Brewery

Ironically, the distant ancestors of the two brothers had left the U.S. over 100 years ago for better opportunities in Africa due to their minority ethnicity and now their descendants have found a better career opportunity back in the U.S. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Mengistu Koilor (MK) and his brother Richard (RK) were born in Liberia. MK is the oldest and emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his family – father Felix and mother Jurdina – when MK was age 7. Brother RK, 10 years younger, was born three years after the family arrived in the U.S.

(The Republic of Liberia, located on the West African coast, began in the early 19^th century – while slavery was prevalent in young America – as a project of the ‘American Colonization Society’, which believed Black people would have better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the U.S. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 (fought mainly over the abolition of slavery), more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3200 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia. The U.S. (then essentially only the Northern states after the Southern states declared their independence) recognized Liberia’s independence in 1862. In 2023, Liberia’s population was about 5 million, within an area of 43,000 square miles. The country’s official language is English but over 20 indigenous languages are also spoken, reflecting the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity. Its capital and largest city is Monrovia.)

CHILDHOOD

The brothers grew up in the Cedar Park section of Philadelphia. 

EDUCATION

MK and RK both graduated – a decade apart – from a Catholic related private school in Philadelphia, St. Joseph’s Prep, an education institution with at least two strengths: a well-regarded academic program and a loyal alumni association with a newsletter keeping all the graduates informed about their respective lives – both personal and career highlights – in the adult world. 

STAYING WITH FIRST JOBS UNTIL NEW BUSINESS IS STABLE AND PROFITABLE

While this is a story of taking financial risks to open a new business, the brothers were wise enough to remain employees of stable businesses – MK in financial services data management and RK in accounting – until their new business proves or projects itself to be stable and profitable. Of course, each of the brothers could make different assessments of when ‘stability’ is or will be realistic – as this story will further note.

FROM HOBBY TO BUSINESS PLAN 

In 2016, beer fan RK bought a home-brewing kit which he set up in the backyard of his brother’s West Philadelphia home. The first batch, they said, “tasted like beer.” Once they improved their beer brewing skills, they embarked on a greater mission: To open Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery. 

CHALLENGE – RAISING CAPITAL FOR A NEW BUSINESS

Editor: Any new for- profit business must have enough cash saved or borrowed to cover some or all the following major categories of expense: 

• business formation paperwork (e.g. registration of a new corporation)
• insurance (including mandatory workman compensation for any employees) 
• rent or purchase of real estate for some or all the following: administration office (with related desks, computer, printer, software, paper, smart phones), bathrooms, production and supplies area and public hospitality   
• equipment and raw materials used for production 
• advertising (including website) 
• accounting 
• transportation (may or may not be necessary depending on the nature of the business – i.e. brewing beer to serve on site requires no transportation)
• employee compensation
• renovations to meet government inspection standards

The Koilor’s biggest challenge was financing. “It’s hard for anyone to raise capital,” MK said. “And we already know there’s a tremendous wealth gap in this country for people of color. You couple that with trying to start a business, and the odds are against you. It took a lot of work, a lot of trust and belief in ourselves, and some folks helping us out here and there.”

FROM BUSINESS PLAN TO FULL-TIME OPERATION

Before the brothers were able to raise sufficient capital to start their own brewing business, they partnered with Harris Family Brewery and Double Eagle Malting on a beer labeled ‘Black is Beautiful” brewed at Love City Brewing, which raised more than $9,000 which they contributed to the Black Lives Matter social movement. Raising money and then donating it served two purposes: helping their community while learning how to motivate others to make donations to causes the public would support. 

In late 2020, the brothers met the owner of Craft Hall, the home of Mainstay Independent Brewing, in the Northern Liberties section of the city, where they began working with a brewer on developing their own brand and brewing out of Mainstay, starting with Nubian, a brown ale (5.7% ABV – alcohol by volume) and Prolific, a ‘hazy’ IPA (6.4%).

Eventually the brothers were able to raise enough money through their own savings and business loans, to locate a space for a combination brewery and pub. They named their business, located at City Square, 37^th and Market Streets, “Two Locals Brewing Co.” where their 15-barrel brewery eventually will dispense 12 varieties to supply their sprawling taproom, whose food is provided by Liberty Kitchen, a local (Fishtown area) restaurant. 

The Liberty Kitchen connection came through a Two Locals business partner, P.J. Hopkins, who graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep with RK and saw Two Locals mentioned in an alumni newsletter. 

Liberty Kitchen has brought in its signature hoagies as well as cheese boards, salads, and tomato pies. Their chef worked with Jurdina Koilor, the owners’ mother, on recipes including a Liberian bean bowl studded with smoked turkey and chicken thighs, red beans, and Scott bonnet peppers, as well as peanut-braised eggplant. 

“The more that we saw there was a lack of Black brewers and a lack of Black breweries – that is what really pushed us to want to open up this space,” said MK. who is still in financial services data management while RK has accepted more business risk by quitting his accounting job to devote full-time to their new business. 

“Now we’re here,” said RK as the opening night-crowd on January 26, 2024, milled around. “It’s great!”

(Editor’s note: Black-owned breweries account for 0.4% of the 9,500 breweries in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association, as of 2023.)

CAREER SATISFACTION

This career story is still being developed by the two Koilor brothers. Meanwhile, MK and RK “want to be able to show more Black people how to brew and how to get into the industry. We want to talk about our culture and tell our story through our beers,” said RK. 

A growing number of the beer drinking public has already voted its approval of this new business venture. The best advertising, as is true for any business, is customer recommendations to others. 

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This career story is based on multiple sources including a news article written by Michael Klein, published by the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper on February 4, 2024, plus internet research.