June is Pride Month and among the myriad of places to tap into the celebration are breweries, which are hosting events, releasing specialty beers and pouring donations into Colorado’s LGBTQ community throughout the month.
At Denver’s second annual Big Queer Beerfest on June 18, for example, drinkers will find 35 breweries serving unique recipes for a variety of causes. The event, founded in 2021 by the female- and queer-owned businesses Goldspot Brewing and Lady Justice Brewing, raised more than $6,000 for organizations such as Queer Asterisk and Transformative Freedom Fund in its inaugural year, and is aiming higher in 2022, said Goldspot owner Kelissa Hieber.
More than 1,500 people attended the festival last year, Hieber said, and moving to a new venue, the Town Hall Collaborative in the Santa Fe Arts District, allows for double the number of guests. Instead of charging an entry fee, however, attendees purchase tokens that can be exchanged for beers, most of which will be unique to the event, and 20% of the proceeds from those purchases will be donated to nonprofits that support the LGBTQ community.
Courtesy of Goldspot Brewing
Big Gay IPA will be on tap at the Big Queer Beerfest on June 18.
Each brewery serving at the event will choose a nonprofit to support, so drinkers can also decide where to spend their tokens based on the charitable organization, Hieber said.
“I’ve been in the industry a long time and it’s been really difficult to connect with queer folks and advocate for queer folks in taprooms, in front of house and in back of house,” Hieber said. The idea behind Big Queer Beerfest was to “take back some of that space in the beer community.”
Goldspot and Lady Justice are collaborating on at least two beers — Big Gay IPA and I Can See Clearly Now Hazy IPA — to be served at the Big Queer Beerfest. Participating businesses include many owned by women and people of color, including Wah Gwaan Brewing, Dos Luces Brewery, Atrevida Beer and Bierstadt Lagerhaus. (See full lineup here.) And in the spirit of inclusivity, there will be several seltzers and nonalcoholic beers at the festival, too.
Big Queer Beerfest, June 18 from noon to 5 p.m. at Town Hall Collaborative, 525 Santa Fe Dr., Denver. Free to attend. Drink tokens cost $3 each or $25 for ten. VIP tickets are also on sale for $80, and include unlimited drink tokens plus a commemorative T-shirt.
Thirsty for more events? Here are two others where you can show your pride this month.
Kickoff to Pride at Fiction Beer Co.
Celebrate queer literature and culture with a side of flip cup and beer pong. Fiction Beer will release Brightening Glance Witbier, a reference to a line from the novel “Dancer From The Dance,” by Andrew Holleran, for the occasion. The beer is made with orange peel and vanilla giving it a “velvety, creamsicle, dreamy, gay type of vibe,” said head brewer Daniel Blei. Other attractions include live music and custom T-shirts tie-dyed to order. A portion of proceeds benefits HeyDenver, which provides free STI & HIV testing for uninsured and underinsured individuals. June 4 at Fiction Beer Co., 7101 E. Colfax Ave. Denver.
PrideFest at Call to Arms Brewing Co.
Expect small-batch tappings, live music and a Pride Parade down Tennyson Street starting at 2 p.m. Special releases include a dry-hopped West Coast IPA called You’re Not Gay, I Am, and 10% of sales from the day will benefit the Transgender Center of the Rockies, which provides counseling, support groups and medicine-assisted treatment to transgender locals. June 25 at Call to Arms Brewing, 4526 Tennyson St., Denver.
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