Latin-owned Bay Area brewery releases new beer to benefit nonprofits
Del Cielo brewery in Martinez
What's in a beer? Plenty. Especially if it's brewed at Del Cielo in Martinez
OAKLAND, Calif. - Countless companies have been founded in Bay Area homes, including one local microbrewery.
Del Cielo Brewing is a Latino-owned company founded by a husband-and-wife duo in 2018 that has, in the seven years since its creation, made its mark on the region's beer community.
"'Cielo' is 'sky' in Spanish. For us it means the ultimate, quality experience that you can have when you come to Del Cielo," Cofounder Cielomar Cuevas said.
She and her husband Luis Castro met in Ohio 18 years ago, and bonded over their shared love of quality beer. When they moved to California in 2010, their passion came with them, and soon Castro had an idea.
"I started home brewing like once a month. Then twice a month, then two to three times a week," Castro said. "It got to the point where we got more beer than we can drink ourselves."
Castro and Cuevas shared their homebrewed concoctions with their friends, who encouraged them to start a brewery. Since then, business has boomed.
Del Cielo distributes its products from Windsor to Los Gatos. They make over 4,500 barrels a year, have a staff of 40, and recently opened a second brew-house in Livermore.
"We get a lot of positive comments form customers that they just love to come here," Castro said. "So that always gives you extra energy to keep going."
Keeping their history alive
The backstory:
Cuevas hails from Puerto Rico, and Castro from Colombia. The couple have made their heritage a facet of their business — the Puerto Rican and Colombian flags are draped over their brewery bar, and their products feature Latin names such as the Hoptinez, the Cosecha Fresca, and the El Rey IPA.
Each of their 12 core brews are packaged and filled with ingredients that give the customer a taste of Latin America.
"We like to have fun with our branding or names. We have 'Orale,' which is our biggest seller," Cuevas said. "Basically 'orale' is an expression of enjoyment. You can be like, "Orale! Lets do this, that's amazing, that's awesome.'"
Less than 3% of U.S. breweries are Hispanic-owned. Del Cielo has teamed up with 16 other Latin-owned beer-makers to brew "Patria" Hazy IPA. The word translates to "homeland," and is being released in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Patria is a limited-run product, and 20% of the proceeds will go to local Latin-run non-profits around the country.
"I feel like it's a love letter to our heritage," Cuevas said.
Del Cielo is a well-established company, but that same experimental streak that led Castro to create the products that helped build their brand is still alive and well. He's brewed over 300 varieties of beer, including specialties like Guava Dreams.
His work hasn't diminished his love for beer either.
"I still have a beer a day. Sometimes more than one," Csatro said.