Chicago Black-Owned Craft Brewery Turner Haus Stays All In The Family

CHICAGO — Convincing Blair Aikens to choose the favorite craft beer that she and three relatives brew is next to impossible. Asking her to do so, in her mind, is like forcing the Chicago resident to choose one family member as the one that stands out above all the rest.

But for Aikens — who this year will help open Chicago's only Black-owned craft brewery taproom in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood — the link to her beers and her family are intentionally intertwined. When Aikens and her husband and cousins set out to get Turner Haus Brewing off the ground in 2019, paying honor and respect to their loved ones was all part in the plan in creating a unique craft beer experience that would make a name for itself in an already crowded craft beer space.

Aikens is also trying to do that for herself in an industry that is largely dominated by white males. At times, being one of only a few Black women in the room full of beer creators and connoisseurs can be troubling. But as the resident of Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood moves closer to opening the taproom that has consumed her life for more than three years, she and her family members hope that their efforts to enter the world of craft beer not only pays off for her and her brand, but also leads to other people and women of color joining the space in years to come.

Aikens was recently honored as one of two recipients of the Illinois Diversity In Brewing scholarship, which is awarded by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. The honor is only its second year of existence but highlights the work of Illinois craft beer brewers whose efforts are going a long way in bringing more diversity to an ever-growing industry, officials with the Craft Brewers Guild.

Not only does the guild hope to use the scholarship to provide more learning opportunities for women and people of color in the brewing world, they also hope it better connects them with an industry that has exploded in Illinois over the past 10 years.

At times, the lack of diversity bothers Aikens, who was introduced to craft beer 10 years ago when she traveled to Chicago from Atlanta for her grandmother’s funeral. After the service, her cousin, Steve Turner, shared some of his own craft beer with his family members. The tasting experience not only helped to turn Aikens into someone who appreciated beer more than ever before, but also gave the idea that she, too, could put her personality into the kind of craft beers that were different than those being offered.

And that’s where her family history came into play.

All of Turner Haus’ beers are made to honor the matriarchs of the family from which Aikens and Turner come from. Aikens and husband, Nate, and cousins Steve and Ryan Turner have teamed together to create the taproom space in Bronzeville to provide Chicago's South Side residents with a taproom environment that is similar to Chicago’s North Side, where most of the city’s craft breweries exist.

But as they set out to not only create a line-up of quality craft brews but to also enhance the brewery’s flavor profiles, Aikens and her family member of brewers have also relied on the personalities of family members who are honored through the brewery’s offerings.

“We really take the time to think about their personality and style and how that would influence a beer style named in their honor,” Aikens told Patch on Friday.

While many breweries specialize in a specific type of beer such as India pale ales, Aikens said that Turner Haus works hard to offer a wide array of beers — each of which presents its own style in honor of the person it is named for.

Aikens doesn’t take that challenge lightly, but also does not view carrying that task out as pressure. Instead, she said the brewery simply wants to honor its roots by putting the names of loved ones on their beers in an effort to continue the family’s legacy.

When each beer is released, Turner Haus has the opportunity to share a bit of family history with its customers while also helping to tell the stories of relatives who inspired the beer, which again, is a very intentional part of how the local brewery goes about its business. For example, Helen, which is Turner Haus’ grapefruit lager, is named for Aikens’ grandmother, Helen, whom family members described as sweet and tart at the same time — which provided the inspiration for that beer and others.

“It’s been nice to bring up some of these stories again and talk about members of our family with other members of our family,” Aikens said.

She added, "I think (the family element) makes the process even more meaningful to have that connection with that beer and the personal connection with the person. We love to be able to tell those stories and share who (family members) are and tell their stories as we talk about the beer is really something special."

Although Aikens has had an appreciation for craft beers for just more than a decade, the learning process continues to evolve. Aikens, who was studying public health in graduate school at the time of her grandmother’s death, was intrigued by how combining a few simple ingredients — water, grain, yeast and hops — have the ability to blend together to create a vast range of unique flavors profiles.

Aikens also holds a minor in microbiology, which provided her with the scientific know-how that allowed her to understand the magic that can happen when the right aspects of beer-making all merge together correctly.

Turner Haus has worked on collaborations with other breweries to create some special brews but has also gotten its own beer out at Chicago festivals, events and pop-up brewery opportunities. But as the trio of brewers gets ready to open up the Bronzeville taproom later this year as the city's only Black-owned brewery to have a physical space, the significance of what they are doing — and where — isn’t lost on Aikens.

In a city full of taprooms and craft beer offerings, Aikens said that location mattered. She, her husband and Turner wanted to open a welcoming, inviting space in Bronzeville to allow residents of the community to come together and celebrate not only good beer, but also the kind of family connections that have been so instrumental in creating Turner Haus Brewing.

For Illinois Craft Brewers Guild Executive Director Ray Stout, Akins’ ability to connect with others around her while using beer to connect with community is part of what made her stand out for the organization’s scholarship. The fact Akins is creating those connections in a place like Bronzeville, Stout said, makes her efforts even more impactful.

“Being intentional about inclusion — and I don’t mean in a tokenizing way — but if you’re going to open your brewery in Bronzeville, you are in it, and you are in it for the right reasons,” Stout told Patch on Friday. “What is great about craft breweries and what I love about them is that they are gathering places and they are cornerstone businesses across Illinois and across the country.

“So when the brewery goes in, people start coming out and the coffee shop comes in next to it and then the antique shop goes into next to it. They’ve kind of revitalized neighborhoods throughout Chicagoland and throughout the state, even in neighborhoods you wouldn’t think of needing it.”

In doing so in Bronzeville, Aikens hopes to inspire other Black-owned beer makers to get involved in the Chicago craft beer space. She says that she has gotten accustomed to being in the minority in times when those who create their own beer get together.

Although she hopes recognition from honors like the Diversity In Brewing scholarship will help bring more awareness to brewers like her, Aikens also wants to send a message that how the industry is made up also needs to change. Ten years ago, Stout said, there were 40 craft breweries in Illinois. Now, there are 300.

But Illinois still falls behind places like Ohio, where there are 400 craft breweries despite having about 1 million fewer residents than Illinois. And while officials in the craft brewery world want to continue to grow, Aikens wants to help with that expansion but in meaningful ways

“I think I’ve done my best to fit into the space,” Aikens told Patch. “There’s some room to grow in terms of diversity in the beer space nationally, but particularly in Chicago. I would love to not be one of the few Black women in the room sometimes.”