It was 2018 when Border X Brewing tapped into something special, an altruistic concept that started as a monthly activity and grew to become so much more. Conceived by then podcast host Esthela Davila, said lightning in a bottle goes by the name Mujeres Brew Club and was designed as an easygoing forum for women—Latinas, in particular—to learn the basics about craft beer. A hit from the get-go, it drew droves of attendees who cleared their calendars for months in advance and inspired Border X’s ownership to take the casual club to the next level. In November 2020, they did just that, taking over the Barrio Logan brewery that formerly housed defunct Alta Brewing and reintroducing it as a brick-and-mortar embodiment of the club and its values, Mujeres Brew House.
A full-fledged sub-brand working to expand beer knowledge and awareness to women and San Diego’s greater Hispanic community while celebrating Mexican culture through its beers and aesthetic, Mujeres Brew House has garnered positive attention locally and nationwide. The business is spearheaded by Davila and Border X Marketing Manager Carmen Favela, who have put on numerous community-focused events, including beer festivals and fundraisers featuring engaging music, entertainment and even lucha libre wrestling matches. The success of that programming and the tasting room overall have once set Border X’s owners to advance the concept, this time beyond the county line. The company is in the process of transforming the mezzanine level of its tasting room in Los Angeles County to serve as a second Mujeres Brew House outpost.
Opened in the city of Bell in 2019, the 7,000-square-foot, two-story satellite sampling space has drawn on the Hispanic demographics Border X set out to reach, which should work well in broadening the Mujeres Brew House brand. Prior to the onset of this project, the mezzanine had not been in use. The current time frame for the debut of the L.A. location is not yet solidified, but Border X hopes to have it open by the end of the year. Following that, the speakeasy is initially expected to be open from Friday through Sunday, with the intention of expanding hours of operation at a later date.
Back home, Davila is preparing to revive the Mujeres Brew Club that started the ball rolling. That group, which has been on hiatus due to the pandemic, will meet for the first time in nearly two years on Monday, October 4 at the Barrio Logan tasting room. The subject will be the history of beer and the meeting will be led by Judith Downie, the historian behind California State University, San Marcos’ Beerchive collection of artifacts from San Diego County’s brewing industry.
Another development for the young company is its hiring of a full-time brewer. At the onset, its beers were produced in large part by Border X’s brewing team, but moving forward, former part-timer Samantha Olson will be heading brewing using Mujeres Brew House’s on-site brewhouse and cellar. Olson started her career at Ramona’s ChuckAlek Independent Brewers before moving to La Mesa’s short-lived Fourpenny House, then going on to maintain dual brewing roles at Lemon Grove’s 13 Point Brewing in North Park’s Bivouac Ciderworks, during which she also helped out at Mujeres Brew House.
Under Olson’s direction, Mujeres Brew House will continue its production of beers made featuring Mexican ingredients and flavor profiles. Those beers will be transported to Bell to stock that location’s taps. Updates on the progress of that project can be viewed via the site’s Instagram account.
Border X Brewing’s LA tasting room is located at 4400 Gage Avenue in the city of Bell