Inside Two Locals, Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery

Beer fan Richard Koilor bought a home-brewing kit in 2016 and set it up in his brother Mengistu’s West Philadelphia backyard. The first batch, they said, “tasted like beer.” Once they got better, they embarked on a greater mission:

To open Philadelphia’s first Black-owned brewery.

Last weekend, Richard, 33, and Mengistu, 43, opened Two Locals Brewing Co. at uCity Square at 37th and Market Streets, part of University City’s burgeoning science campus developed by Wexford Science & Technology and Ventas Inc. and the University City Science Center.

It’s been less than four years since the Koilors got on the region’s beer map when they partnered with Harris Family Brewery and Double Eagle Malting on a beer labeled Black Is Beautiful (and brewed at Love City Brewing) to raise more than $9,000 for Black Lives Matter.

In late 2020, they met Avram Hornik, owner of Craft Hall in Northern Liberties, home of Mainstay Independent Brewing. The Koilors began working with brewer Brian O’Brien on developing the brand and brewing out of Mainstay, starting with Nubian, a brown ale (5.7% ABV), and Prolific, a hazy IPA (6.4%).

At their new home, their 15-barrel brewery eventually will dispense 12 varieties to supply their sprawling taproom, whose food is provided by Liberty Kitchen, a Fishtown restaurant.

Black-owned breweries account for 0.4% of the 9,500 breweries in the United States, according to the Brewers Association.

“The more that we saw that 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 Mengistu Koilor, who is still in financial-services data management.

“We want to be able to show more Black people how to brew and how to get into the industry, and we want to talk about our culture and tell our story through our beers,” said Richard Koilor, who was doing accounting for a tech company and is now at Two Locals full time.

That story stretches back to Lofa, Liberia — represented by Two Locals’ Lofa Lager — where Mengistu, who came here at age 7, and their father, Felix, were born before the family settled in Cedar Park.

The Liberty Kitchen connection came through co-owner P.J. Hopkins, who graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep with Richard Koilor and saw Two Locals mentioned in an alumni newsletter.

Liberty Kitchen has brought in its signature hoagies as well as boards, salads, and tomato pie. Chef de cuisine Nick Messina and executive chef Beau Neidhardt worked with Jurdina Koilor, the owners’ mother, on recipes including a Liberian bean bowl studded with smoked turkey and chicken thigh, red beans, and Scotch bonnet peppers, as well as peanut-braised eggplant.

The Koilors’ biggest challenge was financing. “It’s hard for anyone to raise capital,” Mengistu Koilor said. “And we already know that 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.”

“And we’re here,” Richard Koilor said, as the opening-night crowd on Jan. 26 milled around. “It’s great.”

Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday.