A New Spot: Cheetah Coalition Seeks Investment for Brewery Owners From All Walks of Life

In a world with almost ten thousand breweries, where launching a new one can feel like being plopped down in a jungle with only a backpack—especially for Queer- and minority-owned businesses—Cheetah Coalition is blazing a new trail in Denver.

Equal parts incubator, community hub, and creative powerhouse, this tight-knit collective is reshaping the beer industry with shared resources, bold ideas, and safe spaces.

Now in its second year, this fast-growing brand incubator is seeking like-minded business folk and investors to help fuel its growth.

Are you ready to support the next wave of innovative, inclusive beer entrepreneurs?

See all the investment opportunities here and to contribute, email Cheetah Coalition Co-Founder Kelissa Hieber at [email protected]

What Is the Cheetah Coalition?

Started by three brewing vets, the Cheetah Coalition aims to bring together brands, especially from Queer, nonbinary, and marginalized groups, looking to pool resources, share expenses, and split the cost of goods.

Named after a group of cheetahs, aka a coalition, the start-up incubator currently includes three distinct spots (🤷‍♀️).

Underneath the project’s umbrella, you’ll find one of our “Best Breweries of 2023,” Goldspot Brewing, owned by Kelissa Hieber, a new brand launched by Goldspot Head Brewer Lex Laughman called Neon Buzz Beerworks, and Flower Shop Beerworks, a project from nine-year industry veteran Jacob Sabo, who has spent time at places like Briar Common Brewery + Eatery and Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.

Sabo first suggested starting a coalition with Hieber and Laughman last summer when he left Briar Common.

“I was bemoaning how applying for yet another brewery job seemed less desirable than pulling teeth,” laughs Sabo, who wished there were a group of brewers that all helped each other make their own brands.

That critique became a reality when the three launched Cheetah Coalition with three distinct brands—all of which currently brew out of and serve beer on draft at Goldspot.

How Does Cheetah Coalition Work?

This model of merging resources isn’t totally new. Several years ago, we wrote about Pilot Project, an incubator started in Chicago (and since expanded to Milwaukee) by Dan Abel and Jordan Radke.

Pilot Project is a place especially for the minority community to go for eight to sixteen months, develop and scale recipes with a professional brewer, test them in a taproom, distribute them in a major beer market, and grow their brand. All without the financial burden required to open up a place of their own.

Similarly, Cheetah Coalition will operate inside Goldspot’s already established infrastructure. Brands will be able to use Goldspot’s equipment and location to brew, serve, can, and potentially distribute packaged beers.

Goldspot Owner Hieber hopes this will give in-flux brands a chance to test the waters before venturing out on their own. She points to Laughman, who, after brewing their first couple of beers under the NB Beerworks label, “has so much more confidence to go into the market because people are f**king in love with their beer.”

The margins for success in the craft beer industry are so thin, especially once you scale up from a homebrewing hobby to a professional path.

“We want people to come and see if they want to do this s**t before spending half a million dollars,” says Hieber. “Brewing seems real sexy … but it’s a lot more work on the industrial side. Do you like squeegeeing, because you’ll do that a lot!”

Hieber says the model has additional benefits for Goldspot, taking the pressure off of her to constantly keep her tanks full while still getting product out.

While in production, Sabo and Laughman will front the bill for the cost of goods, so “beer out the door at Goldspot will be mutually beneficial to all of us while cutting down the cost of what Kelissa has to produce,” says Laughman, “while still keeping the volume and traffic up through the taproom.”

A Safe Space to Shape

Photography provided by Kelissa Hieber

The start-up incubator is open to any brand-in-planning, but all three hope to target more Queer, non-binary, and minorities “that already have the highest barriers to get into the industry,” says Hieber.

While we have yet to find an exact statistics report on Queer ownership in the beer industry, we know for a fact from the Brewers Association’s yearly demographic surveys that Black- and Brown-owned breweries sit at less than one percent, with similarly low-reported representation from other minority groups such as Latine-owned breweries, South Asian-owned breweries, AAPI-owned breweries, and Indigenous-owned breweries, to name a few.

More like a chosen family, Cheetah Coalition’s current three brands share a strong bond.

Sabo explains how some of the best brewery teams he worked for bonded together over animal mascots.

For instance, the four-person weekend crew at Sleeping Giant nicknamed themselves the possums, “We all have possum tattoos,” laughs Sabo.

Laughman chimes in that “Kel and I together are raccoons.” They both have plans to get matching tattoos with dueling raccoons holding mash paddles.

“It just made sense that my next wonderful group of people would have an animal mascot,” shares Sabo.

Known for their speed, but also their tendency to travel in packs, cheetahs seem a fitting representation for this new organization.

Goldspot Brewing

Photography courtesy of Magic Muncie | Hop Culture

One of our “Best Breweries of 2023,” Goldspot Brewing goes beyond the liquid.

A one hundred percent Queer- and woman-owned brewery, Goldspot made our list of “The 11 Best Breweries to Watch in 2023,” so we sure love it when we’re right (self-assuring pat on the back here).

Last year, VinePair named owner and brewer Kelissa Hieber its Next Wave Awards Brewer of the Year for her dedication to breaking boundaries in the industry.

Goldspot has become a refuge for the Queer and BIPOC community in Colorado.

Walk into the taproom any given day, and you’ll find an array of people as colorful as the New Progress Pride flag. In other words, Goldspot has gained recognition as a welcoming, safe taproom for all in the community. People of all ages, races, identities, genders, and more come into Goldspot because they know they’re going to get a damn good beer and they’re going to feel safe drinking it.

At Goldspot, you’ll feel seen, cared for, and golden.

Something Hieber has laid the foundation for, brick by brick, since the very beginning.

Goldspot is “an inclusive space that people can just hang out in … a place to actually have a real community,” she told me.

At Goldspot, you share common respect and a common love for one thing: beer.

“Goldspot is literally about community,” says Hieber, “that is our vibe, and we just happen to make fantastic a** beer.”

And now, two more brands have joined the fold.

Neon Buzz Beerworks

Photography provided by Kelissa Hieber

Laughman, who identifies as nonbinary, came up with Neon Buzz, aka NB Beerworks, because they like a play on words. “I wanted something subtly gay-sounding,” they explained.

So far, Laughman has launched two beers—Harrow’s Brew, a chocolate pecan porter named after their puppy, and Let Them WhEAT, a fruited wheat beer they hope to turn into a year-long series.

The first, more traditional version included Sabro, a hop with “a little bit of coconut, strawberry, and citrusy vibe,” says Laughman. “It definitely surprised everyone who drank it. It’s not what I was expecting, but I love it.”

Hieber chimes in, adding, everyone drank through that draft handle super quickly.

For the flavored version, Laughman plans to make a blueberry and beet wheat, with the idea to launch one in each season.

Other future beers include an IPA and a kölsch series.

Flower Shop Beerworks

Sabo came up with the name for his brand, Flower Shop Beerworks, based on an inside joke.

While working at Sleeping Giant with Laughman, Sabo would often bemoan when something went wrong that he could be making the same amount of money in a different job without the crazy pressure.

“I could have been a florist!” he’d respond.

Flower Shop Beerworks will make slightly unconventional beers.

“I’m not mashing in gummy worms,” laughs Sabo. But he will brew beers like a lavender cream ale called Lavender Resistance, a Nordic ale with Kveik yeast, orange peel, and spruce tips, and a strawberry habanero hazy called Just In Case (another inside joke).

“It’s real fruity and a little hot,” says Sabo, who also plans to brew what he calls a Cedarwood IPA and a cherry lemon-lime sour.

Drink Beer, Make an Investment

Poster provided by Goldspot Brewing

For its second year, Cheetah Coalition is currently looking for around a $10k-$20k investment.

Hieber says an injection of cash will help the Cheetah Coalition continue to operate on a basic day-to-day level, paying for pallets of grains, can runs, etc., but also with future goals in mind.

With limited space at Goldspot’s current place, Hieber hopes to find a larger location with higher ceilings so she can bring in more equipment.

“This place is cute,” she says, “But my ceilings are short, and I really can’t put another in here; I’ve squeezed it all out.”

On the hook for a rent of $5,000 a month, Hieber says it’s time to find a place that can deliver more bang for their buck.

The trio also feels it’s time to move to a different neighborhood, calling their current area “transient,” with a lot of students and Airbnb travelers but not a dedicated local base.

To help hit their goal, Cheetah Coalition made it super easy.

Investors can contribute at tiered levels, starting at just $25.

Here’s the breakdown:
Any investment over $25 receives a special Cheetah Coalition-branded glass
Any investment over $500 will get a free year of mug club membership or out-of-state equivalent ($150 value)

Interested?

See all the investment opportunities here and to contribute, email Cheetah Coalition Co-Founder Kelissa Hieber at [email protected]

INVEST NOW

Plus, Hieber, Sabo, and Laughman committed to a ten percent return on any investment after six months.

For Cheetah Coalition, investment will help its family of brands expand into new territories, bring innovative new brands on board, and seek out larger, more strategic locations to keep building the coalition.

As Laughman says, “There is a potential for this model to really take off.”