Three of their staples are the Sun Eater, a sorghum ale gruit with rosemary; the Long Walk, an American-style grapefruit IPA; and the tamarind-infused Renewal. Currently a chamomile cream ale is ready to go, and a bourbon spiced ale aging in Banner Distillery whiskey barrels is on deck. Those unique flavors are purposeful – and are local in more ways than one. "All of our core beers are made for the weather we get nine months out of the year here," Hamje says, adding, "I think everybody tries to locally source as much as they can. With the consumer base here, it really works."
Fully worker-owned cooperatives, however, are rarer. Hamje had chops as head brewer of Black Star Co-op, but it took him and friends John Stecker, Michael Olfers, Dariush Griffin, and Robbie Barber four years to envision and research the project. Most of the examples were in Canada. Many other co-ops adopt hybrid models like employee stock ownership plans or consumer-based models such as the one implemented at Black Star Co-Op. "Texas didn't really know how to handle what we were trying to do," he says.
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