Named the best craft brewery for 2020 by Hop Culture, Weathered Souls Brewing Co. has been around since 2016. It’s a cog in the burgeoning San Antonio nightlife machine. Founders Mike Holt, Marcus Baskerville, and Darryl Huffman are fostering an environment of inclusion and diversity. It’s something they want to see in other American breweries.
“We have several old-school philosophies about life and business, and one driving force is our philosophy that, if the beer is good enough, folks will find out,” the company website says. The brewery buys all its grain from the San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and South Texas regions. They don’t pay for advertising, just using word of mouth to attract customers.
Weathered Souls gained recognition thanks to its Black is Beautiful campaign. This collaborative effort encourages other craft breweries to raise awareness about racial injustice through beer. Any brewery can download the Black is Beautiful stout recipe — on the condition they donate proceeds to racial justice causes. Top breweries like Other Half Brewing, Trillium Brewing Company, and Brooklyn Brewery are participating.
Photo Courtesy Weathered Souls Brewing Co.
Weathered Souls chose to contribute to the Know Your Rights Camp, an initiative that teaches kids about the well-being of Black people through education, empowerment, and leadership. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick founded the camp.
At the time of writing, Baskerville estimates that 1,500 breweries across all 50 states and 33 countries have participated in the Black is Beautiful initiative. The stout has been featured as an official beer at the International Black & Diversity Film Festival and Charlotte Black Film Festival in 2023. It has raised around $4 million.
A profile by the San Antonio Current said Weathered Souls garnered $2.2 million in the first year of the campaign.
“We need more initiatives like Black Is Beautiful that call attention to issues and inspire collaborators to think critically about how they can fight for social justice issues,” Hop Culture writer John A. Paradiso wrote in his feature on Black is Beautiful. “But we also need to bring more voices into the conversation.”
Photo Courtesy Weathered Souls Brewing Co.
Bringing more awareness to these causes is paramount. Beer is a great social catalyst to start these conversations; other breweries have similar philanthropic efforts. Bow & Arrow Brewing in New Mexico has an IPA recipe that contributes to Native American entrepreneurship and education.
The brewery has also expanded some of its community outreach to include work on the Harriet Baskerville Incubation Program. Named for Baskerville’s grandmother, the program strives to help underrepresented groups succeed in the craft-beer industry. The ribbon cutting happened in February of this year.
Weathered Souls has become so popular a new location has opened in Charlotte, NC. Baskerville interviewed with San Antonio Current in May, saying he’s more focused on continuing the growth of his brewery.
“I want people to realize the beers that we create are an experience, right? he told the Current. “The experiences that we try to create within our beer, it’s not about just throwing brownie batter in a batch.”
Baskerville volunteered at Mraz Brewing Co. near Sacramento, CA, spending time homebrewing to perfect his craft. He eventually left a job at Citibank to pursue his passion full-time. He made it on the San Antonio craft beer scene when he worked at Busted Sandal Brewing Co. before meeting Weathered Souls’ co-owner Mike Holt and the two agreed to open their own brewery.
New flavors and recipes are constantly joining the extensive taproom. Raspberry Cheesecake imperial stout was served this past Fourth of July. According to Hop Culture, customers who like hops will enjoy the brewery’s West Coast IPA, a core beer.
Weathered Souls is using a beer as a metaphor to stir change. It’s amazing what we can accomplish over drinks.
