By Taraya Middleton
First-Year Brewmaster Student
If you were to walk into the classroom containing the current first-year cohort of beer students, the sixth since the brew program started, you would assume that there’s no gender diversity to be found at all - but there is.
Tucked way back in the corner, sit two girls out of a class of 32, quietly observing and absorbing the information taught through lectures, labs, and practical hands-on experience in the college’s teaching brewery. Often times, you can find these two sitting together in and out of class and joining forces for any required group work. It’s not a safety-in-numbers sort of thing that brings these two together. The rest of the class has been accepting and welcoming of the two women.
It is more a matter of ease and comfort that guides their affiliation.
After all, when the talk about farting and other bodily functions inevitably crops up during class, it’s easier to sit at the back, roll their eyes, and silently wish that everyone would leave the locker room talk outside the classroom.
Such is life for female brewers in a male-dominated industry.
Ironically, from a historical perspective, women have always been the ones to brew. Often as a way to supplement their income when widowed or as means of supporting themselves when deemed “unmarriageable” in patriarchal societies.
Anyone with an interest in studying human and ancient history, would know that archaeologists have dated the earliest known fermentable beverage to Jiahu, China, between 7000 and 5700 BCE – a refuter of previous arguments that claimed fermentable beverages started in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists that study fermentation remain committed to their belief that civilization began in Mesopotamia along the fertile crescent, located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, thus indicating that while men were hunting, women were gathering the necessary ingredients to make other food and drink while minding children. Once our ancestors moved towards permanent settlements such as towns and farming, women brewed low -alcohol beers for religious purposes and for daily food rations.
In point of fact, women were brewing in many ancient societies such as Egypt, right up to the rise of the Roman Empire. They also maintained a very strong presence in northern Europe until feudalism began to restructure society. During early modern Europe, women brewers would often announce their presence in the market place by wearing tall, black conical hats or by propping a broom in the doorway to an alehouse. Such visuals signalled that a brew was ready, and cats were ever present to protect grain stores from mice and other varmints.
Throughout the ages, as beer making has slowly swung towards the domain of men, women have still always found ways to come together to brew, share knowledge, and to network.
Unfortunately, it has never been easy because there haven’t been many forums for us to share and meet each other through.
This is where Teri Fahrendorf and The Pink Boots Society (PBS) come in.
In 2007, Teri quit her job as head brewer after 19 years to take a road trip across the United States, with the goal to visit as many breweries as she could. After five months traversing the U.S. from Oregon to Maine and back again - one thing that stood out to Teri was the lack of communication between women in the industry. Therefore, she made it her mission to help give back to the industry by mentoring and networking with all women within the industry and voila: The Pink Boots Society was born.
As a forum for women and run by women in the craft beer industry, Pink Boots promotes Passion, Integrity, Networking, and Knowledge about Beer, the Opportunities in the business, an Open exchange of ideas, to Teach and pay it forward to other women in the industry, and to celebrate the Success of all. The requirements to join the society are that all members must be female and have some type of career in the brewing world or related to beer and/or beer-making.
Highlighting the achievements of women in the beer industry and to coincide with International Women’s Day (March 8), the International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) was proposed in 2013 as a way to encourage women to brew together and to start a unified brew day. The brew day raises awareness of women in the brewing industry – of which there are many in various positions – and to raise money for local charities and the Pink Boots Society, and for women to network with one another. The first IWCBD was in 2014, held on or around March 8, and saw 60 women brew master from around the world simultaneously brew the same recipe of craft beer. This included women from across North America, in Europe, and a few in South Africa. For the 2019 IWCBD, there is no standard brew recipe to use. Instead, PBS has partnered with Yakima Chief Hops for a special hop blend that any registered IWCBD group can purchase and use. A portion of the hop blend sales goes back to PBS to support scholarships and other educational opportunities.
The IWCBD is also a way for women to connect, interact, network, and learn and expand upon their knowledge without all the sexism and gender biases that can, and still do, happen.
In this industry, where the moniker of brewmaster still seems to connote men brewing and delegating women to positions of marriage and/or servitude, these women’s brew days are crucial in attempting to break gender stereotypes, while at the same time educating the general public that women are just as capable in running a brewhouse, and that like it or not - we are here to stay.
Olds College’s Brewmaster program has participated in the IWCBD since 2015. It is sometimes referred to as “Women’s Day Brew” or “Big Boots Brew Day.”
The way that it works is: the second-year students generally lead the brew day, with first year students assisting.
The college’s first women’s day brew was in 2015 and led by Lisa Drapaka, who was the first (and only) female in the program in its inaugural year and at that point was in her second year.
Together with the seven first year ladies from the second cohort, the college produced the Calamity Jane Pale Ale. During the 2017 and 2018 collaborative brew dates, the ladies were assisted by Assistant Brewer Amanda Kieswetter, who has since returned to Belgium.
No longer a bearded boys club, ladies continue to take the lead with these yearly brews, sharing their knowledge with the next cohort of students, and continuing a tradition that has been led and influenced by women for hundreds of years. According to second year brew student Jen Rogers, it’s a great opportunity for women in the craft beer industry to get together and collaborate, raising money for Pink Boots. She loves the Women's Day Brew where she gets to learn and support others in the industry, while putting “all of our creativity into something tangible.”
This year for IWDCB, four second year students will be teaching, guiding, and assisting two first year students with the brew on February 28 and March 1. We’ve chosen a Belgian White IPA simply because the women's day brew is primarily meant to showcase the hop blend, which lends a citrus, earthy and fruity aroma to the classic American hoppy IPA and the refreshing, spiciness of the Belgian Wit. We anticipate the combination of the hop blend and the White IPA beer style will produce a refreshingly, smooth, fruity citrus aroma from the hops and the spicy phenolics from the Belgian yeast. This will be the ideal beer to kick-off Spring!
Anybody who is interested in our launch party, it is slated to take place near the end of March!
No farts allowed.