OnTap Magazine

48 | Summer 2024 | ontapmag.co.za All three women were working full-time jobs elsewhere, so they didn’t require salaries. This left costs such as rent, overhead, utilities and actual brewing supplies. The membership model meant they raised all their money upfront, and with that lump sum in hand, once they factored in their costs, they knew exactly how much they would have left to donate. INITIAL UPS AND DOWNS In 2018, Lady J moved from the garage into another brewery under an alternating proprietorship arrangement. This “alt prop” approach allowed them to legally brew beer in someone else’s licensed location and then take over their taproom on Sundays. This latter opportunity meant that they could further test whether or not this idea of theirs was indeed sustainable. Would people respond positively to a nonprofit brewery run by three women? The answer was a resounding yes. Lady J did very well at that location and by June of 2019 they decided it was time to look into opening their own brick and mortar. It was, however, also then that both Power and Cuesta realized they no longer had the capacity to work for Lady J in addition to their full-time jobs as lawyers. Lay took full ownership in early 2020 while on the hunt for a new location for their brewery. On March 15th, she signed a lease for the “perfect” spot. And then, three days later, on March 18th, the state of Colorado shut down in response to the Covid epidemic. Luckily for Lady J, they had the infrastructure and customer base to shift back into a to-go model. In April, they launched their largest-ever membership round with 360 individuals signing up to receive four crowlers. “That got us through those first couple months of Covid.” True to their model, they had people sponsoring memberships for teachers and paramedics and other first responders. “There were a lot of ups and downs that first year…and it was really hard to budget because we never knew what was going to happen next,” says Lay. But because of the CSB memberships, she estimates that they still managed to raise and donate $3000 in 2020. “We have never not given away money.” HEARTWARMING AND GOOD BUSINESS The only reason, in Lay’s view, that this modest social enterprise survived is because “people kept insisting on coming and buying our beer.” They didn’t yet have distribution, so they needed customers to physically go to the taproom or buy merch online. “We asked them to show up for us and they did,” she insists. And that, according to Lay, is what a social enterprise should accomplish: get people to understand that as consumers, we have a lot of power in where we spend our money. This type of support is not exclusive to Lady J: again, the craft beer industry does tend to foster and encourage camaraderie. During craft beer’s early years, there was an initial need to introduce the public to the product and ultimately, create an economy around it, and this often required a collaborative approach – or at least, not an adversarial one. The ‘rising tide’ expression is suitable here, and that was and still is the case in Denver, Lay maintains, who describes the industry as a friendly one. Years later, with the broader craft beer landscape nationwide now stagnating, Lay argues that breweries need to do a lot more than just exist and serve up a few IPAs. Breweries need to be sharper, smarter. The industry’s challenge is to understand and evolve the role of craft beer and for Lay, a significant part of that role is creating a space for a wide variety of people to gather, and to engage. She points out that there are entire demographics craft beer hasn’t historically had to market or cater to – but it does now. There is a whole new generation entering the fold, says Lay, “so let's show them spaces that they can belong to and…products that excite them.” Gen Z seems to connect their dollars with their values more than any previous generation, Lay contends. Demonstrating that your beer dollars are going directly back into the community, into initiatives supporting women, girls and non-binary folks in the state of Colorado, is not only heartwarming: it’s also turning into good business. LIVING UP TO THEIR MISSION For Lay, a taproom is so much more than a place where people go to drink. It is a space for people to gather, it is where connections are made, where strangers talk to each other. Lay shares an observation: “The way that men [specifically] find community with other men: Sitting alone at a bar gives men the permission to talk to each other in ways they don’t necessarily do outside, which is fascinating to me.” There is something about that physical, perhaps lateral positioning, that has become a culturally sanctioned place for men to strike up conversation with their fellow man. Lay is adamant that drinking beer together is the equivalent of breaking bread and all that that entails, socially. Lady J has hosted everything from elopements to memorials. Lay recalls how they recently received a message on Instagram from a couple with a photo of their engagement that had taken place at Owners Alison Wisneski (L) and Betsy Lay (R) - (Via Instgram) Lady J hosts women's-sports-watching events at the taproom (Via Instagram) Lady Justice Brewing founders from L to R: Jen Cuesta, Betsy Lay and Kate Power.