Atrevida Beer Co. leaves its mark on Colorado craft beer scene
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Atrevida Beer Co.'s motto appears prominently at the brewery. Photo: John Frank/Axios
Colorado's first Latina-owned brewery pours its last pint Sunday, but founder Jessica Fierro says the mission behind Atrevida Beer Co. will outlive the business.
Why it matters: With Atrevida's "Diversity, it's on tap" motto, Fierro challenged an overwhelmingly white- and male-dominated industry and proved that inclusivity and beer could go hand in hand.
State of play: Fierro landed on the brewing scene after winning Vice TV's competition series "Beerland." She opened the brewery in 2018 in a strip mall in northeast Colorado Springs, putting her diversity mission prominently on a sign outside the brewery. In Spanish, "Atrevida" means a bold and daring woman.
- Fierro founded the Springs chapter of the Pink Boots Society, an organization that supports women in the beer industry, and brewed beers inspired by her Latin culture with ingredients like tamarind in an old-world bière de garde. She also hosted diversity-minded nonprofit events.
Flashback: The brewery became well-known in the wake of 2022's Club Q mass shooting, in which she was injured and her husband, Rich, helped disarm the gunman. Her daughter's boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was killed in the attack.
- The international attention brought overwhelming support, in the sale of beer and merchandise, but created operational headaches, online harassment and security concerns.
What she's saying: The decision to close didn't come down to a single factor. The craft beer industry is slumping, and eventually sales subsided.
- "I'm excited about what we built," Fierro told the Gazette. "I'm excited about all the opportunities that we were given, all the awards that we were given, the community rallying with us ... but it's been an incredibly tough couple of years."
What's next: Fierro is keeping the Atrevida brand, but for now, she is focused on her family's mental health after eight years of trying to make the brewing industry more like the community it serves.