{"id":65269,"date":"2025-02-03T02:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T02:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/beer\/at-brown-girls-brew-you-can-eat-your-cakeand-drink-it-too-hop-culture\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T02:00:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T02:00:45","slug":"at-brown-girls-brew-you-can-eat-your-cakeand-drink-it-too-hop-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=65269","title":{"rendered":"At Brown Girl\u2019s Brew, You Can Eat Your Cake\u2026And Drink It Too \u2022 Hop Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Carrot cake, lemon pound cake, key lime pie, banana pudding, and German chocolate cake\u2014all sound more like items in a bakery case than beers on a shelf. And you wouldn\u2019t be wrong. But at Brown Girl\u2019s Brew\u00ae<\/a>, you can eat your cake\u2026and drink it, too. <\/p>\n

Every year, towards the end of the year, we post on Instagram, asking our fans to tell us their favorite breweries and beers of the year. In 2022, they introduced us to a fantastic brewery called Fox Tale Fermentation<\/a>, and in 2024, they once again delivered, telling us about Brown Girl\u2019s Brew. <\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t seen any other brewery like this, which is why we named Brown Girl\u2019s Brew one of our \u201c11 Best Breweries of 2024.\u201d<\/a> I think all of you will agree that in today\u2019s industry, with just a whisker shy of 10,000 breweries in the country, that is very, very hard to do.<\/p>\n

Started by Christina Thomas, Brown Girl\u2019s Brew transforms cherished pastries into crushable beers. But these aren\u2019t just any old recipes.<\/p>\n

They come from Christina\u2019s soul, her heritage, and her mother. <\/p>\n

Feeding A Community, Feeding a Soul<\/h2>\n
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Photography courtesy of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew and New York Wins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Christina describes her mom as a true woman of the sixties. \u201cShe did her own thing, and she made sure that she cooked every night,\u201d says Christina, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago as the youngest of eight siblings. \u201cShe was one of those women from that era, and I really appreciate that about her.\u201d <\/p>\n

There was food on the table every night, and every day, there were baked goods on the counter. <\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s sister, Selena Thomas, says their mom ruled the kitchen like a kingdom. \u201cMy mom did not play with anyone gathering in the kitchen while she was cooking,\u201d says Selena. \u201cShe took pride in what she made and made sure it was perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n

The proof was in the pudding, as they say. According to Christina and Selena, everything their mother put her hands on turned out great. \u201cShe loved doing it, and you could tell in her food,\u201d shares Selena, noting you could tell just from the smell of whatever was cooking that \u201cit was going to be the best thing you ever had in your life.\u201d <\/p>\n

Whether that was an egg custard pie, a carrot cake, or a lemon meringue. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom was always baking,\u201d says Christina. \u201cShe made sure we had desserts all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a dream to open a bakery, Christina\u2019s mother eventually converted a family-owned house in Chicago into a makeshift bakery\u2014Allie\u2019s Cakes & Bakery.<\/p>\n

The place became a delicious haven. Word spread, attracting neighbors and folks from the religious community. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends to this day that I grew up with who still talk about my mom\u2019s cooking,\u201d laughs Selena. <\/p>\n

Her sweet potato pies always sold out. Her vibrantly spiced carrot cake turned heads while her lemon pound cake never came off the menu. And her German chocolate cake became a hit during the holidays, the only time she\u2019d make it. <\/p>\n

Years later, when Christina found herself drained from her role as a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan, she had an idea. <\/p>\n

She called up a friend. \u201cI had been brewing over something\u2014no pun intended,\u201d laughs Christina, who got into craft beer after drinking a New Belgium Fat Tire. \u201cI had this idea about fusing my mother\u2019s cake recipes with beer.\u201d <\/p>\n

Carrot Cake, Lemon Pound Cake, Key Lime Pie, Oh My<\/h2>\n
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Photography courtesy of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew and New York Wins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Craft beer in America is no stranger to pastries. <\/p>\n

Pastry stouts<\/a> have been universally adopted in the craft beer community. We can credit Don\u2019t Drink Beer<\/a> with the creation and proliferation of the term. Most commonly, it refers to a stout brewed intentionally sweet and often made with plenty of sugary ingredients, usually to mimic a dessert\u2019s flavor\u2014and sometimes appearance. <\/p>\n

In 2023, the category of \u201cStout \u2013 Imperial\/Double Pastry\u201d placed second on Untappd\u2019s list of the highest-average-rated styles of 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And dessert\/pastry sours<\/a> have become crazier and wilder in the age of social media. <\/p>\n

Overall, when we see a beer stuffed with everything from Oreos to cheesecake, we barely bat an eye anymore. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, it feels like ingredients are stuffed into a beer solely for shock value or because we can. There\u2019s a whisper of intention, but mostly, it\u2019s a ploy to play into the latest fad. <\/p>\n

But at Brown Girl\u2019s Brew, each recipe has more than ingredients; it has a story; it has a soul. <\/p>\n

Carrot Cake Amber Ale<\/h3>\n
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Photography courtesy of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew and New York Wins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Perhaps no beer is as emblematic of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew as the inaugural Carrot Cake Amber Ale. One of Christina\u2019s mom\u2019s best-selling cakes, carrot cake, felt natural for Christina\u2019s first beer. <\/p>\n

Brown Girl\u2019s Brew\u2019s Carrot Cake Amber Ale includes all those classic warming spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg, with some actual carrots added to the mash and on the back end for sweetness. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love carrot cake,\u201d gushes Christina, now known as the Brew Mistress. \u201cIt\u2019s a cake of antiquity, right? And ale is a beer of antiquity, so I put two and two together, and it was perfect; it resembles the cake in every way.\u201d <\/p>\n

In just a short time, the beer, much like Christina\u2019s mom\u2019s cakes, has already turned heads. <\/p>\n

During the 2023 Untappd Community Awards<\/a> (which celebrated the thousands of great breweries and beers rated as best-in-class by Untappd\u2019s 11 million users in 2023!), Carrot Cake Amber Ale won gold for the highest-rated American Amber \/ Red Ale in New York. <\/p>\n

Lemon Pound Cake Lager<\/h3>\n
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Photography courtesy of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew and New York Wins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Another staple, lemon pound cake, is \u201cone that always stayed on the table because it was just so easy for my mom to make,\u201d says Christina. \u201cI don\u2019t care what background you come from; everyone loves lemon pound cake. <\/p>\n

With a lager base, Brown Girl\u2019s Brew\u2019s Lemon Pound Cake leaves a lingering lemon note on the end while staying light and crushable. <\/p>\n

Something you\u2019ll find throughout all of Brown Girl\u2019s Brews portfolio, Christina designed these beers to be drinkable and approachable. <\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t flavors slapped haphazardly into a recipe for the flash and glam; they\u2019re carefully curated creations. <\/p>\n

Key Lime Pie Ale<\/h3>\n
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To make beers that are approachable not only for craft beer nerds but also for those who are beer-curious or even wine drinkers, Christina approached her third beer\u2014Key Lime Pie Ale\u2014a little differently. <\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s mom never made key lime pie. \u201cI wanted to put a spin on a dessert that I really enjoy,\u201d Christina shares about the collab with Hippin Hops Brewery in Atlanta. <\/p>\n

Banana Pudding Hefeweizen<\/h3>\n

For a flavor probably never seen before in beer, the Banana Pudding Hefeweizen takes a heavy dessert with a controversial fruit and turns it into a fluffy fan-favorite hefeweizen. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t like bananas, but once they taste this, they\u2019re just like, oh, that\u2019s really good,\u201d Christina tells me. \u201cGrace, this sold out. People went absolutely crazy [for it]!\u201d <\/p>\n

German Chocolate Cake Stout<\/h3>\n

Rounding out the pastry case of beers, German Chocolate Cake Stout is perhaps the most cherished of all of Brown Girl\u2019s Brews\u2019 offerings.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen German chocolate cake stuffed into a stout in countless ways. But as Christina unfurled her family\u2019s connection to this cake, the beer took on new meaning. <\/p>\n

Because the iconic ingredients\u2014coconut and Baker\u2019s chocolate\u2014were expensive, Christina\u2019s mom only made her famous German chocolate cake during the holidays. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite an expensive cake,\u201d says Christina. \u201cAny baker would know that Baker\u2019s chocolate is quite more expensive than regular chocolate, so just to produce that cake alone is quite pricey.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Christina isn\u2019t cutting corners because her mother didn\u2019t. Using the exact same Baker\u2019s chocolate from her mom\u2019s recipe, Christina makes sure that \u201ceverything is connected.\u201d <\/p>\n

From Deferring the Dream to Drinking Distinction<\/h2>\n
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Photography courtesy of Brown Girl\u2019s Brew and New York Wins<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Out of all her unique offerings, Christina might just love her Carrot Cake Ale the most. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the beer Christina is most proud of because she believes it truly embodies Brown Girl\u2019s Brew. \u201cIt brings unique, culturally inspired flavors to the craft beer scene,\u201d says Christina. \u201cWe took the warm spices and rich flavors of a classic carrot cake and balanced them with the malty base of an amber ale. It was a bold experiment, but the response has been incredible. Not only does it resonate with people who love the flavors, but it also showcases how craft beer can honor tradition and tell a story. This amber ale represents our creativity, our roots, and our dedication to creating something distinct in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina\u2019s mother\u2019s recipes didn\u2019t just feed a community; they fed a community\u2019s soul. Christina wants to do the same with Brown Girl\u2019s Brew.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us think that it\u2019s just the liquid that is the main component, and it\u2019s really not,\u201d she told us. \u201cBrown Girl\u2019s Brew is on a mission to make sure we push the needle for diversity, not only in the brewing space but just the entire ecosystem around the beer industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Christina first had the idea for Brown Girl\u2019s Brew in 2009, she asked herself, \u201cWho would I call?\u201d The list was small or, more honestly, non-existent because the representation didn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

Which is why it took Christina many more years to bring Brown Girl\u2019s Brew to life, launching just within the last couple of years. <\/p>\n

She\u2019d actually pitched the idea to someone in the industry. Just for them to turn it down, telling her she\u2019d have a hard time getting into the beer space and encouraging her to keep her day job. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just deferred the dream,\u201d she shares. <\/p>\n

Now, she wants to be a leader and mentor for those underrepresented groups looking to open beverage businesses. <\/p>\n

In the future, Christina hopes to open an incubator space in Harlem, NY, providing resources around not just beer development but the history, science, legal, and technical aspects of running a business. For instance, teaching others all of the laws around applying for liquor licenses or learning how to develop recipes. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no space like that in Harlem,\u201d Christina points out, \u201cso it would be a big deal if we had a beer school\u2014that would be super dope.\u201d <\/p>\n

It would, in a way, only make her family bigger. <\/p>\n

But with Brown Girl\u2019s Brew, Christina will never forget where she came from and those who inspired her. <\/p>\n

Now in her mid-to late 80s, Christina\u2019s mom isn\u2019t much of a beer drinker. \u201cShe\u2019s like, how did you get the cake into the can?\u201d laughs Christina, \u201cBut she\u2019s excited about Brown Girl\u2019s Brew.\u201d <\/p>\n

Inspired by her mother\u2019s tenacity, strength, love, and delicious recipes, Christina and Brown Girl\u2019s Brew are kicking down doors, proving no matter who you are, you can have your cake and drink it too. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n