Del Cielo Brewing Co., located in Downtown Martinez, CA, is celebrating its seventh anniversary this weekend, May 30 to June 1.
Owners Cielomar Cuevas and Luis Castro will be hosting a Vegas themed party that will last all weekend long, jam-packed with multiple different events and new brews.
Castro, 48, was born and raised in Colombia and spent the majority of his twenties drinking what he called “crappy beer,” such as Bud Light, Budweiser, Coronas, and other “macro brews.” In 2006, he moved to Cleveland, OH, where he had his first ever IPA.
“It just blew my mind, all the flavors and aromas,” explained Castro. “I just wasted almost 30 years of my life drinking crappy beer.”
Shortly after moving to Cleveland, he met his now wife and business partner, Cuevas, 40, who moved from Puerto Rico to Cleveland. Cuevas explained she enjoys drinking beer and visiting new brewery spots. The two of them spent their spare time visiting breweries within their area and trying new beers.
Cuevas and Castro moved to Concord, CA, in 2010 where he began to get more involved with trying different beers and growing a curiosity about the different types of beers. He would try new IPAs but always felt there was something missing. He would go to a craft beer liquor store and purchase two six packs of beer where every bottle was different.
“I would share the beers with my friends but my friends never wanted to talk about the beer, they just wanted to drink the beer,” he said. “They [his friends] were like ‘we have to hear about every single beer before we drink it, you should just brew your own beer.’”
Initially, Castro said that he didn’t think he would enjoy brewing his own beer because it would be messy, but his friends gifted him a gift certificate to a local home brewing shop for one of his birthdays. Shortly after, he joined the DOZE homebrew club based in Walnut Creek, CA.
He then brewed his first beer from home in 2014 and he and Cuevas began hosting beer release events from their home. They also started entering competitions through the homebrew club and receiving good results.
“After two years of doing that [hosting beer release events and competing], I realized that I was ready to change my career,” Castro said. “And that’s where the brewery came from.”
In 2016, Cuevas and Castro began searching for a location to open their own brewery. Cuevas said that they had a hard time finding the perfect location in terms of space, community, and the right height for the equipment.
“We ended up finding our current spot with, kind of, a sense of luck,” Cuevas said. “We came to Martinez to view a different spot that just didn’t feel right. As we were leaving, our realtor called us and told us about this spot.”
After viewing their current location, Cuevas said they reached out to the landlord and, towards the end of 2016, began creating everything from the ground up.
“There was nothing inside the building, it was just the outside walls,” Cuevas said. “We ended up building the whole of what exists today.”
Del Cielo Brewing Co. opened officially in 2018, but it wasn’t easy.
Both Cuevas and Castro shared that one of the biggest challenges they faced was the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, Cuevas said that she left her full-time job to devote her time at Del Cielo, where she is now the Brand Visionary of Del Cielo.
“Being super creative, not being afraid of the situation, and just being like ‘okay, we don’t really have a choice,” Cuevas said, about how the business made it through the pandemic. “This is it, we need to make it work. We put 100% of our energy into it.”
Cuevas explained that they started canning most of their beers for customers to enjoy from their home and, when they were allowed to have people outside, they began offering live music. Today, they continue to can their beers, releasing a new canned beer every two weeks, and providing live music every weekend.
“A lot of our successes were seeds that were planted during the pandemic,” Cuevas said.
Castro said that another struggle they had was finding the right staff and creating the proper team for their brewery.
“The team that we have now is amazing, they step it up if there’s something that they have to do or to help each other,” Castro said. “I think that’s key too.”
One of their proudest accomplishments is the family environment and the community that they created at their brewery.
“Not every brewery is family friendly, and I love that people can come in and enjoy a delicious beer and lunch with their whole family,” shared Cuevas. “People feel so comfortable and happy to be in our space and I’m really proud of that.”
With both Cuevas and Castro being Hispanic, they are also proud to showcase their heritage in their brewery with their beers, food, and music, and provide a diverse environment for their customers.
“We’re all about diversity. We don’t care where you came from, who you are, sexual orientation, color, skin,” Castro said. “We just want this to be a place where you come and enjoy a beer with your friends. Mi casa es tu casa.”
Del Cielo Brewing Co. is also partnered with multiple nonprofit organizations in the area, such as Joybound, Bay Area Bike Project, and the Rainbow Community Center. They regularly host events at their brewery to raise funding for these organizations.
Sarah Baird, Executive Director, Downtown Martinez & Co, shared how over the past 7 years, Del Cielo Brewing has had a positive effect on the downtown.
“I’ve seen firsthand the incredible impact Del Cielo Brewing has had on our downtown and community. Over the past seven years, they’ve not only brewed outstanding beer, but also helped build a stronger, more connected Martinez. Their commitment to community, culture, and collaboration—especially through events like the Bay Area Craft Beer Festival—has made them a vital partner and a true local gem. They pour back into the community by hosting unique and inclusive events and youth-focused programs in partnership with local nonprofits, reinforcing their role as a community hub for all. We’re proud to celebrate this milestone with them and look forward to many more years of shared success,” stated Baird.
In a shrinking industry because it grew too large, Cuevas and Castro each have experienced success in their current spot and with distributing their beer to the surrounding areas. In recent months, they have announced that they will be opening a second location in Livermore, CA.
“Del Cielo Brewing offers not only award-winning beers and delicious food, but also a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere,” Kara Klotchman, executive director of the Livermore Downtown Inc. said. “I’m thrilled to see Del Cielo Brewing joining our vibrant brewing scene and I look forward to future collaborations on downtown events.
Although a Livermore location has been announced, they hope to expand their distribution further to the Center Valley, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Cuevas added a main benefit to the new location is it will also provide for more production space that would allow them to expand further into specialty grocery stores.
For their seventh anniversary, Cuevas said that they released two new beers last week, the Lucky 7 and the Viva Del Cielo, which will be available for the weekend-long celebration.
On Friday, May 30, Salvage Title, a rock band from the Bay Area, will be performing from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. On Saturday, May 31, they are bringing out a cartoonist from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Pacific Vibration, a reggae band, will be performing from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. On Sunday, they will be hosting bingo.
For more on Del Cielo Brewing and upcoming events, visit them at: www.delcielobrewing.com
