Museum Collection Documents CT's First Black Woman Craft Brewer

NEW HAVEN, CT — Connecticut’s first Black woman brewer Alisa Bowens-Mercado, founder of Alisa's House of Salsa and the Rhythm Brewing Co., has donated an assortment of artifacts that document her two successful New Haven businesses to the New Haven Museum.

The collection debuted Friday morning. The display, which includes Rhythm Brewing Co. products, photographs, and promotional materials, and salsa-dancing shoes, will be on view in the Community Case, which highlights individual stories that add to the story of New Haven, in the museum’s rotunda for the month of August.

Bowens-Mercado established Alisa’s House of Salsa in 2000. Now that the studio has reopened for classes in-person, students of all ages continue to learn safely.

In 2018, Bowens-Mercado started her second act with the founding of Rhythm Brewing Company when she became the first Black woman craft beer brewer in Connecticut. Her Rhythm Lager was inspired by her grandmothers, who motivated her to brew commercially and represent people historically overlooked in the brewing industry. The lager’s recipe is Bowens-Mercado’s own and includes hops from South Africa.

Learn more about the collection here, and learn more about the New Haven Museum here.