Outside Atrevida Beer Company a sign that reads “Diversity, It’s on Tap!” is displayed just as prominently as the sign with the brewery’s name.
Inside, the setting feels intimate — and welcoming. Diversity is indeed on tap with beers like Dolores Huerta, Frescas Con Crema, Hibis-Kiss Whoever You Want and Juneteenth. And it’s all over the brewery with Pride flags and nods to the Latino heritage of the owners, Jessica and Rich Fierro.
But what appears to be a somewhat small venue is a front for a more expansive back-of-house operations, where the beers are brewed and stored.
Jessica and Rich look at home in the brewery, where their daughter, Kassy, is the general manager. They are all smiles, warmly greeting everyone who walks in the door on a Sunday afternoon. They all seem at ease in the brewery they built. It’s the way it should be at a craft brewery rooted in its community.
Healing Continues from the Darkest Day
But behind the cheery exterior are the scars — some metaphorical, some physical — that formed four years ago when the Fierros went out for an evening with family and friends.
Jessica, Rich and Kassy were out with friends at Club Q when a shooter entered. Before the shooter was stopped, five were dead including Kassy’s boyfriend, Raymond Vance, and 22 were injured.
In one night Jess and Rich Fierro went from being recognized for opening the first female, Latina-owned brewery in Colorado to making national and international headlines as not just survivors of a mass shooting, but as the hero who helped to subdue the shooter.
“My time in the military prepared me for that moment,” Rich says.
He says that when he would return from a deployment, he would come home to people who hadn’t gone to war, and the transition could be difficult. But following the shooting, he realized that he had gone to war once again, and this time his family had gone with him.
Four years later, Rich says, “In our household, we’re all three in different stages of grief.”
“Our daughter mothers me and Rich so much,” Jess adds.
Jessica is still learning what triggers her, she says. She’s more aware of her surroundings all the time. She tears up when talking about one of the bartenders who lost his life that night: “I didn’t know him, but I’ll never in my life forget him.”
“We are blessed to have met people we probably should have never met,” Rich says, explaining that they share a trauma bond with the people who were in the club that night. But they also joined a club of mass shooting survivors across the country.
Following the shooting, the Fierros were often asked why they were at a gay nightclub that night. Rich says he might be a straight, Latino business owner but he was there supporting another small business and family. The Fierros care deeply about creating and supporting community.
That is one thing that hasn’t changed since the shooting.
Building the Brewery
The Fierros landed in Colorado Springs in 2007 the same way many do — as a military family. And like many others, they ended up staying here when Rich’s time serving was over.
Looking back on that decision with her husband, Jess says she knew she wanted to open a business and wasn’t sure if she should do it in the Springs or move home to San Diego. She knew the business would be a brewery, having been inspired by their time stationed in Germany. It was there she developed a taste for beer while touring breweries. (She had been a tequila girl before that.)
When they weighed the options, the affordability of Colorado Springs was persuasive, but Jess also saw the need to help build community.
They opened Atrevida in 2018 and will celebrate their eighth anniversary this year on Cinco de Mayo. (You can read our interview with Jess from that time here.) To say the Fierros have had a wild ride would be an understatement.
From the day they opened, Jess and Rich have given back to the community. For their opening they gave $1 from every beer to UCCS MOSAIC, the multicultural and LGBTQ center at the university that sits up the hill from Atrevida.
“We made a conscious decision to stay small — it’s the vibe we fell in love with when going to other breweries,” Jess says.
And what seems to some like an out-of-the-way location along North Nevada Avenue works well for them. They have a great landlord, who even worked with them during the struggles of the COVID-19 shutdowns, and Jess says the space and area feel safe.
True to the Mission, Committed to the Community
Following the Club Q shooting in 2021 the brewery saw a surge of support from all over the world. People clamored for their Diversity, It’s on Tap merchandise, and Atrevida struggled to meet the demand. A deal went sour with a contractor who was fulfilling (or not fulfilling) the merchandise orders. But the Fierros say they did everything they could to not let people down.
Eventually some of that support fell off, and now the Fierros face the same struggles as other breweries and small businesses. The costs of running a small business have increased as have the expectations of customers.
“You no longer just serve a beer, you have to feed and entertain people,” Jess says. Atrevida does not serve food, and Rich mentions that to even play music in the brewery they must pay for an ASCAP license.
Since they opened, the cost of a beer has nearly doubled (to $8). The Fierros say the cost of supplies has gone up. That has been exacerbated by recent tariffs, and they have run into other challenges like aluminum shortages. Jess says she adjusts as she needs to, like reducing the days Atrevida’s taproom is open to just Friday through Sunday.
But even now, when more breweries are closing than opening, Atrevida is expanding in a sense with their sign in the Colorado Springs Airport and their beer on tap there. Success like this doesn’t happen overnight; the negotiations for that opportunity started in 2021 and have just come to fruition. “It’s an incredible honor to have our name at the airport,” Jess says.
The brewery is familiar with honors. They have won awards for their beers, including the 2024 Most Innovative Beer at the Mile High Beer Fest, and their business, including being named Philanthropists of the Year in the 2024 Colorado Restaurant Association’s Annual Hospitality Awards.
Jess’s commitment to her community and culture are unwavering. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and her opinions on her T-shirts. On this particular Sunday, her shirt says, “I stand with immigrants.” The day before her shirt read “Fuck ICE.” When confronted by a customer about that shirt, she listened to what he had to say. Rich says he was inspired to watch as Jess and the customer engaged in a respectful conversation. In the end Jess says they didn’t change each other’s minds but they both gained new insights. And then they cheers-ed over a beer.
“Our product is beer,” she says. “But our message is so much bigger than beer.”
Explore the menu and get more details at atrevidabeerco.com.
Want to Explore More Local Breweries?
Check out our People’s Choice winners for Best Brewery.
