Raise a pint to these AA+PI craft breweries
As Oktoberfest comes to a close, Andy Crump reminds us that beer doesn't just belong to eastern Europeans
You must check out these AA+PI-owned and -run breweries from around the United States.
Photo illustration by Ryan Quan
Words by Andy Crump
Lederhosen. Tyrolean hats. Dirndls. Keg tosses and Masskrugstemmen. Presumably, beards. These are counted among the tropes that come to mind each year during annual Oktoberfest celebrations, the world’s largest Volksfest, marrying a funfair atmosphere to a beer hall brouhaha. Plenty of breweries in the United States, even the ones that don’t strictly identify with German heritage, tend to commemorate the occasion anyway, for the simple reason of “why not?” That’s as good of a reason as any to throw a party—as far as the average craft brewery is concerned.
There is a strong association with Oktoberfest and the stereotypical conception of who, exactly, enjoys beer, and consequent to that is an equally strong association between beer and eastern European nationalities—for good reason, of course. The Germans do in fact know how to brew a mean lager. But beer history goes farther back than the end of the first millennium—say, ancient Mesopotamia—and cultures aside from European ones love a good, tall cold one: Japan, South Korea, and India all love beer, too.
So while you’re finishing off your Oktoberfest 2025 checklist, take a pause to consider these AA+PI-owned and -run breweries from around the United States, bringing their own backgrounds and customs to the cup across the country.
When Henry Nguyen and his wife Adriana dipped their toes in the craft brewing waters in the early 2010s in Torrance, California, they had it in their heads to focus predominantly on making Belgian beers—sour-forward concoctions with a months-long turnaround time. Cut to now, and Monkish is one of the best purveyors of the hazy IPA style that’s held the industry in its grip for the bulk of the last decade. Once upon a time, a sign hanging in the brewery cheekily stated “No MSG. No IPA.” You won’t find that slogan adorning Monkish’ walls anymore, but the Nguyens’ story and work ethic remain. If you want to understand just how tricky it is to start a new brewery in a market dominated by hoppy beers, and what it takes to succeed in that market, they stand out among American craft beer’s exemplars.
Lester Koga, the son of post-WWII Japanese expats, opened Barebottle Brewing in San Francisco in 2016, and seems to intend his brewery as something of a classroom, in which any customers who wish to learn about Japanese heritage can do so with a single sip of beer. Panda Petals, brewed with Osmanthus oolong tea; Half Samurai, a beer-sake hybrid that incorporates sake kasu—a byproduct of the sake brewing process—into a sour beer base; Fortune Cookie, a vanilla-almond cream ale made to evoke the flavors of that sweet San Francisco classic.
Nothing speaks to beer’s character as the people’s alcoholic beverage of choice like friends gathering for a pint, though the brewing process itself comes close. Asheville, North Carolina’s Highland Brewing Company got that right in 2024 when founders Oscar Wong and Leah Wong Ashburn, and production services specialist Ana Reynolds, invited a crowd of notable AA+PI Asheville residents-cum-business owners for a brew day, a collaborative shindig that resulted in Xie Xie, a rice lager. Highland tapped the brew in May 2024, their tribute to AANHPI Heritage Month. Beer happens every day in craft brewing, and the teamwork required to make it does, too. But projects like Xie Xie take on an extra layer of joy as showcases for both the brewers’ roots and for the community they belong to.
Don’t get your hopes up too much visiting Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing. You’re not going to get a wad of cash upon entry. You’re just going to get excellent beer, and going by the color scheme, good health, not to mention a built-in ward against evil spirits. Red is a powerful color in Chinese tradition. To an extent, the palette reflects in their taplist: raspberry sours and strawberry-kiwi juice sours make an appearance alongside standbys like Helles lagers and “drink it before it’s gone” seasonal offerings like fresh hop IPAs. It’s said that Benjamin Franklin once said that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. (Note: he did not actually say this.) Lucky Envelope’s motif gives beer a familial context: as a form of prosperity handed down from one generation to the next.
Hoppy Hathi. Dishoom. Jalebae. High Chai Stout. Heritage is baked—or brewed—right into the names of the beers by Other Desi Beer Co., the inventions of owner and brewer Ravi Patel. Making beer is in his blood, or was at least in the oxygen he breathed growing up. His parents own a bottle shop in Meriden, Connecticut, just a half an hour away from where Patel contract brewed his beer at Thimble Island Brewing in Branford, Connecticut. (For the uninitiated, “contract brewing” is an agreement between a brick-and-mortar brewery and a brewer who has yet to open a brewery of their own; they brew using the established brewery’s equipment instead.) A bummer turn of events saw Thimble Island close its doors in 2024, leaving Other Desi’s future in flux—but Patel’s inspired combination of nomenclature and Indian ingredients (like the Parle-G biscuits used in the stout) has already left its mark. He’ll be back on his feet in due time.
Food service in breweries is standard, and among those food options, there’s an established list of staples functioning as the average brewery’s culinary backbone: wings, sandwiches and burgers, pizza, pretzels, pickles. Meanwhile, over at CLAG Brewing in Sandusky, Ohio, founder Kha Bui is doling out bowls of pho for his patrons. Soup is an uncommon choice to pair with beer, but pho is no common soup. It’s Vietnam’s most popular dish, its most successful export, and a breakfast staple. If anything, that’s what makes pho an odd companion to beer, which isn’t—or shouldn’t be—a breakfast staple. But if you make good choices and drink responsibly, the two things go together so well, it’s baffling that nobody’s thought to put them together on the same menu before this.
Like Other Desi,’s beloved Three Weavers in Inglewood, California has had a rough ride on the rollercoaster that is craft brewing. Their parent company, GRDN Hospitality, filed for bankruptcy in July, due in part to the combined impact of tariffs, ICE raids, and the LA fires from January. There’s no word yet on the fate of the brewery. Owner and brewer Lynne Weaver (who named the place after her three daughters) doesn’t appear to have commented publicly on the situation yet, though judging by the brewery’s Instagram, they’re still going strong in spite of circumstances. BIPOC- and women-owned breweries are hard to come by, and Three Weavers has played the part of community hub for its decade and change of operation—hopefully, they’ll survive Chapter 11.
It’s a common lament that we don’t deserve dogs, but “deserve” isn’t a word in a dog’s vocabulary (because a dog’s vocabulary consists mostly of “bark,” “ruff,” bowwow,” and “whine”). We get them whether we think we have any right to or not. Such is the case at Couch Dog Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts, a dog-friendly place inspired as much by co-owners Alli and Adam Shoemaker’s Jindo mix as Alli’s Korean American heritage. Imagine what is familiar on a brewery taplist—ales and lagers, IPAs and pilsners—and then add in what’s less familiar—mugwort, perilla, and maesil—used as adjuncts in these well-known styles for their distinguishing characteristics.
Eagle Rock Brewery—the first microbrewery to set up shop in Los Angeles in more than 60 years, back in 2009—shuttered for good in June 2024; the high price of doing beer business and post-COVID challenges affecting the industry writ large are the two prime culprits. Nonetheless, founder-spouses Jeremy Raub and Ting Su deserve major accolades for their work revitalizing the LA beer scene and making their name as one of the city’s most influential breweries. Picturing what craft brewing in the area looks like without them is impossible. There’s a silver lining here. Closure aside, Eagle Rock still put on their annual favorite Battle of the Bands event in August. If that’s not a testament to their character within the LA community, nothing is.
Lounging on a beach with a beer is nice. Lounging on a Hawaiian beach with a beer is even nicer, and if the beer is the product of a Hawaiian brewery, then consider yourself lucky. Not everyone arrives at that slice of heaven. If you’re one such soul, it’s your duty to try what may well be the only purple drink on tap anywhere in the United States: Ube Colada, a hard seltzer cocktail made with (surprise!) ube. After that you should try an actual beer; sours conditioned on liliko‘i (the Hawaiian word for passion fruit) and guava make their appearance in beers like Waikane Fruit Shack, which sounds like a top-tier choice for a day relaxing under a palm tree.
Published on October 5, 2025
Words by Andy Crump
Bostonian culture journalist Andy Crump covers movies, beer, music, fatherhood, and way too many other subjects for way too many outlets, perhaps even yours: Paste Magazine, Inverse, The New York Times, Hop Culture, Polygon, and Men's Health, plus more. You can follow him on Bluesky and find his collected work at his personal blog. He’s composed of roughly 65 percent craft beer.
Art by Ryan Quan
Ryan Quan is the Social Media Editor for JoySauce. This queer, half-Chinese, half-Filipino writer and graphic designer loves everything related to music, creative nonfiction, and art. Based in Brooklyn, he spends most of his time dancing to hyperpop and accidentally falling asleep on the subway. Follow him on Instagram at @ryanquans.