What does it mean to be an Asian-American brewer?
In 1994, Leah Wong Ashburn’s father, Oscar, did something few if any Chinese Americans had attempted before: he opened a craft brewery.
Mr. Wong, who immigrated to the United States from Jamaica in the 1960s, had retired to Asheville, NC after a long and successful career with an engineering firm. He didn’t think of beer until a friend and a local brewer suggested they start their own business – the first in town since Prohibition. They called it Highland brewing.
“When my dad opened the brewery, he was easy to find because he was the only Chinese selling beer in the South,” says Ms Wong Ashburn, who took over after her father retired (for the second time) in 2015 “There weren’t many of us then.”
While the demographics in the craft beer industry have slowly changed since Highland opened its doors nearly 30 years ago, the world is still dominated by white owners. According to data from the Association of Brewersonly 2 percent of breweries in the United States are owned by Asian Americans like the Wongs.
But a new wave of brewers is following in Mr. Wong’s footsteps and crafting beers that reflect their heritage.
Raymond Kwan and Barry Chan, the owners of Brew Lucky Envelope in Seattle and both children of Chinese immigrants see the lack of Asian-American breweries as a product of cultural pressure. The two had business careers until their late thirties, when Mr. Chan, a home brewer, and Mr. Kwan realized at the same time that their professional path was not satisfactory.
“We were talking about what to do one night with a few beers,” said Mr. Kwan, “and six hours later we were emailing manufacturers to get prices on brewing equipment.”
It wasn’t what either of them had planned for their lives. “Many Asian Americans have parents who wanted us to put our heads down and work hard, something that is reinforced by the model minority complex,” said Mr. Chan. “Eventually we fell into that stereotype. It took a while before we had the confidence that we could do this.”
The term “model minority” dates back to the 1960s, when Asian Americans and newly arrived immigrants were increasingly looking for a way to survive.
Lester Koga, a Japanese American and founder of Barebottle Brewery in San Francisco, said the weight of that cultural expectation had been with him since childhood. “You learn to assimilate as best you can, but knowing the identity of who you are never eludes you,” he said.
Still, he began to draw on his background and use Asian ingredients in his beers such as the Oolong Saison and Half Samurai Sake Wheat Ale.
Youngwon Lee, the Korean-American founder of Dokkae beerin Oakland, California, did the same.
“My main brewer, who is white, makes kimchi at home, so we took the culture out of his kimchi and used it to sour a kettle,” Mr. Lee said. “The sourness of the culture was the inspiration, and then we added chilli and ginger to round it out.”
Mr Chan of Lucky Envelope said that in the beginning he was more focused on making the best beer possible than incorporating ingredients and flavors from his childhood. “In the back of our minds, we knew we would otherwise be perceived as one of the few Asian-owned breweries,” said Mr. Chan. “We wanted the beer itself to be well received and didn’t want to be symbolized.”
Lucky Envelope’s beer spoke for itself; its Helles Lager won a bronze medal in the 2015 Great American Beer Festival contest, and the company continues to rack up awards.
Only after receiving this recognition did Mr. Chan and Mr. Kwan that they could bring their heritage into the brewery. They redesigned their logo in November 2016 to emphasize the hong bao, a money-filled red envelope traditionally exchanged during special events in China. They began brewing beer to commemorate the animals of the Chinese zodiac, with flavors such as rice flakes and Buddha’s hand, the citrus tentacles commonly used in East Asian cuisine.