Atlanta, Giving Kitchen, and others.
“Craft beer is a huge economic driver for many communities in America. New Belgium and Ale are taking a community-based approach to break down barriers between those facing historical and systemic inequities, especially in the craft beer industry,” New Belgium said in a statement.
“I’m always about giving,” Ale said. “BrewGether formed so we could give something back to the community.
For now, you can support Ale Sharpton’s collaboration with New Belgium by buying as much of it as you can find, and pouring yourself or others a pint glass from the fashionable black cans with vertical piano keys — a design Ale brought to life.
You can purchase Piano Keys at multiple locations in Atlanta, including select Kroger stores (the BeltLine location has it in stock), Hop City, Green’s and others. To find out if it’s sold near you, you can also use New Belgium’s Brewfinder tool.
In the meantime, Ale is proud not only of what he and New Belgium have made together in liquid form, but also the tangible opportunities that Piano Keys — and more inclusion of Blacks in brewing — will create.
“The day has changed, finally, and journalists are writing about beer and exposing more truth to it. People are experimenting with it, we’re brewing it more, we’re seeing a lot more of us. And thanks to social media, we’re becoming more and more educated about having more of a piece of the economic pie in the beer world.”
Learn more about Piano Keys at NewBelgium.com, and follow Ale Sharpton and Piano Keys Stout on Instagram.