Latino-Owned Raices Brewing To Open Soon In Denver, Aims To Bridge Cultural Divide

DENVER (CBS4) - Two people who want to bridge a cultural divide and celebrate Latinos are opening a new brewery in Denver soon.

"What we wanted to do with Raices was create a brand that Latinos here in the U.S. could connect to," Jose Beteta said.

Beteta had been shopping around for a few years for a space for Raices Brewing Co. He finally found it at an old building on Colfax Avenue.

"As of 2018, there were only 40 Latino owned craft breweries in the country," he said. That he says is out of over 7,000 craft breweries.

"I saw a huge discrepancy and an opportunity for us to do something about it."

Raices means "roots" in Spanish, and Beteta and his team are now anchoring their roots in Denver's Sun Valley community.

Beteta immigrated from Costa Rica, his partner Tamil Maldonado grew up in Puerto Rico and they both say beer serves as a cultural tie in Latino communities.

"So beer is very connected to communities, and to relationships, and to building that relationship, and celebrations, and sometimes when you have a bad day it also makes sense to actually drink a beer," Maldonado explained.

The two, along with another partner who is overseeing the brewing process, say they chose a location in the Sun Valley neighborhood in part to help lift it up.

"Latinos live here with people from African descendants ... it was (once) a working-class Jewish neighborhood," Beteta said.

Sun Valley has been a low income neighborhood in Denver for years. That could soon change as new developments go in. Beteta is glad to be part of it.

"It tells the city we have to have more diverse and inclusive businesses in this area, including intentionally in this neighborhood for them to thrive and for them to represent the people who actually live here."

Beteta also wants to give back after he opens, but in the near future he hopes his beer (or rather "cerveza") welcomes all to learn more about Latino culture.

Get more information at raicesbrewing.com and stay tuned for an announcement of their opening date.