Brooklyn Brewery takes Fonio Rising Pale Ale nationwide

Brooklyn Brewery is expanding its core portfolio with the nationwide launch of the award-winning Fonio Rising Pale Ale. Fonio Rising Pale Ale is brewed with a blend of two-row pale malt and fonio, and dry-hopped with Strata and Citra. Fonio is the ancient, climate-resistant West African grain — and Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver has made it a mission to celebrate and promote.

This year-round, nationwide release of Fonio Rising Pale Ale follows its limited release debut in 2024, under Brooklyn Brewery’s Brewing for Impact initiative, a campaign designed to unite people, cultures, and traditions through beer. Oliver first began experimenting with fonio in 2019.

“In my 35 years of brewing, I’ve never seen an ingredient or innovation excite beer drinkers and other brewers quite like this. Backed by 5,000 years of cultivation, fonio grows in near-desert conditions without chemicals, tilling, or irrigation, while supporting thousands of smallholder farmers. It’s an incredible grain that makes incredible beer—fonio’s got everything,” Oliver explains. “With Fonio Rising Pale Ale joining our core lineup, African-grown fonio is finally reaching the mainstream—not just as a sustainable and socially impactful crop, but as an ingredient that makes great tasting beer. It gives this pale ale a tropical lilt that’s really delicious.”

Fonio Rising Pale Ale launch

Known as the “Seed of the Universe”— fonio is a resilient crop that thrives in poor soil without fertilizers or pesticides, regenerates land, and provides vital income for West African smallholder farmers, most of whom are women.

To celebrate Fonio Rising Pale Ale, Brooklyn Brewery is partnering with African Chop House – a cultural organization that brings people together through African food, music, and conversation – for a series of events throughout 2025 spotlighting African culture and craft. Details for the events – which will bring together bold flavors, rich culture, and more community celebration – will be announced soon.

Additionally, Brooklyn Brewery and African Chop House have put together a limited-edition merchandise collection, designed by forward-thinking designer and all around creative Chalé, which will be available for purchase in the Tasting Room and online at the end of February.

The Brewery is also launching the Brew a Beer with Brooklyn Brewery contest, offering one winner the chance to help craft a unique fonio-based beer alongside Oliver and his team. The grand prize includes a trip to NYC to take part in the brewing process, a collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery’s designers to create a custom beer label, and an exclusive return visit for the beer’s launch party. Full details can be found here.