Nick Jack, AK Babers and Ken Noble founded Hop Topic World, a pro-diversity collective focused on Houston's craft beer scene.

Houston is often touted as the most diverse city in the U.S. WalletHub's 2021 report caused little surprise to local residents familiar with the vibrant cultural landscape of Texas' largest city. More than 140 languages are spoken in Houston, and Texas has the second largest LGBTQ population in the country. The Bayou City defies stereotypes of Southern homogeneity and takes pride in its trailblazer melting-pot status.

And while Houston's beer scene, like most of the country's, is still dominated by straight white men, a cross-section of Houstonian beer lovers from diverse backgrounds are challenging the "beer bro" reputation of craft beer. Here are the brewers and influencers who are opening up Houston beer culture to a new, wider audience.

Houston's only all-female-owned brewery opened in 2018 in Spring Branch, where the Edwards family has lived for nearly a century. Sisters Jessica, Jackie, Joanna and Jennifer got their love of beer from early homebrewing experiences with their father, who learned the Edwards family beer recipes from his own father. "It was our goal to create a fun, safe, family environment to enjoy fellowship and good beer," Joanna said.

They viewed the brewery as a way of contributing to the local community, through holistic and environmental initiatives, such as recycling all their spent grain as animal feed for the family farm. 4J also has a busy event schedule, including bingo, trivia, DIY craft night and live music. "You have so many different cultures and backgrounds that bring so many unique varieties to the forefront," Joanne says about diversity in Houston's beer scene.

Find it: 1348 Cedar Post Ln, Houston, TX 77055; (713) 678-0776 Hours: Thursday, 4-9 p.m.; Friday, 4-10 p.m.; Saturday, 2-10 p.m.

For the Culture Brewing co-founders Carl Roaches Jr. and Jonathan Brown started by making beer in their garage in Pearland.

For the Culture's founders, Carl Roaches, Jr., Jonathan Brown, Miguel Rodriguez and Devon Daniel, began homebrewing together nearly four years ago, receiving praise from friends and family. "Over time, my thoughts turned to bringing good brew to the masses, specifically those demographics who are seemingly ignored by craft beer as a whole," says Roaches. The first Black-owned brewery in Houston, For the Culture is opening a taproom with majority-female-owned Ovinnik Brewing under the Craft Culture Exchange brand later this year.

While Roaches acknowledges that the industry has work to do to become fully inclusive, he credits Houston for its positive direction. "The Houston beer scene being dynamic and collaborative has helped the scene become more diverse," he said. "The hope being that if we are seen, it will allow others to know there is a possibility they also can create their own space in craft beer through hard work and perseverance."

Misfit Outpost in Cypress is Latino- and South Asian-owned.

"A major goal was to work my way into a brewery owner and head brewer position to represent Latinos in craft beer," said avid homebrewer Juan Sanchez, who realized his dream with girlfriend and assistant brewer Sarah Nadeem and business partner Kevin Smith in September 2021, when they opened Misfit Outpost in Cypress. Sanchez's roots and Nadeem's Pakistani heritage provide flavor-based inspiration to their brews, as well as a pro-active interest in diversifying the Houston beer scene.

"We come from totally different cultural backgrounds, but you'd never know when you see us working together in the brewhouse," Nadeem says. As one of a handful of South Asian brewers in the U.S. and the only female South Asian brewer in Houston, Nadeem is positive about increasing accessibility to craft beer in her community. "I am seeing more South Asians on the scene and don't feel like I am the only one now," she says. "The number isn't a big one but it's still nice to see more Desis openly enjoying a beer in public."

Misfit Outpost is currently closed for remodeling and will reopen in late fall.

Project Halo Brewing is a small-batch brewery in Fulshear.

Project Halo in Fulshear is in its soft launch, with the Trunk or Treat grand opening event scheduled for Oct. 22. Husband and wife co-owners Steve and Melissa Mendez met while serving in the Special Forces, and head brewer Melissa began homebrewing during a stint living in Washington State.

"We absolutely entered the local beer scene with diversity in mind, it was very intentional," Steve says. "Different cultures bring different perspectives and when you look at beer and the creative canvas it can be, the results can be amazingly delicious." Melissa is an active Pink Boots Society member, and the couple credits collaboration as a crucial element to increasing inclusivity. "We've been fortunate to be able to collaborate with our friends at Turkey Forrest, Misfit Outpost, and the Houston Pink Boots Chapter," says Steve. "Those collaborations help promote amazing beers being brewed by diverse brewers in the Houston area."

Find it: 6520 Farm to Market 359 Suite 500, Fulshear, TX 77441; (281) 533-4071 Hours: Sunday, noon-9 p.m.; Thursday, 3-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m.

Louie Espinoza and Oscar Gonzalez showcase their Turkey Forrest beers at Big Owl Craft Brew House.

Located in the Heights, Turkey Forrest sprang from long standing friends Oscar Gonzalez and Louis Espinoza's homebrewing project. When their friends Al and Victoria Gonzalez opened Big Owl Craft Beer House in 2021, a bar dedicated to Houston and Texas craft beer, the pair began brewing single-barrel batches as the bar's in-house nano-brewery. It became the first all-Mexican-owned craft brewery in Houston, owned with their wives Veronica Espinoza and Michelle Gonzalez.

"We'd like to invite the Hispanic community to try craft beer and consider upgrading their choice of tasty beverage," says Oscar, who places a strong emphasis on flavor as a key way to broaden access to the craft beer scene. "[We use] flavors we're familiar with: Aguas Frescas-Tamarindo sour, Red Hibiscus Flower and Chasing Marranitos, which is our stout brewed with a Mexican pastry in the shape of a little pig." Big Owl also celebrates their heritage with Lotería nights, Taco Tuesdays and Michelada Mondays.

Find it: 1848 Airline Dr Suite C, Houston, TX 77009 Hours: Sunday, noon-8 p.m.; Monday, 2-8 p.m.; Tuesday-Thursday, 2-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon-11 p.m.

Hop Topic World hosts an annual chili cook-off with Holler Brewery.

Hop Topic World hosts an annual Juneteenth beer release at Under the Radar Brewery.

With a blog, social media, merch, collaboration brews and events, Hop Topic is a one-stop pro-diversity beer collective founded by Ken Noble, Nick Jack and AK Babers. "We bonded on our awareness of being the only Black men in most breweries," Noble says. "And we have worked since then to create an in-person craft beer community for individuals of all races and genders to socialize without a feeling of exclusion or discomfort."

Hop Topic's work creates a much-needed intersectional bridge between breweries, influencers and drinkers. Their annual chili cook-off event at Holler Brewing and collaboration brews for Juneteenth and the Black Is Beautiful initiative act as community outreach projects, placing a strong emphasis on diversifying the Houston beer scene by encouraging breweries to reach out to new audiences and drinkers to come into brewery spaces with the confidence they will be made welcome. "Houston is a very young brewing community, and this gives Houston craft breweries a chance to do things the right way and we are here to collaborate," Noble says.

Cole Wehner and Brett Chynoweth, the couple behind HTown Beer Guys, enjoy pints at New Magnolia Brewing.

When Cole Wehner and Brett Chynoweth began their Instagram account in 2017 as a response to friends asking them for beer advice, it initially wasn't a deliberate attempt to diversify the industry, but that changed. "We're very aware of our privilege as cis white men: We can blend in if we chose to. But early on we discovered that many (if not most) craft breweries are a safe space for queer people," Wehner says. "With that in mind we decided to bring forward our own queerness and highlight that beer is for everyone: gays included!" adds Chynoweth.

During the pandemic, Wehner and Chynoweth used their popular platform to raise $1,500 for free drinks for frontline workers with True Anomaly Brewing. Fundraising efforts for Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ initiatives and womens rights followed, most recently with their Tripel Queer Beer collaboration with New Magnolia benefiting Tony's Place Houston, an organization that helps homeless LGBTQ+ teens. "Houston has some amazing and diverse influencers that we believe have made a huge difference and are laying the groundwork for more women, more people of color and more queer people in beer. We're excited for what the future holds," Chynoweth says.

Kimberly Sanchez of @katcraftbeer poses at one of her favorite beer bars, the Latino-owned Big Owl Brew House.

Kimberly Sanchez posts about the Houston craft beer scene as @katcraftbeer on Instagram. She started the account in 2014 as a way to join the craft beer community and learn more about the beverage, and was soon enjoying beer trades with new friends across the U.S., as well as discovering Houston's local beer scene, which she has seen change and develop over the last eight years.

"Being a Hispanic woman that enjoys drinking craft beer, in the earlier years the breweries I would visit were always filled with men," she says, but this has changed. "So many new breweries with different cultures and backgrounds have developed, and it's still growing." Sanchez highlights the positive community impact greater diversity has had on Houston's beer scene. "The beer community has really stepped up to collaborate for so many different causes and charities," she says. "It's cool to see all cultures and backgrounds come together—at the end of the day we're all Houstonians."

Kendrick Knighten and Luis Montalvo raise money for many causes through the Pint Exchange.

Kendrick Knighten and Luis Montalvo combined their passion for networking and photography to create this craft beer marketing brand as a way to show their love and support for the industry while helping it to diversify. The Pint Exchange came out of their shared experience of "walking into breweries and being the only minorities in the building. But once people start to pick our brains, they quickly find out that we aren't new to the scene," Knighten explains.

As well as focusing on diversity and accessibility, the Pint Exchange's work supports local breweries and charities, such as their recent Back to School supply drive with Big Owl and Turkey Forrest supporting De Chaumes Elementary School. The Pint Exchange was also part of Ingenious Brewing's Humbled in Humble collaboration brew, along with Brew Bros, Hop Topic, Beer Chronicle Houston, The Brew Brotha and the Breakfast Klub, which raised money for 100 Black Men of Houston and the 100 Black Men of Austin.

A post shared by What’s Up In The Cup (@whatsupinthecup)

This podcast showcases the best of Houston's drinking scene with the aim of making craft drinks more accessible to Black people. Hosts Opal Clemons, Lazeric "Z" White, Derrick Chandler and DJ Leo the Great started the podcast in January 2018, pushing back against mass-market drinks advertising. "We feel it is our duty to inform people of color there are alternatives," Chandler says.

As part of Houston's Brewminati group—with Hop Topic, Crafty Bros, Brew Bros, Pint Exchange, For the Culture and Turkey Forrest—What's Up In The Cup collaborates with local businesses and hosts events dedicated to diversifying Houston drinking culture. Their Poptoberfest collaboration with Holler Brewing released in September with a launch party and live podcast at the brewery.

Other diverse Houston breweries and beer influencers to support: Frankenboltzzzz Brewing, Astral Brewing, Brew Bros HTX, Counter Common, 5th Ward Hop Queen, Crafty Brothas, HTown Craft Sippers, Craft Beer Gods, Craft Beer Finesser, Beer Girl HTX and HTX Craft Beer Duo.

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