— ADVERTORIAL — C brewing Company has built an enduring legacy on the three pillars of community, culture, and cerveza (Spanish for beer). Raíces CEO José D. Beteta and his wife, Vice President of Development Tamil Maldonado Vega, came to Colorado from Washington, D.C., with a mission to introduce more Latin American and Caribbean culture to the state. “We saw a lot of Mexican culture, which is great, but we wanted to expand on that idea and include the rest of Latin America,” says Beteta, who is Costa Rican. So along with Vega, who is from Puerto Rico, he opened a multicultural center in Longmont, which operated successfully until the building was sold. While researching their next move, they came across a startling statistic: only .5% of all the brewery owners in the United States were Latino. COMMUNITY is a priority at Raíces. To foster community engagement, Raíces hosts food drives, toy drives, Platte River cleanups, art workshops, and other fundraising events to benefit local charitable organizations. They even created a special beer to honor Sun Valley, an easy-sipping golden ale named Valle del Sol. Proceeds from Valle del Sol are reinvested into the Sun Valley Kitchen, the Sun Valley Youth Center, and other programs that help out neighbors in need. Recently, Raíces won a contract with fellow Sun Valley resident Meow Wolf to become the main beer vendor at their new permanent exhibition, Convergence Station. Beteta sees it as a natural partnership: “They picked us because we have very similar values, we’re in close proximity to each other, basically right across the street, and they really like what we do here in support of community, culture, and arts.” Raíces beat over fiſty other Colorado breweries to get the coveted spot as Meow Wolf ’s brewery of choice, in no small part due to their dedication to the community. CULTURE for folks to gather and sample Raíces’s delicious beers. It also serves as a community center to educate the public about Latin American and The taproom is not only a place Nurturing a sense of community olorado is home to more than four hundred craſt beer breweries, but only Raíces about only fiſty out of the current close to nine thousand breweries all over the United States. When we saw those numbers, we saw an opportunity. We could start contributing to those numbers, bringing in a little bit more Caribbean culture. You’ll find the walls filled with works by Latinx artists, live music from Latin American and Caribbean bands, and rotating food trucks serving food from all over South America. “What we try to do is give you the full Latin American experience as much as we can,” says Beteta. Hosting over two hundred and fiſty cultural events a year, Beteta and Vega consider the event programming at Raíces to be just as important as the beer itself. The heart of the taproom is a stage used for concerts, interviews, art shows, and community forums. Raíces oſten has celebrations for various Latin American holidays, but Beteta wants to ensure they have more to contribute than just fun and games: “We don’t only focus on the fun and cartoonish part of our culture, but we focus heavily on the issues we face all the time, and we invite people to have those conversations with us,” he explains. Raíces is your go-to spot to learn about all things related to Latin and Caribbean cultures in a fully immersive environment. CERVEZA is brewed on site at their Denver taproom. Raíces has five signature beers that they aim to keep on tap at all times: the Valle del Sol golden ale, a best-selling hazy IPA called Soñando Despierto (Daydreaming), Manguito, an ale brewed with ripe mangos, a rare coffee blonde ale named Cafecito, Stop by the Raíces taproom today to enjoy community, culture, and cerveza, and be sure to follow Raíces on social media to keep up with their jam-packed events schedule. 2060 W Colfax Ave, Denver, CO | (720) 324-8550 | raicesbrewing.com WESTWORD BITES 2021 15 Raíces’s award-winning craſt beer “In terms of numbers, we’re talking diversity, inclusion, and representation into the industry,” recalls Beteta. In 2016, the couple founded Raíces Brewing Company with Puerto Rican brewer Martín D. Vargas, and in 2019, they opened the Raíces taproom in Denver’s Sun Valley neighborhood. and a red IPA called Furia (Fury). All Raíces beers are brewed with fresh, hand-selected ingredients, like Fair Trade coffee beans sourced from an indigenous women-owned farm in Guatemala, which are used to brew the Cafecito. With ten to fourteen beers on tap at any given time, Raíces also offers seasonal specialties, rotating guest beers (almost always from Latin-owned breweries), a gluten free option, and a non-alcoholic beer option. Plus, their online menu includes detailed tasting notes and suggested food pairings for each beer, so you can easily do your own guided tasting, or perfectly pair your favorite brew with one of their daily food truck offerings.
