The Female Brewers Shattering Craft Beer's Glass Ceiling

Hearty , healthy , and course free of deadly waterborne illnesses , beer has been a dietary staple for most of human universe . And from ancient civilization like Sumer and Egypt , through the Dark Ages , and well into the sixteenth C , historical evidence has shown that women were the one brewing the good drinkable . Then , one thing lead to another – distaff brewer were suddenly accused of witchery , the Industrial Revolution turn beer into big business enterprise , etc . , etc . – and women were all but erased from the brewing industriousness ’s landscape painting .

tight - forward to today ’s cunning beer revolution . In 2014 , a Stanford University cogitation find that out of 1,700 active breweries survey , only 4 % had a distaff head brewer or brewmaster . Yet , that very same year , Nielsen account thatwomen calculate for a whopping 32%of American craft beer consumption , indicating that uprise sake could eventually ensue in a likewise diverse industry . The general populace might still picture the average craft brewer as bearded and beflanneled , but thatimage seems to be changing , slowly but surely . Despite the challenges , these 10 badass brewers are doing their part to destroy out-of-date stereotypes and make the beer world a better place for everyone , regardless of what ’s in their knickers .

Camille Shoemaker:From The Ground Brewery

Red Hook , NYColorado - born Camille Shoemaker might be fresh to the professional brewing panorama , but her living ’s been all about beer for age . She discover her passion for brewing back in culinary school , and has been raging on the industriousness ’s track ever since , first as a homebrewer , then later as a graduate student at NYU ’s Food Studies program , where she concentre on the history of distaff brewers as well as grammatical gender dynamics in today ’s beer manufacture .

These twenty-four hour period , she ’s put her rich knowledge to use at From The Ground , a small farm brewery located in rural Red Hook , New York that source the legal age of its ingredients from within a five - knot spoke . And even though her Modern country digs are a far cry from the around-the-clock craziness that is New York City ’s craftiness beer scene , Shoemaker views this hardscrabble , back - to - the - land environment as the ideal spot to begin her brewing vocation . " It ’s such a collaborative and open community of interests . Here , I ’m looked at for how hard I work , my input , and how much cacoethes I incorporate into my occupation , but it has nothing to do with whether I ’m distaff or male , ” she says . " I see the grain we use for our beer grow , smell it being malted , mill around it myself , pull in it after mashing , and then feed the dissipation to some very glad pigs just a few air mile off – that ’s something you just ca n’t do in the city . "

Lisa Allen:Heater Allen Brewing

McMinnville , ORBeer is a family business for Heater Allen ’s Lisa Allen . Her Father-God , Rick Allen , opened the McMinnville , OR nanobrewery in 2007 , and just two years later , Lisa left a career in the vino industry to join her pop ’s two - man gang . Since Lisa came on the scene , Heater Allen has arise from a six - barrel to a 15 - barrel brewhouse , producing a record 1,100 barrel of beer in 2015 .

By focus on exceptionally brew , traditional German lagers instead of the stock West Coast IPA fare , the Father of the Church - daughter operation has managed to stand out from Oregon ’s famously crowded foxiness scene – which , according to Lisa , has also been a very favorable one . " I always thought I would go back to wine-coloured , but after a few months I was hooked on beer , " says the youthful Allen . " I enjoy how overt and supportive the great unwashed are of each other – there ’s a lot of camaraderie . And for the most part , hoi polloi are really coolheaded and really like to see a adult female brewer . "

Cat Wiest:Seabright Brewery

Santa Cruz , CAIn 2011 , Cat Wiest came across a transcript ofBitchmagazine , the cover displaying the Holy Writ " Beer Goddesses " in big , sheer letter . The article inwardly – entitle " We ’re Here , We ’re Beer , Get Used to It " – inspire the out - of - work Bay Area native to dust off her married man ’s old home brew kit and start up brewing . Within just a few months ( and to her great surprise ) , she found herself employed as a brewer at Berkeley ’s legendary Pyramid Brewery . Wiest went on to do a stint at San Francisco ’s tremendously democratic Speakeasy Brewery before latterly get into the oral sex beer maker part over at Seabright , a darling vicinity brewpub in Santa Cruz .

And though her rise to the top of the foxiness beer food chain has been remarkably nimble , it has n’t been without its sex - based challenges – some more serious than others . " I feel that I go through ' passive sexism ' more often , like a fellow brewer exclaiming , ' It pay to be pretty ! ' when they find out I turn out my tooth on a 125 - barrel brewhouse and not clean kegs , " she explain . " And once , while visiting a small brewpub , the brewer came out to talk to my husband , and when he point at me and pronounce , ' My wife is the brewer , ’ the guy was dumbfounded . He keep asking me what I actually did at the brewery . He asked so many times that I finally asked him if he involve some aid back there . Then he left . "

Robyn Schumacher:Stoup Brewing

Seattle , WARobyn Schumacher started her career as a high schooltime biology teacher , but after 13 years in the classroom , her dreams of becoming a professional beer maker – along with her womb-to-tomb passion for great beer , position as Washington State ’s first femaleCertified Cicerone , and unstoppable homebrewing skills – decline to be quieten . In 2013 , Schumacher , along with business partner Brad Benson and co - owner Lara Zahaba , opened up Stoup Brewing in Seattle ’s Ballard brewing dominion .

Though her educational activity years are behind her , Schumacher ’s still a science geek through and through , perfect each dry pint down to a molecular level . And , as you might have guessed , she border on the industriousness ’s gender place with the intellectual , balanced mindset of a true scientist . " Women in every professing experience challenges and I think that those challenges are pretty well documented , " she explains . " What I have experienced personally is that adult male who are successful in this manufacture because they brew great beer are generally thoughtful , intelligent man . My goal is to become a beer maker that multitude write about because I brew great beer , not just because I brew beer as a cleaning woman . "

Katarina Andrea Martinez:Lineup Brewing

Brooklyn , NYKatarina Martinez begin homebrewing in 2009 and rekindle her sexual love affair with beer after go to Brooklyn four years later , homesick and looking for a picayune taste of home – both literally and figuratively . She shortly discovered a great homebrew shop nearby , sustain in with a super - supportive group of local homebrewers , fine - tuned her skills , and , just this twelvemonth , took the entrepreneurial jump and opened her very own Lineup Brewing .

prove yourself as a solo small business owner is extremely taxing , no matter your gender , but Martinez ’s passion for beer and confidence in what she does aid her ward off the hater . " Being a female person in any male - dominated industry is hard – you have to work a lot surd for masses to take you seriously , " she says , echoing the defeat of so many other female brewers . " I cogitate the most difficult question I get is , ' Who ’s the other possessor ? ' No one . fair sex are , in fact , completely capable of such exploit , regardless of the stereotype . "

DeVonne Buckingham:Drake’s Brewing Company

San Leandro , CAWith four years of professional brewing experience under her belt , Drake ’s Brewing Company ’s DeVonne Buckingham plays a major use in just about everything the award - winning San Leandro craft brewery does . As Drake ’s foundation beer maker , Buckingham runs the 20 - barrel pilot program scheme , developing , examination , and pick off brand - fresh recipes as well as crank out all the in - star sign draft . Her report is a familiar one – she fell madly in love with beer , commence homebrewing out of her garage , pop into her local brewery looking to learn the trade , and worked her means up from bar back to issue staff to tour guide , and , finally , to brewer .

What constitute her experience a fleck different , however , is Drake ’s imposingly diverse crew , boasting a gender dislocation that might be par for the path for many workplaces , but is few and far between in the beer scene . " Of course I ’ve experienced challenges as a female brewer – fictitious assumptions and ignorant remarks are on a regular basis made , " says Buckingham about her prison term in the diligence . " But that being said , I experience favourable to be at a brewery where that realism does not subsist ( and more than 50 % of our brew squad is female ) . I am inspired and humbled by my co - workers at Drake ’s – and make awesome beer is a pretty big fillip . "

Aud Ragle:Carton Brewing Company

Atlantic Highlands , NJNew Jersey ’s Aud Ragle fell in lovemaking with trade beer in college , homebrewing in admirer ’ off - campus apartment and disentangle local strong drink stores for the New offer . After graduation , the geology John R. Major began giving spell of nearby Carton Brewing Company , eventually work her room up to tasting - room manager and , finally , to a full - feather brewhouse employee and , since former 2016 , Ragle ’s also been heading up Carton ’s plan to uprise a quality - ascendancy lab for its growing fleet .

Her brewing squad has been crack supportive throughout her rise in the rank , but as the sole woman in the 13 - person crew , some challenges are inescapable . " Being a brewer is a dream come true , but it ’s been a physical challenge moving from my stovetop to a 15 - barrel brewhouse , " Ragle admits . " I ’m a 5'6 " , 120 lb female that until recently has been stuck behind a desk . Things I never thought about , like hose , are laborious . Our grain mill is well above my oral sex . Our mash tun does n’t have rake or a Dipper , make mashing in and graining out an inviolable nightmare for me . I ’m get stronger and quicker every day , but I am reluctantly forced to ask for assistance occasionally – this brewhouse was clearly design for a 6 foot , 200 lb world . " But , she says , at the end of the daylight , that struggle is well worth it : " It ’s wonderful to share a passion with passionate people [ and ] it ’s highly rewarding to see your swither and articulatio cubiti filth evolve into an comprehended product . "

Lauren Grimm:Grimm Artisanal Ales

Brooklyn , NYBefore start up one of New York ’s most sought - after gypsy brewery , Lauren Grimm was obsessed with zymolysis . " Twelve years ago , you ’d notice me ferment ginger beer , George Herbert Mead , hole , and kimchee . I had pork belly border by cheese cloth fall from the cap in my prowess studio , " she remembers . " I was spike by the shift of material by bacterium , barm , and time . "

All that smelly work lead Grimm down a very successful homebrewing path , and , after six years spend banging out delicious brew in their Brooklyn flat , she and her husband Joe decide to try their hand at commercial brewing . The rest , of trend , is GABF awarding - winning history . Grimm acknowledges that being a woman in the male - dominated brewing industry is n’t always easy , but her front - and - gist role has definitely helped charge the playing field – for her as well as for other female brewers . " When I first started Grimm Artisanal Ales , there were a handful of customers who assumed that I did n’t brew beer , " she says . " [ But ] at this full stop , Joe and I have a strong followers , and customers get laid who I am . "

Julia Astrid Davis:Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Chicago , ILAfter catching the homebrew bug in college , Julia Davis decided to give brewing school a crack , launch a five - year - and - counting life history as a professional brewer that ’s most late led her to Lagunitas ' heinously huge and incredibly busy Chicago product adeptness . Every aspect of brewing appeal to Davis – the craft , the science , the history , the labor , the community , and especially the originative exemption .

As an out trans fair sex , Davis has a middling unique POV when it come to sexism in beer . " Transitioning within the brewing industry has been an interesting and occasionally challenging experience , " she says . " There are subtle changes here and there – some masses do n’t seem to take my input as gravely as they used to , and I encounter my experience as a beer maker scrutinized by new hoi polloi far more than before . Overall , though , the industry has made me finger welcome and prize , and I cherish being a part of it . "

Jocelyn Havel:21st Amendment Brewery

San Francisco , CADestroying old - fashioned sexuality roles is nothing fresh for twenty-first Amendment brewer Jocelyn Havel . Not only is she pursue a PhD in the traditionally guy - heavy plain of interpersonal chemistry , she was also the only female child on her high school ’s grappling team , trained in jiu jitsu , and oh – did I advert she was voted homecoming queen ?

Badass does n’t even begin to key out Havel , whose position towards women in the brewing industry is just as straightforward and no - nonsense as one might look given her CV . " I feel like I need to address a little louder and be a little more assertive to make my vocalisation listen , " she say . " However , being in San Francisco , it ’s promiscuous to feel a part of the brewing community , especially at 21 Amendment . And at the end of the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , a keg consider 160lbs regardless of who is rustle it . "

DeVonne Buckingham Drake’s Brewer