Meet the Ladies of Lady Justice Brewing
@LadyJusticeBrewing
Tell us about the background of Lady Justice Brewing?
We’re Betsy Lay (co-founder, owner) and Alison Wisneski (Director of Marketing) of Lady Justice Brewing! Lady Justice Brewing was dreamed up by Betsy, Kate Power, and Jen Cuesta during their 2010 service in AmeriCorps – asking the question “why can’t we brew beer and give back to our community?” What began as a small operation on a custom-built homebrew system in a tiny storage space has grown into a flourishing taproom and movement.
Today, Lady Justice Brewing is a community-focused brewery dedicating time, space, and money to nonprofits and community partners that support and empower women, girls, and nonbinary people in the state of Colorado. Our giving is focused in two direct ways: through our Community-Supported Beer (CSB) memberships with 100% of profits over cost going directly to nonprofit partners, and through the fabric of the taproom community, highlighting opportunities to volunteer, collaboration brews, and more.
Friends & Lovers Photography
How can people find you?
You can find us on 9735 East Colfax Tuesday-Friday from 3-8 pm, Saturday-Sunday 12-8 pm,, and online at www.ladyjusticebrewing.com as well as @ladyjusticebrewing on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and @ladyjusticebrew on Twitter.
Why do you think it is important that our Denver community should support small LGBTQ owned businesses like yours?
We don’t think people should buy our beer and hang in our taproom because we’re woman-owned, queer-owned, and Latina-founded and -brewed. We think you should buy our beer and hang in our taproom because it’s really good, and it’s a fun and inclusive environment that we work hard to cultivate for our community. We’re always looking to do better and be better for the craft beer community as well as our local Aurora community, and we think our taproom is well on its way to doing so.
What fun events do you host throughout the year?
On Wednesday at 6pm, we host weekly trivia with another queer-owned business, Brews n Clues Denver Trivia, as well as offering up space for events that benefit our community and for nonprofits to partner with us. We’ve hosted Period Kits, fundraisers for abortion rights, and different queer meetups for our community that we love to be a part of. We can host private or semi-private happy hours or meetups for organizations or teams looking for a relaxing environment to drink great beer for a better world!
Friends & Lovers Photography
What are some of your favorite or most popular drinks and Bar Snacks you sell?
We of course brew and sell our own beer – our Sandra Day IPA, Chosen Family ESB, and Heck Yeah! Hard Seltzer line are all really popular! We also sell local pretzels from XLVII’s Bakery, chips from Denver Chip Co., and most recently added banh mis from Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe next door. We love, love, love our local partners!
Tru Blu Images
What is the Community Supported Beer Membership and what non-profits do you partner with for it?
Our CSB is something we’re really proud of, especially how it grows and changes and evolves with us as we do! We started solely brewing beer for the CSB members, similar to a CSA farm share, and it grew as we grew from production-only facilities to our taproom today. This year, our partners are Calling All Crows and Aurora Community Connection. The mission statement of promoting the status of women, girls, and nonbinary people translates to who we focus our giving toward, and both of these awesome organizations fit the bill. Organizations will reach out, or we’ll seek local orgs in our community doing incredible work to partner with.
Alongside our CSB, we also have our #PouringGoodness tapline, which is a beer tap that is always dedicated to a new community partner month over month. We have opportunities in the taproom for organizations to come in and table, present their work, or create events for our patrons to enjoy.
Why do you find the Aurora area to be the best place for Lady Justice Brewing?
We love our Aurora community! From our next door neighbors (shoutout to Pasternack’s and Expertise Cuts & Styles – we love you, Scott and Keith!) to East Colfax, we love the walkable areas and being in the Aurora Cultural Arts District. The small footprint has helped us stay on track with cultivating delicious craft beer and focusing on distribution for our small space. While we’re always open to discussions of expanding, Aurora is our heart!
What accomplishments in 2021/2022 you are most proud of?
We brought on our new head brewer, Jamie Gonzalez, and she’s been absolutely knocking it out of the park. Her background as a former pastry chef means she makes flavor combinations we’re certain that haven’t appeared in craft beer yet, and we can’t wait for the winter months when she brews up some cozy faves!
Are you from Colorado? Why did you choose to call your neighborhood your home?
Betsy’s originally from St. Louis (moved 2000) and Alison is originally from outside of Milwaukee (moved 2010), but we’re not planning to leave Colorado! We love all of Denver and the surrounding area’s neighborhoods and have been in Olde Town Arvada since 2016.
Kate Ivy Photography
Kate Ivy Photography
How would you describe the personality or “Vibe” of Denver?
The vibe of our Denver community is one that’s interested in unique ways to give back. If drinking craft beer and hard seltzer, which is such a part of Denver’s culture, can do a little good…well, that’s the crowd we’re speaking to! We love getting to meet people at the intersection of craft beer, giving back, and meeting new friends!
Tru Blu Images
What are your favorite local Denver spots/business? ?
We’re huge fans of Wah Gwaan Brewing, Goldspot Brewing, and Raíces Brewing when we’re heading out for local beers. As for eats, we love our friends at Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe in Aurora, Sultan Grill in Arvada, and our BFF food trucks Mukja, Over Rice Thai Food, and Laziz Ya Lebanese. We adore cocktails at the Stockroom in Olde Town Arvada and catching live music like Brianna Straut, Anthony Ruptak, or Alright Alright at small venues all over town.
Leave A Comment