An Afternoon with Women Enjoying Beer

It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? Life's been good. And busy.

Since my last post, Beer Sort of Girl opened up her home for Brew Day 2.0 and two more batches of brew were brought into existence. I went to Minneapolis for a week and loaded up my suitcase with beer from Surly. I've had both Cynic and Bitter Brewer by them and have been impressed by both. I also picked up cans of Furious and Coffee Bender and can't wait to try them. Surly's one of those breweries that has a huge local, almost cult-like, following. But, unlike so many craft breweries that receive so much loyalty, Surly actually deserves it. Their beer, so far, has been pretty damn good. And they put it in cans to boot. I'm doing what I can to bring it to Kansas City, sixteen cans at a time. (A few months ago, Bull E Vard was in Minneapolis drinking Surly and appeared to have similar sentiments.)

And now here we are, another week under my belt. As I sit at Flying Saucer drinking my goblet of Boulevard's Tank 7, I'll post about today's goings-on: I had the great fortune to participate in a focus group geared toward - what else - beer. Specifically, women and beer. There were six of us in the group, plus our two hosts Deidre and Ginger. Al, the General Manager at Gordon Biersch in the P&L, was gracious enough to host the event and provide us with tasters and snacks. (The current seasonal is a delicious Kölsch, by the way. And I was pretty proud of myself for identifying it as such without a single hint.)

I was surrounded by a great variety of women, including beer enthusiasts, the corporate trainer for KC Hopps, a writer for the Examiner, the Executive Director of the Kansas Women's Business Center. And, in my typical form, I had left my notepad at home and my business cards in the car. As we sat together drinking our samples, we talked about how beer is perceived by the genders, how the genders are perceived by those in the industry, how beer plays a part in our lives, and other relevant topics. Our afternoon was finished off by a fantastic tour led by James, the brewer at KC's only Gordon Biersch. He went into quite a bit of detail about the ingredients and brewing process, which was quite impressive. He even brought up the REAL history of the Reinheitsgebot, which was actually a law enacted to control the availability of various grain to brewers, versus that made available to bakers (the bakers won).

I have to admit, I've been skeptical of this whole "women and beer" thing. I don't want to be treated differently about my beer preferences just because of my gender. I don't want companies to condescend to me or talk to me like I don't know anything about beer because I'm female. Fact is, the market *does* treat me differently, whether I want it to or not. Ginger and Deidre have a pretty good grasp on this fact and are seeking to better understand it - then share their findings with companies in the industry.

I wish them both the best of luck in their adventure and may be just a teensy bit jealous as well. After all, who *wouldn't* want to travel around the country talking to women while drinking beer?

"Give me a woman who loves beer...

...and I will conquer the world." - Kaiser Wilhelm, German Emperor

I find myself hesitantly drawn to the whole "women and beer" topic because it seems to have more attention than I think it deserves. So now I'm curious. What IS it about women that some beer companies want to figure out? Consider this thread on BeerAdvocate.com, for example, about a beer tasting geared toward women that featured fruit beer & coffee stout - as if for some reason women wouldn't like a Geuze or Imperial IPA or Porter or Pilsner. Why pidgeonhole women into some random category based on preconceived notions that we only like sweet, fruity things? We also drink grassy white wines and dry, spicy reds - but you don't see wine retailers holding women's wine tastings featuring only Arbor Vines and White Zin.

ScarlettLady on BeerAdvocate.com summed up the "women and beer" stereotype well: "When it comes to advertising, ladies are only for serving beer, not drinking it. And it's not just the Big Boys. I recently received an eNewsltr from a local craft brewery that suggested I drink their beer while out on the town 'where lovely ladies take their clothes off for money'."

Even an (older) article on CNNmoney.com about macro breweries "overhauling" their advertising tactics to tout the "finer" aspects of beer still had a picture of a woman in a bikini (the image you see on the right). So much for an overhaul.

To be fair, a lot of breweries ignore gender differences, period. I never see Rogue, Schlafly or Boulevard using bikini-clad women in their advertising or holding a "women only" tasting. It seems to work; I've never had the impression that Schlafly was trying to cater to women or, alternately, using them to pander to men.

Clipper City Brewing Co in Baltimore takes a different approach: they regularly host a Ladies' Beer Night that features a variety of beer, not just the sweet or fruity ones, to broaden women's exposure to beer.

So, what do you think? What's the better approach? Cater to women or ignore gender lines? Is there a happy middle-ground?

One woman is determined to get to the bottom of the issue by coordinating a handful of women + beer events in both Kansas City, MO and Ames, IA. Here's a snapshot of the upcoming events in KC. I plan on attending the one 7/17, so perhaps I'll see you there.

• July 15th: Boulevard Event, Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO (Full)
• July 16th: Private Event – Tasting & Pairing
• July 17th: Gordon Biersch, Women’s Focus Group, 2 – 4 pm; room for a few more. Come ready to talk about beer.

More information, including how to RSVP, can be found on her site.

XX-Rated Beer

I typically don’t (and won't) write about being a woman who likes beer, or who likes beer “despite” being a woman. It’s not that I intentionally avoid the subject; to be honest, it's never occurred to me to write about it. While I do hope that more people expand their experiences with beer beyond macro “light” beers, that desire is not directed to a gender. Beer is a passion of mine that I’ve been working on for about a decade now (since discovering Sudwerk’s Märzen in college) and something I want to share with everyone. I love talking about beer, tasting it, learning about it, and encouraging others to try new styles.

I do recall feeling a bit of gender pride when I found out Bend Brewing’s award-winning Brewmeister was a woman. The same feeling welled up when I found out Moylan’s Brewing, one of my all-time-favorite breweries, also employed a female head brewer. But, really, it's the same feeling of pride I get when I meet another person from Oregon, who went to my alma mater, or who enjoys gin. All I ask for is consistently good beer, an occasional risk in trying a new style or recipe, and respect for the varied tastes and preferences of beer drinkers worldwide - regardless of gender. They can keep their pink boots. I like the shoes I have, thanks.

Anyway, I do have a point. Candice Alström hits the nail on the head in her recent article in BeerAdvocate magazine about women and beer.

Like Candace, I love beer. And that’s all that matters.