Women in brewing

Women have been active inbrewingsince ancient times. From the earliest evidence of brewing in 7000 BCE, until thecommercializationof brewing duringindustrialization, women were  the primary brewers on all inhabited continents. In many cultures, the deities, goddesses and protectors of brewers were female entities who were associated with fertility.
From the middle of the 18th century, women had roles as barmaids, pub operators, bottlers or secretaries for breweries. In less industrialized areas, they producedhomebrewsand traditionalalcoholic beverages. From the mid-20th century, women began working as chemists for brewing establishments. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, they began re-entering the field asbrewers.
Ethnographic studies and archaeological records indicate that, until the industrialization of brewing began, brewing beer was primarily an activity engaged in by women.From the 18th century onwards, women were increasingly employed asbarmaids, and particularly in Australia as "publicans" or licensees running hotels sellingalcohol.By the 19th century, few women were employed in brewing with the exception of labor for auxiliary functions, such as bottling and secretarial posts. In the 20th century, women began to work in a limited capacity in laboratories, but aside from a few exceptions such asSusannah Olandin Canada,women were excluded from directing brewing operations.Professional female brewers in Western society before the trade became "masculinized", were referred to as "brewsters".
In Chinese legend,Yi Di, is credited with making the first alcohol from rice grains. In some accounts Yi Di is the wife ofYu the Great,sometimes a servant of Yu's daughter,sometimes a medical man who created liquor to cure "disorders".A femaledivine beinginAinu mythologyknown asKamui Fuchiwas the protector of brewing; brewers prayed to her and offered libations to ensure the warding off of evil spirits which might spoil the batch.Women in both Japan and Taiwan in the modern age engage in chewing rice to begin the fermentation process for making alcohol.
In ancientSumeria, brewing was the only profession that was "watched over by a female deity", namelyNinkasi.A tablet found dating back to 1800 BCE contains theHymn to Ninkasiwhich is also basically a recipe forMesopotamianbeer.Sumerian beer was made frombappir, a bread made from twice-baked barley, which was then fermented.In ancientBabylon, women worked as baker-brewers and were often engaged in the commercial distribution of beer. Archaeologists believe that the Sumerians and Babylonians were responsible for spreading brewing processes into Africa.Brewing inancient Egyptfollowed a method similar to Sumerian beer, often using the same dough as a base for both beer and bread.Brewing was considered the province of Egyptian women, "especially the steps of grinding the grain and straining themash". The goddessHathorwas considered to have invented brewing and Hathor's temple atDenderawas known as "the place of drunkenness".Another Egyptian goddess,Tenenet, was worshiped as beer's deity andhieroglyphicson tombs depict images of women both brewing and drinking the beverage.Other African societies also credited women with creating beer. For example, the Zulu fertility goddess,Mbaba Mwana Waresa, is revered for her invention,as is theDogondeity, Yasigi, who is often depicted dancing with a beer ladle to symbolize her role of distributing the beer made by women in ceremonial gatherings.Women inBurkina Fasohave been making mash of fermentedsorghuminto beer for some 5,500 years.InTanzania, both women and men help harvest and create different kinds of brew, including ulanzi andpombe. Women in Tanzania have traditionally been the "sole marketers" of drinks, and many use the money they make by selling alcohol to supplement their incomes.
As early as 1600 BCE,Maya civilizationswere usingcacao beansto produce beer, long before it was used to make the non-alcoholiccocoa.Though actual production methods are unknown,Friar Landadescribed the process of preparing beverages as involving grinding maize and cacao to a paste before adding liquids and spices.Agriculture was within man's realm in the Mayan world, but food preparation belonged to women.On an ancient ceramic vase, chocolate preparation shows a woman pouring the substance between two vessels to create the highly desired foam favored by the Maya.Pre-ColumbianAndeanwomen chewedmaize(occasionally usingcassavaorquinoa) to break down the starch and then spit it out to begin fermentation.Chicha, the resulting drink, is still widely available inLatin America.In theWari Empire, archaeological evidence has indicated that eliteWari women brewersran the breweries and that tradition carried forward intoIncan society.Throughout theAndean regionandMesoamerica, women were the chief producers of alcoholic beverages. During the 15th century inPeru, women's lives among the Xauxa people of the UpperMantaro Valleywere changed by the process of producing chicha.After the Xauxa were conquered by the Inca, women were forced to work harder to produce more alcohol.InMexico, a female deity, "Mayahuel" was revered among theAztecfor having discovered how to extractagavesap for the manufacture ofpulque.After the Spanish invasion, women in Brazil and Mexico, as well as throughout Andean territories, became not only producers of alcoholic beverages, but also its main market vendors.
TraditionalGermanic societieswere reported by the Romans to drink ale, made predominantly of fermentedhoney, produced by women.Until monasteries took over the production of alcoholic beverages in the 11th century, making it a profession for monks and nuns, brewing was the domain of tribal Germanic women.Migratory Germanic tribe women typically brewed their meads and ales in the forest, to avoid pillages by invaders. Their beverages did not contain hops, which were first recommended as an additive bySt. Hildegard of Bingen. Because hops served as a preservative, beer'ssuitability for consumptionbecame longer, though the addition of hops also increased the cost of brewing.In the decades before theBlack DeathinEurope, many households required a large amount of ale, because of a lack of potable water and expense of other beverages.Women used the opportunity of brewing to make extra money at home.InBrigstock, some women obtained licenses to brew over several months.Women in northern England were the main brewers for the community.As elsewhere in Europe, the founding ofguildsoften forced women out of the brewing industry; however, inHaarlemin the Netherlands, because women were allowed to inherit guild membership from spouses, many continued in the profession. Data collected on the period between 1518 and 1663, showed that 97 brewsters, three-quarters of whom were widows, were operating among a total of 536 brewers in the city.
For around a thousand years in Finland, women brewsters created a beer calledsahtiin villages throughout the country. The recipe usually containedhops,juniper twigs, andbarleyandryegrains which had beenmaltedand then smoked in asauna.Finnish legends include the story of Louhi in theKalevala, a woman who brewed beer by mixing bear'ssalivawith honey. Raugutiene, was a Baltic and Slavic goddess, who was the protector of beer.Alan D. Eames, a beeranthropologist, wrote an article in 1993 stating that theNorseVikings, allowed only women to brew theirale.Archaeologists have uncovered graves of pre-VikingNordicpeople which indicate that women were the ones who made and served alcohol. In the grave of the "Egtved Girl", a bucket of grog buried at her feet showed that the drink was made from a mixture of wheat, rye and barley as a base and includedcranberries, honey, andlingonberries, as well as herbs, includingbirchresin,bog myrtle, juniper, andyarrow, to spice the drink.Danish womenwere the primary brewers until the establishment of guilds in the Middle Ages. While guilds controlled production for the crown and military, as well as for those in cities, women continued to be the primary brewers in the countryside.Even within the guilds, while higher positions were occupied by men, many of their wives held lower positions; in addition, there is evidence to suggest that the majority of the brewing performed by these families was carried out by the wives.Beer was supplied toTemple Newsam, Yorkshire, by local woman Elizabeth Pease for over thirty years, during the eighteenth century (1728-1758).Pease brewed ale, strong beer, table beer, and small beer; however, because she brewed seasonally, her income was inconsistent and she was quite poor.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, brewing in Europe changed from being mainly small scale operations by solo women or groups of monks to being mainly large scale commercial operations involving large numbers of men; although women were still involved in the sale of beer.As women were forced out of brewing, the creation of a new ideology about women brewers took place which included "the construction of women as incapable of brewing; the link of this construction to the witch; and the position of widows as both brewers and ale-sellers".Popular depictions ofalewivesdescribed them as witch-like, untrustworthy, corrupt and grotesque.InBallad on an Ale-Seller,John Lydgatedescribes an alewife "who uses her charms to induce men to drink".The alewife in the popular poemThe Tunning of Elynour RummyngbyJohn Skelton, is "strikingly vicious and nasty".Other depictions of alewives in England showed them "condemned to eternal punishment in hell".However, "it is difficult to tell whether alewives or women who brewed beer were accused of witchcraft directly.".
Women ofNative Americansocieties in North America including theApache,Maricopa,Pima, andTohono O'odhambrewed aSaguarocactusbeer or wine, calledtiswinfor rituals.Apache women also produced a product made from corn, which was similar to Mexican beers, known astulpiortulapawhich was used in girls' puberty rites.The puberty ceremony includes four days of prayer, fasting, consumption of ritual food and drink, and runs dedicated to the White Painted Lady, an Apache deity.TheCoahuiltecanand other tribes from their Texas vicinity made an intoxicant fromyuccaand the red beans of themountain laurel.
In theNorth American colonieswomen continued with homebrewing which, for at least a century, was the predominant means of beer production. WhileThomas Jeffersonmay have been famous for his brewing,Martha Jeffersonwas equally renowned for her wheat beer.The first commercial brewster in theThirteen ColonieswasMary Lisle, who inherited her father's brewery in 1734 and operated it until 1751.In 1713, Elizabeth and John Haddon built a three-story brick mansion called New Haddonfield Plantation, whereElizabeth Haddonmanaged the family property and her husband tended to his missionary journeys; the Brew House she built in 1713 still stands in the backyard.Although the first recorded commercial female brewer in the Colonies was Mary Lisle, who inherited her father's Philadelphia brewpub in 1734, there is reason to believe that across the river in South Jersey, Haddon was running a more-than-average homebrew operation.
In Canada,Susannah Oland, an Englishwoman who immigrated to Canada in 1865, and her husband established a popular brewery called the Navy and Army Brewery. After her husband died, Oland established a brewery of her own, though she concealed her gender by naming the business "S. Oland Sons and Company," using her initials to hide the fact that she was a woman.She was the creator of a beer recipe which became the basis for founding Canada's oldest independent brewery,Moosehead Brewery.
InAustraliaevidence points toIndigenouslabor divisions with men responsible for hunting and women tending to gathering and food preparation. Aboriginal women prepared alcoholic beverages fromflowers. Flowers were steeped in water, or pounded to extract the nectar and mixed withhoney antsto ferment.
From the beginning of industrialization to the 1960s and early 1970s, most women were moved out of the brewing industry, though throughout the world, they continued to homebrew following ancestral methods."The main obstacles that women continue to face in [the] industry include perceptions of taste, media influence, and preconceived notions about their skill and ability", according to journalist Krystal Baugher.
American women such asJill VaughnandRebecca Bennetthave been successful at becoming topbrewmastersatAnheuser-Busch, where they developed brands such as Bud Light Platinum,Shock Topand the Straw-Ber-Rita.I. Patricia Henryis the first African American woman to manage a major American breweryMiller Brewing Company, nowMillerCoors, in Eden, NC.Suzanne Stern DenisonandJane Zimmermanworked at and invested in Sonoma, California's long-shutteredNew Albion Brewing, established in 1976 and the first new brewery in America since Prohibition;Jack McAuliffeis most often the only person mentioned as founder.Hart Brewingwas co-founded byBeth Hartwelland Tom Baune in 1984 inKalama, Washington; they were early pioneers ofcraft brewingin thePacific Northwestand Hart was the first known woman to co-own a brewery in the post-Prohibitionera.Mari Kemperand husband Will openedThomas Kemper Brewingon Bainbridge Island (near Seattle) in 1985 and now co-own Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen in Bellingham.Mellie Pullmanis a professor atPortland State University; where she became the first known female brewmaster in the United States when she took a job atSchirf Brewingin Park City, Utah in 1986.Carol StoudtfoundedStoudts Brewing Companyin Adamstown, Pennsylvania in 1987; she was one of the first female brewmasters since Prohibition in the country and the nation's first known female sole proprietor.Teri Fahrendorfwas the third female craft brewmaster in the country; she worked as a brewer at Golden Gate Brewery andTriple Rock BreweryinBerkeley, California, Steelhead Brewery inEugene, Oregon.Fahrendorf later founded thePink Boots Society.Kim Jordanco-foundedNew Belgium Brewing Companywith husband Jeff Lebesch in 1991 inFort Collins, Colorado.Leah Wong Ashburntook over for father Oscar Wong, who opened Highland Brewing Co. in 1994; it is one of North Carolina's oldest breweries.Mariah and Sam Calagione co-founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in 1995.Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing's original brewer, acquired the rights to the brand and opened a brewpub in Santa Rosa, California in 2004.Other women opened early craft breweries in America and have served in numerous capacities other than as the brewer. These includeMarcy Larson, who co-founded theAlaskan Brewing Companywith husband  Geoff in 1986 inJuneau, Alaska;Irene Firmat, who foundedFull Sail Brewing Companyin 1987 inHood River, Oregon;Rose Ann Finkelco-foundedPike Brewing Companywith husbandCharles Finkelin Seattle, Washington in 1989 (and Merchant du Vin in 1978); andDeborah Carey, who foundedNew Glarus Brewing Companywith husband Daniel in 1993 inNew Glarus, Wisconsin.
More recently, women in America have opened breweries across the country.Ting Su, her husband Jeremy Raub, and her father-in-law, Steven Raub, opened Eagle Rock Brewery in Los Angeles in 2009; they are considered founders of the craft brewing scene there.CEO and head brewerEilise Lanelearned to brew beer in the Northwest and now runs the Scarlet Lane Brewing Company in 2014 in Indiana.Kate Power,Betsy Lay, andJen Cuestaco-founded Lady Justice Brewing in 2016 in Aurora, Colorado; their brewery donates to human rights and social justice organizations, specifically supporting organizations that benefit women and girls.In 2018, brewersCeleste BeattyandBriana Brakeco-founded Rocky Mount Brewing, which is a "brewery incubator" space for new brewers inRocky Mount, North Carolina.Brake owns and brews for her company, Spaceway Brewing, which she started in 2018. Beatty, who opened the Harlem Brewing Company in New York in 2000, is the first known Black woman to own a brewery in the United States in the post-Prohibition era.Carol Pakis the founder of Makku, America's first canned craftmakgeollicompany (she calls it "Korean rice beer"); the business was started in New York City in 2018 and is hand-crafted in Maine.In 2019,Tamil Maldonado Vegaco-founded Raices Brewing in Denver, Colorado; it is a Latino owned and operated brewery that also acts as a reference center for those interested in learning about Latin culture.In 2016,Shyla SheppardandMissy BegayfoundedBow and Arrow Brewing Co. inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, which is known for drawing on indigenous ingredients for their beers; it is the only known Native woman-owned brewery in the U.S.
Among Canada's women brewers areEmily Tipton, co-owner and brewmaster of Boxing Rock Brewing, andKellye Robertson, who began her career at Garrison Brewingbefore heading the brewing team at Spindrift Brewing.
There are several women involved in the brewing business inMexico City, Mexico.Elizabeth Rosasis the co-founder of Cervecería Calavera and head of branding and marketing; she and husband Gilbert Nielsen started the brewery in 2008.Lucía Carrillois the co-founder and brewer of Cervecería Itañeñe, which opened in 2011. Cervecería Dos Mundos (“Two Worlds Brewery”) was co-founded in 2014 by British-Mexican coupleCaroline Kingand David Meza in theIztapalapaneighborhood of Mexico City.Antonieta Carriónfounded Casa Cervecera Madrina in 2014 and is likely the first female sole owner and brewer of a cervecería in Mexico City; she is also one of the founding members of the Adelitas beer collective.Jessica Martínezopened Cervecería Malteza in 2014.Sandra Navarro is a founding partner and lead brewer at the Turulata Brewing Company, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.Paz Austinis the General Director for the Mexican Association of Beer Makers (ACERMEX).
In Latin America,chichais still widely produced by women and consumed daily by adults and children, as it typically has a low alcohol content. InEcuadorwomen harvest yucca, boil the roots, pound it into a paste and then chew the paste, in much the same way as their ancestors did, to break down the starches and begin the fermentation process. Peruvian women make their version of chicha using the same method, but with corn.In Brazil,ArgentinaandParaguay, amongAmazonian Indians, chicha, made from corn, or algarroba beer made from carob seed, as well as beer produced from mixing corn or manioc with apples, melons, papaya, pears, pumpkin, quince, strawberries and sweet potatoes are brewed by women.Bolivianwomen make beer from roasted barley, which is then chewed to begin the fermentation process and is served daily as adietary supplement.
In 2013,Sara Barton, owner and director of Brewster's Brewery, won the Brewer of the Year award, becoming the first woman to receive the honor bestowed annually by the British Guild of Beer Writers.Emma Gilleland, who heads the supply chain atMarston's Brewery, the leading independent brewer in Britain, was called the most influential brewer in the UK by theBBC.
A noted German brewster, who is alsoBavaria's last masterbrewer nun,Sister Doris Engelhard, has been creating beer atMallersdorf Abbeyfor over 40 years.Other female Bavarian brewers areSigi Friedmannof Friedmann's Brewery (German:Brauerei Friedmann) inGräfenbergandGisela and Monika Meinelof the Meinel-Bräu Brewery inHof.An de Ryckis one of the few women brewers inBelgium. She has run the De Ryck Brewery (Dutch:Brouwerij De Ryck) since the 1970s, winning several awards for the beers she has produced.Rosa Merckxbecame the first official female brewmaster and operations director in Belgium when she took over theLiefmans Oudenaardebrewery in 1972, where she had worked since 1946.An ambitious brewery in Iceland run by Þórey Björk is called Lady Brewery. The brewery started late 2017 releasing the breweries signature beer named First Lady - IPA.
In 2015, theBBC's "100 Women"project, honored Leimin Duong, a Vietnamese-Australian woman, who brews strawberry beer, as one of the most influential women of the year.In Australia, the first all-female brewery in the country,Two Birds Brewing, has won multiple awards for their beers, but in 2016, owners Jayne Lewis and Danielle Allen were honored with the Champion trophy for Medium Australian Brewery by theAustralian International Beer Awards.
In many traditional African cultures, beer is still made only by womenand often their sole source of attaining economic autonomy.For example, in Cameroon women of theGbaya peoplemake a traditional beer from maize and sorghum calledamgba, which is a dietary stapleand women of theMafa peoplebrewbilbil– calleddong-longin theTupuri language,uzumin theGiziga language, andzomin theMafa language–   
from millet.Both originated as ritual drinks for ceremonies, but now are used as a means of economic survival for many women.Sorghum beers produced by women in other African nations includebili biliin Chad,burkutuorpitoin Ghana and Nigeria,chibukuordoroin Zimbabwe,doloin Burkina Faso,ikigagein Rwanda,kaffirin South Africa,merissain Sudan,mtamain Tanzania, andtchoukoutouin Benin and Togo.In South Africa's Xhosa and Zulu ethnicities, women were traditionally in charge of brewing umqombothi, a homemade beer made from maize malt, sorghum malt, yeast, and water. Umqombothi is prepared over an open fire and poured into a large drum called a gogogo.
In African commercial breweries, though women are often partners with their spouses, only about six are operated by women brewers. One of these,Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, is a brewer, brewery owner and the first black South African accredited as a trainer for theInstitute of Brewing and Distillingand as a certified beer judge for the South Africa Beer Judging Certification Program. Another isThea Blom, who began as a chef and then added a craft brewery to her business, Oakes Brew House, and hired brewerHappy Sekankato create the firm's beers.Josephine "Fina" Uwineza, a restaurateur inRwandabegan evaluating whether opening the first craft beer brewery in the country could be used as a platform to empower women and offer them employment. In 2016, she partnered with theOntario Craft BrewersAssociation to explore creating the venture.
InNepal, as they have for centuries, women brewraksi, a pungent distilled alcoholic beverage made from rice. It was originally used for ceremonial purposes in Hindu and Buddhist rites, but is such a key part of customary life in theKathmandu valley, that authorities routinely ignore legal prohibitions against production and consumption. Women traditionally engage in the month-long brewing process and sell their excessraksito restaurants.Other important Nepali brewed drinks areChhyang, Jaandh, Thon, andTongba, (known by various names and spellings), which are traditionally made by women. Made in both Nepal and Tibet, the drinks are made from barley, rice or millet. After soaking the grain in water, it is steamedand then mixed with a starting agent known asmarcha, which is prepared from either wheat flakes (calledmana) or rice or millet flour (known asmanapu). The recipe for makingmarchais sometimes a highly guarded secret and passed on only to daughters-in-law.
InJapan, after the commercialization of brewing,sakebrewers, known astōji(Japanese:杜氏) were for generations, migrants who traveled between breweries and worked during the winter season. As sake sales declined along with the number of trainedtōji, owners started brewing themselves. Though most sake brewers are men, as of 2015, there are approximately 20 femaletōjibrewing in Japan and The Women's Sake Industry Group has been formed to increase their numbers.Emi Machida(Japanese:町田恵美さん) has run her family's 130-year-old brewery for ten years as the masterbrewer and has won seven gold medals for her sake from the Annual Japan Sake Awards.Miho Imada(Japanese:みほ いまだ) is noted for herHiroshima-stylejunmai ginjomethod which uses very soft water, low temperatures and a slow fermentation process to bring out the fruity flavors and aromatics.Minoh Brewing, which opened in 1997 near Osaka, is run byKaori Oshita.
In South Korea,Seolhee Leeis Magpie Brewing Company's pioneering female brewer; the company is co-owned byTiffany Needham.
ThePink Boots Societyis an organization that supports women working in the beer industry.It was founded byTeri Farhrendorf, who was in turn inspired by an early brewmaster,Carol Stoudt, who launched her own brewery in 1987.There are Pink Boots Society chapters in Canada, Australia and the United States.TheFemale Beer Tasters in Mexicois an NGO created in 2012 to promote the culture and education of beer; in 2020, it had over 2,000 members with representatives and coordinators in 15 cities in Mexico and San Diego, California.Adelitas Cerveceras, a collective of 130 Mexican women that was established in 2019, promotes the participation of women in the beer industry through a support and career network.
Bière de Femme, in North Carolina, was founded in 2017 as an event to bring women in the beer industry together, but also to meet consumers and craft beer enthusiasts of all genders.FemAle Brew Fest, a Florida beer festival, was established in 2016 to support the growth of women in brewing.InSweden, they produced a beer named "We Can Do It", modeled on theRosie the Riveterposter by Westinghouse in 2015. The goal was to create a beer made by women, which was not fruity or mild, but rather based on a scientific review of what women actually wanted to drink.Women have also been recognized in home brewing. In 2013,Annie Johnsonwon theAmerican Homebrewers Association's Homebrewer of the Year award.