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During the Prohibition period between 1920 and 1933, when there was a nationwide ban on the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic beverages, thousands of formerly legal bars and saloons were closed. These establishments were widely replaced by speakeasies that sold bootleg liquor.
In Harlem, which the poet Claude McKay called a "paradise of bootleggers," a typical speakeasy was a 10-square-foot basement room furnished with a piano and a handful of chairs. But speakeasies could also be staged anywhere, from the back of a barbershop to a lunch counter to a pool hall.
"The men are unskilled laborers during the day, and in the evenings they round up their girls or else meet them at the rendezvous in order to have what they consider and enjoy as a good time," wrote Wallace Thurman, a contemporary of McKay's and a chronicler of Harlem's nightlife during the 20s.
Harlem lore has it that at one of these illicit nightclubs, a well-appointed brownstone, a blue light was put outside to let everyone know that a fresh keg of homebrew had been tapped.
For Julian Riley, a 55-year-old former attorney, this Prohibition history and the blue light is the inspiration for Harlem Blue, a craft beer company he founded in 2014 with three accounts. "The connection of the blue light story, that someone would be proud enough of what they make to invite the community in, even if a little bit lawless during Prohibition, is everything that I want the brand to stand for," he says. "Which is being proud of your craft and bringing the community together."
Later this year, Riley will announce the details behind the planned opening of the first brewery in Harlem since Prohibition. The Boston native, who now lives in Harlem, plans to open his 5,500-square-foot brewery inside the Mink Building, where German immigrants began brewing in the 1830s, long before Harlem became the Black cultural mecca. Thanks to brands like Yuengling, the oldest operating brewery in the United States, the Mink Building was, prior to Prohibition, one of the largest brewing facilities in the country.
"Harlem Blue has been a way of marrying my two loves of the art of making good beer and my love of the community in Harlem," Riley says. "Discovering this history of brewing in Harlem was a part of this journey for me."
It's easy to find Riley at one of the 120 New York City bars and restaurants where he has accounts for Harlem Blue, and where his two beers--1658 American Wheat Ale and Hectic IPA--are available. Yet Harlem is home, and where people around the world come to ask for a Harlem-made beer.
"Harlem is a kind of force of its own," Riley says. "Since the beginning of the 20th century, Harlem has been a beacon of access for diversity and like-minded people. It epitomizes diverse urban life. The word 'Harlem' evokes an energy that is at once diversity, coolness, and authenticity."
Initially, Harlem Blue beers were only available in draft, but Riley began offering cans in 2022. And after contract brewing with a brewery in Rhode Island for nearly a decade, Riley is ready to bring brewing back to Harlem for the first time in over a century.
Characterized largely by small, independent owners who often use a variety of very specialized recipes, the craft beer industry is growing. According to Research and Markets, the U.S. craft beer market in 2022 was valued at $29.03 billion and is expected to reach $52.47 billion by 2028.
"There's over 9,000 breweries," Riley says. "A ton of them make really good beer. But I think it's more about a lifestyle connection and meeting the consumer where they are. And I think that a Black-owned brand has an opportunity to fit into that space. And I don't think that there's anyone doing that right now."
Riley is clear about the space that he wants to take in the market. "We like to call ourselves 'city craft beer' because we're about a more diverse recognition of the city and not only the people that are beer nerds," he says.
Running a brewery is a capital-intensive business, and cash flow has been a struggle since Riley raised the first $200,000 from friends and family to launch Harlem Blue. But by 2016, the brand had citywide distribution, gross revenues of around $500,000, and 200 accounts. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, brought on-premise draft beer sales to a halt in the hospitality industry, prompting Riley to accelerate efforts to can his beer.
Since getting back into bars with cans and draft in early 2022, sales have crept back toward pre-pandemic numbers. Riley is optimistic. He believes that within five years, the company overall can reach $50 million in sales, and that the new Harlem-based brewery has the potential to be a $3 million-a-year business. There are also opportunities to expand into other major cities, but Riley wants to stay focused on New York, as the team fortifies their operations for the expected growth and raises more capital. "We have to own Harlem," he says.
Hustle is a favorite word of Riley's. For him, the word signifies an attitude, a mentality about moving urgently across the city, both on foot and via the subway, to visit customers. It's an expression of his optimism as entrepreneur and will in a sector where African Americans represent less than 1 percent of all brewers, according to the Brewers Association.
"Hustle" comes from the legacy of Black Harlem business pioneers like Madame C.J. Walker, Philip Payton Jr., and Percy Sutton. It's also a reflection of Riley's entrepreneurial family. Since the 1940s, his family has owned a jazz club in Boston. A great-grandfather who migrated from Barbados had a Boston-based furniture moving company that took him out into the streets, showing him a livelihood fueled by independence and connecting him with the community.
At heart, Riley is a neighborhood guy, and it's this neighborhood in Upper Manhattan that holds his attention and resolve to carve a niche in the independent and entrepreneurial craft beer market, as well as make a meaningful impact in the community.
When he was looking around for a way to help elevate Harlem, a bar felt like a perfect place for him to develop community. He envisioned the kind of an establishment that existed during Prohibition that would carry great beer and bring people together, which is why the new brewery will be a brewpub, with onsite brewing as well as beer for sale and drinking.
"I think that the bar is the most democratic place on the planet," says Riley, who has worked as a bartender. "It doesn't matter the color of your credit card or the language you speak or your country of origin--you can find a conversation and a drink in a bar."
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