SweetWater, Atlantucky create new beer to raise funds for Black-run nonprofit

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Two popular Atlanta breweries are teaming up to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend, and in the process, they are announcing a new beer collaboration with proceeds from each beer poured benefiting a Black-owned, women-driven nonprofit.

SweetWater Brewery and Atlantucky Brewing, which is owned by two members of the hip-hop group Nappy Roots, teamed up to create the new beer.

“We titled it Blackberry Waterfalls in support of Ch8sing Waterfalls and all that they do,” said Skinny DeVille, co-owner of Atlantucky Brewing.

The nonprofit Ch8sing Waterfalls works to intentionally change the narrative of the outdoors, specifically for women of color.

“We’re doing so by way of healing hikes, of course, to waterfalls. We’re doing so by introducing camping to a lot of women who may have never liked or camped before,” said Deborah McGlawn, founder of Ch8sing Waterfalls.

McGlawn started the organization in 2017 in the years following the death of her daughter. She says the healing power of nature and waterfalls helped bring her out of a deep depression.

“My husband and I were trying to figure out what to do to try and get me back to myself,” said McGlawn. “It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. It was majestic, it was therapeutic, cathartic, healing, amazing. It was all the things I never thought it could be.”

In the past five years, McGlawn and her organization Ch8sing Waterfalls have organized dozens of group hikes for women.

“Awesome women going around the country looking at dope waterfalls and getting spiritual healing. Just that in itself is something that we as Nappy Roots and Atlantucky wanted to get behind,” said DeVille.

Pints of Blackberry Waterfalls will be available at Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration, as well as the SweetWater and Atlantucky taprooms through the end of the month. Fish Scales, co-owner of Atlantucky, says all proceeds from the collaboration will benefit Ch8sing Waterfalls with hopes of bridging social divides.

“It brings people together. I’ve sat here and had conversations with so many different people over a beer and breweries themselves are some of the coolest, watering holes, people that go with their political beliefs. You kind of leave that at the door,” said Fish Scales, co-owner of Atlantucky Brewing.

“My word for the year is blessings and the blessings continue to come,” said McGlawn.

The Home Depot Back Yard Juneteenth celebration is happening Saturday from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. The event, which will feature a live DJ, an interactive art exhibit, and a vendor village, is free to the public.

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