In the beginning…there came a girl who loved beer!
This is my first newsletter...so what you'll find is a little about me, April Dove, Tha Community multi brew initiative, and what's happening next!
Hi! I’m April Dove the founder and brewer of Tha Community. I am a current ER nurse that works in a local hospital in South Carolina. I became interested in beer during my college years (2006-2010) drinking the cheapest thing I could afford, so Michelob Ultras (mostly my roommate) and PBRs. I upgraded my palate after a trip to Stuttgart, Germany in 2013 for two weeks to visit a friend. In hindsight I should of paid more attention to the beers I was drinking because I would of never in my wildest dreams thought I have my own beer business. I came back to the states and started visiting craft breweries in the Greenville area. I would frequently visit RJ Rockers and local brewpubs. I changed my career path in 2013 and became a traveling ER nurse and this opened the door to many new adventures in the beer world. Every new city I visited, I would check out new breweries. Let’s just say my untapped profile was pretty legit and full portfolio of beers I had drunken during my visits. Fast forward a few years, in 2020 during Covid I was living in Salem, Massachusetts and started getting beer delivered to my address from local breweries such as Night shift, Idle Hands Craft Ales, Tree House, Trilium, and Cambridge Brewing Company just to name a few. When I was finished with my assignment in Massachusetts, I drove home with about 40 cases of beer in my car. Let’s just say I had little room for my clothing. I also picked up beer from breweries on my trek home back to SC. So you ask what did I do with all this beer? Well I started mixing four packs for family and friend gatherings. My flight business was born…called the Traveling Hoptista.
The Traveling Hoptista is flight business that is still pretty green. To this day I have had no clients besides the friends I mixed 4 packs for during the beginning stages. This is only because Tha Community, which I will tell you about next, has had my full attention. I'm hoping to do an airbnb experience soon taking patrons around to 3 breweries around town and talk about beer. So you are probably thinking what is Tha Community. Well let me tell you…
Tha Community started last year October 1st, 2020 and has been producing beers since then. Tha Community is a multi brew initiative that helps diversify the palates of people of color and introduce them to the many beers in the brewing industry. Tha Community also aims to bring more diversity to the taprooms and brewing industry. We are here to shake shit up (stole that from @blackbeerchick) and break the stereotype of “white people only drink craft beer”. Tha Community at this time has had 3 releases: Tha Community Lager at Holy City Brewery, Tha Community Beliner Weisse at Frothy Beard Brewing, and Tha Community Watermelon Wheat at Commonhouse Aleworks. Our next upcoming brew will be Tha Community Cornbread Cream Ale at Two Blokes Brewing.
Thanks for reading Tha Community first newsletter. I hope to write more interesting newsletters for your enjoyment and keep you up to date with all that’s happening in Our Community. Don’t forget to mark it on your calendar for the next release which is again at Two Blokes Brewing on July 16, 2021 at 1pm for the release of Tha Community Cornbread Cream Ale.
Love this! Love your story and your mission statement!
~Aja (Mo_Noshing_Around)