This month, Outside the Law profiles Kate Power for her work with Lady Justice Brewing. Kate is one of the three women co-founders of Lady Justice Brewing, two of whom, including Kate, are also practicing attorneys.
The 1891: Running any kind of business has been difficult in 2020, but what is it like operating a brewery during a pandemic?
Kate: It has been a really interesting and challenging time. Operating our business during a pandemic certainly isn’t something we predicted. When we first started talking about Lady Justice back in 2014, we talked about all the different ways the business could operate. We decided to open the taproom about 2 or 3 weeks before the pandemic began. In fact, the lease was signed just a week or so before Colorado issued its first Stay at Home order. But even with those challenges, we have always had such a supportive community. Even though we couldn’t open for in-person taproom business right away, people still showed up for us by purchasing beer memberships and our canned to-go beers. We’ve been able to make it work with the support we received from the brewing community and our customers.
Over the summer we were able to open our taproom for a short time, which was really fun, but even that was different from the community support model we anticipated. Our space was supposed to be completely open to the community for hosting community gatherings. So, it has been a shift, having to tell customers not to intermingle tables and encouraging people to buy to-go beer.
The 1891: Your taproom space has such a beautiful mural—will you tell us about it?
Kate: Yes, the taproom space itself has an incredible mural on the wall painted by local artist Chelsea Lewinski. It features Dolores Huerta, who worked with Cesar Chavez and was an important figure in the labor rights movement, Marsha P. Johnson, a trans rights activist, and of course Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Having these women activists in our mural was important to us because we wanted to highlight women who made an impact throughout history. The mural is bold and colorful, so when you’re in the taproom you can’t miss it and it makes you think about those women. Having RBG on our walls is especially bittersweet with her recent passing, but we love that she is there, and I feel a connection as a woman who went to law school and practices law. I could go to law school and not have to worry about my gender because of the work Justice Ginsburg did throughout her career. I never had to think I couldn’t become a lawyer just because I’m a woman, so it’s poignant to have her with us in this small way.
The 1891: Speaking of the amazing ways women benefit their communities, how does charitable giving fit in with Lady Justice Brewing?
Kate: We founded Lady Justice on the concept of a business that existed for the purpose of supporting its community. If you’re going to buy beer, why not have that beer be something that also supports the community? We wanted to create a brewery where customers knew their purchases would be reinvested in their own community. Right now, for example, we are supporting a coat drive for Aurora Mental Health Center. If you stop by to get some to-go beer, you can also donate a coat to someone who needs it. We try to focus on organizations we can partner with to help lift people up, especially in these pandemic times.
Throughout this pandemic, we have donated approximately $5,000 in grants to Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Aurora Mental Health Center, Soul2Soul Sisters and Dream Culture USA. We remain dedicated to continuing to contribute to our community and staying true to that mission even as our expenses have greatly increased as we majorly scale up our distribution and taproom.
The 1891: How can CWBA members support Lady Justice Brewing?
Kate: That is so kind of you to ask! Thank you. People can buy our to-go beers—we have several different 6-packs available. We also can-on-demand, which means anything on our tap list can be canned for a customer in a crowler (a larger sized can). Other than beer, we have merchandise available, which can ship anywhere in Colorado. You can order for pickup here: https://commerce.arryved.com/location/BLmdJDGi/modality/pickup/
And if someone wants to host a virtual beer tasting, please reach out to info@ladyjusticebrewing.com, and we can talk about getting that scheduled.
Although our taproom is currently closed for in-person seating, the mural with Justice Ginsburg is visible as you walk by the front window. People can swing by for a 6-pack of the spiced seasonal dark ale we named I Dissent in her honor and take a selfie with RBG.
And, as always, part of Lady Justice’s mission is supporting the community, so another way to support Lady Justice would be to donate to the organizations we list on the Giving page of our website (www.ladyjusticebrewing.com/giving). We want our community to feel as supported as Lady Justice has felt during these tough economic times.
Justine Pierce is an Assistant Attorney General in the Health Care Unit at the Colorado Department of Law, where she represents the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Ms. Pierce recently returned to Colorado after spending three years in Singapore, where she worked as Assistant Vice President of Global Legal for Fullerton Health, served on the board of directors of an association dedicated to the professional advancement of women, and traveled around the region every chance she got.