Listen Live
Stone Soul Vendor Graphics
99.3-105.7 Kiss FM
CLOSE

The craft beer revolution essentially began in the ’60’s in the United States and has exploded in the decades since. The microbrewery space has always been largely white and male, but a woman in Connecticut is making waves and a little bit of history to boot.

Alisa Bowens-Mercado is the first Black woman in the state to become a craft beer brewer. Her Rhythm Lager is inspired by her grandmothers, who both enjoyed drinking Miller Lite beers.

The beer is currently only sold in and around the New Haven region, but it appears that among other brew masters, the beer is a tasty hit. The recipe is Bowens-Mercado’s own, and uses hops imported from South Africa, which connects to some other parts of her life.

Being a brewery maven isn’t the only hat that Bowens-Mercado wears. She also owns and operates Alisa’s House Of Salsa, teaching salsa, bachata, and kozimba to New Haven residents. Bowens-Mercado is also a radio talk show host.

Bowens-Mercado joins the likes of fellow Black and woman-owned The Harlem Brewing Company, owned by Celeste Beatty and sold in New York, and The Black Star Line in Asheville, North Carolina, with nationwide distribution.

PHOTO: via Twitter

READ MORE STORIES ON BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM:

GET THE HOTTEST STORIES STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX: 

 

Little Known Black History Fact: Alisa Bowens-Mercado  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com