TUCSON, Ariz. -- It’s a beer that’s making history in Arizona and it debuted in downtown Tucson.
It was a packed house at Borderlands, where over one hundred beer lovers patiently waited for a taste of Las Hermanas.
What makes it so special is that this is the first-ever partnership between all-female brewers from Arizona and Mexico.
Ayla Kapahi, works for Borderlands Brewing Company. She is one of the leading brewers and tells KGUN she has been working on this project for quite some time. She says it is a dream come true.
“I’m very excited, relieved, and you can probably hear it in my voice, I’m pretty exhausted. We’ve been working on this project, every single day for the last four months,” said Kapahi.
Kapahi says she went to Monterrey, Mexico to brew with other female head brewers, until they got the ingredients right. Then they began brewing here at home.
“We’re brewing a hazy, juicy, hoppy IPA. It has a soft bitterness, but it’s very flavorful. Juicy. Notes of citrus, mango, passionfruit,” she told KGUN9.
It’s called “Las Hermans” which translates to the sisters.
“We thought that would be a fun name since we were working with our female colleagues in Mexico,” said Kapahi.
Though the road today’s success wasn’t easy, she says the end result will be well worth it.
“We had some issues with getting the hopps sent to Mexico, so we had to ship it a certain way. And someone broke into our car, and stole most of the hips...but we’ve set up a scholarship fund and we’re going to use it to send educational materials that female brewers in mexico requested. We’re also going to use the money to put on conferences in Mexico and in tucson. This money can also be used to fly women from anywhere to attend these educational seminars,” Kapahi told KGUN9.
As far as the bi-national collaboration goes, she says, this is only the beginning.
“This is only the first of several projects to come, so very excited,” said Kapahi.
The beer is now being sold on tap, in cans, and will soon be in a brewing facility next Friday.
You can find the address below.
330 Toole Avenue Suite 200
Tucson, Arizona 85701
