Lady Justice Brewing prioritizes social justice and a tight-knit taproom environment

June 5, 2025

Owners Alison Wisneski (left) and Betsy Lay (right)

Photo by TruBlue Images

Located in Englewood, queer and women-owned Lady Justice Brewing produces, serves and distributes drinks while maintaining an event-filled and inclusive space.

Their social justice focus is reflected in their menu, made up of staple beer options, such as the “Sandra Day IPA,” and rotating specialties, like “All Birds Are Spies.”

The brewery’s background

Co-founders Betsy Lay, Kate Power and Jen Cuesta opened Lady Justice Brewing in 2016.

Lay, who co-owns Lady Justice Brewing with her wife, Alison Wisneski, said she and the other co-founders served in AmeriCorps’ Vista program at the same time. This was during a recession, and they made approximately $10,000 a year each with no other income sources.

Lay said Lady Justice began from a societal observation that sparked a conversation among their friend group.

Noticing how busy the pubs they congregated at were and the network they established made the co-founders wonder how they could start a similar project that puts the revenue back into the community.

“Every once in a while, we'd get together and grab beers with our friend group at a local food pub here in town, and we got into a conversation once about how we're in the middle of this recession, but everybody is prioritizing gathering together over food and drink,” Lay said.

Power and Cuesta both left Colorado to study law, and Lady Justice opened when they returned.

Lay said they were too small to open a taproom in the beginning, so they only produced drinks for paid membership holders to pick up monthly.

They adopted a philanthropic model that Power learned about in law school, allowing them to donate their membership-generated profits to statewide organizations whose work helps girls, women and nonbinary people.

Lay shared that over the years, Lady Justice has outgrown three of its locations and expanded their philanthropic model, but they still have a membership program.

She recommends people purchase the membership at the end of each year to get the most benefit.

“We still keep our membership program. It looks more like a mug club now, but we still donate the profits from the sale of that to nonprofits. And then, we also have a tap line that, every month, a dollar from every pour from that tap line goes to a different nonprofit,” Lay said.

Upcoming events for Pride Month and beyond

Lady Justice Brewing is hosting a full lineup of events to celebrate Pride Month and will likely add more throughout the month. Their event announcements, as well as their initial Pride Month calendar, are posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Lay said that Lady Justice collaborates frequently with LaLa Queen, a Denver-based drag queen. Every June, the “Strawberry LaLager” is on tap as the donation beer and distributed in cans; $1 from every pour goes to Trans Lifeline, LaLa Queen’s nonprofit of choice.

LaLa Queen will also be at Family Pride Day, happening on June 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. According to the event’s Instagram announcement, attendees of all ages can enjoy drag story time, live music on the patio and crafts.

On June 29, Lady Justice will have a Post-Pride Patio Party, taking place after Denver’s Pride festivities. There will be a DJ on their patio and cocktails from Shea Mobile Bespoke Bar.

Lay said this event is free and begins at noon, adding that it will have a more casual atmosphere.

“The idea with that is just to have a fairly, you know, easy-going, no-frills party. After Pride, we've got air conditioning inside, we'll do $5 fours of our core lineup. We've got a slushy machine now, so we put our hard seltzer in the slushy machine. So, Pride Sunday should just be a lot of fun,” she said.

Jon Ham will play a fundraising concert from 5 to 8 p.m. on June 30, and Lay said he is raising money for The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ suicide prevention and crisis support.

Lady Justice’s Instagram post also lists several trivia nights happening throughout the month, including adults-only nights with Jessica L’Whor on June 9 and June 23.

Lay noted that trivia takes place at Lady Justice throughout the year, every Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Jessica L’Whor does drag trivia once a month.

Lady Justice also has regular bingo nights; the next one is music-themed and will take place on June 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Lady J’s community impact

Lay shared that she and the other co-founders worked to ensure that Lady Justice Brewing reflects the values and demographics of their clientele, something she said is not always found in other breweries.

“Craft was built by a lot of straight white guys, and so, it's very possible still, even today in 2025, to walk into a brewery and not see yourself reflected in the mission and the ethos in the customer base,” Lay said.

She thinks that creating a place where marginalized groups can feel like they belong, with house rules that maintain this environment, is crucial.

“When you have spaces that provide programming, community, visual clues, all of that for marginalized groups, in my opinion, that opens up the door for anyone who is willing to come into our space,” she said.

Lady Justice supports several causes and nonprofits, but their impact does not stop with their actions and events. They also hope to show their community members how to make their own social impacts through conscious monetary choices.

“The underlying message that we try to teach at Lady Justice is that every person has power to spend their money in places that will impact their community,” Lay said.

More information about Lady Justice Brewing’s work can be found on their website. Anyone wanting to host an event there can inquire by filling out the form on this page.

Those interested can follow Lady Justice Brewing on Instagram, Facebook and Threads.

Photo by TruBlue Images