Vivian Ward was at the 2008 St. Louis Wine Festival when one glass of beer woke her up to two separate revelations that would shape her life thereafter. First, it was a craft beer, far more flavorful than the Bud Light that her family in Washington Park had always drunk. Second, it had been made by a Black man, Ray Hill, a St. Louis pioneer of independent brewing. “That was my introduction to both craft beer and Black-owned beer,” said Ward. “I’d only ever seen the stereotypical white man brewing the stereotypical American beer.”
As Ward explored the burgeoning craft beer scenes in St. Louis, Chicago and beyond, she found a lot more new and exciting beers and a few Black brewers and owners. But what she did not see in the many taprooms and bier halls she visited were patrons like her. “I was often the only Black person, definitely the only Black woman,” she says. “I wanted to create a space to invite more people who looked like me.”
Ward’s answer was The ExBeerience, a multipronged effort to diversify brewery clientele in St. Louis and the Metro East. It began simply with Ward reaching out to Black-owned breweries in other states (there were none in Missouri or Southern Illinois – even today, less than 1% of U.S. independent breweries are Black-owned), driving to pick up the beer in Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee, and bringing it back to serve guests in her Caseyville, Illinois, garage. At first, the guest list was mostly friends and family, but Ward gradually built a network and following through attending festivals (like Pittsburgh’s Barrel & Flow Fest and Sacramento’s People’s Beer Fest celebrating Black-owned brewers and artists) and establishing relationships via social media.
To date, The ExBeerience has hosted 27 events, including taproom receptions and game nights, brewery tours and tutorials, and even virtual tastings and happy hours. Ward has also collaborated with area breweries, like Florissant’s Narrow Gauge, Belleville’s Shoehorn Brewery, Blue Jay Brewing Co., and the woman-owned Earthbound Brewing (which closed late last year) on her inaugural ExBeerience Juneteenth Beer Collaboration, where each brewery brewed a special beer in honor of the holiday. (She also takes a weekly shift behind the bar at Blue Jay to get to better know the beer and the business.) “The local craft beer scene tends to look a certain way because these breweries are not integrated into the communities where minorities live,” she says. “The ExBeerience is about creating access to these places and awareness – a lot of Black people don’t even consider craft beer as an option.”
Through The ExBeerience, Ward wants to give them that option, while also showing that diversity is an asset. “We are all better and stronger together,” she said. “My motto is: Drink the good beer. Fight the good fight.”
This article appears in March 2025.