“Mi Gente means my people.”
And it’s the name of a West Coast IPA Edwin Collazo, CEO of Grand Rapids’ City Built Brewing Company is bringing to market.
“I had been talking with some other brewers about Mi Gente and the idea of doing a beer that would kind of highlight and showcase Latin, Hispanic brewers that are making contributions to the industry that tend to not be highlighted and/or just overlooked.”
Collazo, who’s grand parents came to the United States from Puerto Rico recently returned from Denver, Colorado’s Suave Fest where 18 breweries participated in the National Latino Craft Beer Festival.
“I met five other Puerto Rican business owners who own breweries, which blew my mind.”
A 2021 Brewers Association survey found 2.2% of breweries are Hispanic or Latinx owned. In West Michigan, there is a growing community of brewers.
“Miguel, who’s a brewer at Mitten Brewing, we want to talk about him. So, he’s actually going to be here tomorrow for our brew. There’s Linus, 3 Gatos (Brewery), which is in Wyoming. Karen at Berzerk in Grand Haven. Alana who’s an owner at Pigeon Hill. And so, like, there’s a ton of Latin brewers and I don’t think people recognize that.”
A collaboration, the Mi Gente recipe will be shared. City Built and Detroit’s Batch Brewing will release the new IPA in taprooms October 27th and celebrated at the Michigan Brewers Guild 14th Annual Detroit Fall Beer Festival on October 28th.