Is Craft Brewing Only Interesting to White People?

Of the more than 2,600 breweries around the country, only a few of the people who make the beer aren't white men, according to a recent NPR blog post. 

One of those exceptions happens to be in Sonoma, where Carneros Brewing Company, owned and operated by a Mexican-American family and home to a hefeweizen called the "Jefe-weizen," after the Spanish word for "boss," is located.

The NPR story goes on to say that almost all cultures in the world have made alcoholic beverages, but the U.S. craft brewing industry seems to be dominated by white males.

"It could be that beer is like a lot of things in the food industry which, as they grow popular, become very hip, yuppie and white," Babson College food historian Frederick Douglass Opie told NPR.

The public radio network asked a Petaluma local for his opinion: Lagunitas Brewing Co. Brewer Jeremy Marshall likened craft brewing to home brewing.

"And if you look at home brewing, you see nerdy white guys playing Dungeons and Dragons and living in their mom's basement, and I know this because I was and am one of them," Marshall is quoted as saying.

In an interesting twist, the New York Times reports that Latino winemakers have been rising through the ranks in Sonoma and Napa counties. "Many of them have received kudos from fellow professionals, and they could be well positioned for a growing Latino market," the paper reported.

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Readers, what do you think? Is craft brewing really dominated by white men, or is it actually more diverse than this report makes it out to be? And if it's lacking diversity, why do you think that is? Tell us in the comments section below.