Stop me if you’ve heard this…A woman walks into a brewery, sits down at the bar, asks what’s on draft. The bartender replies are all beer that was brewed by or in collaboration with women….The woman is elated and orders a flight. I hope you’ve experienced this scenario a few times this weekend. I hope that you’ve enjoyed and partaken in the delicious collaborations to celebrate International Women’s Day. If you didn’t, you really missed out.
March is International Women’s month. We highlight International Women’s Day on March 8th. This weekend we took the opportunity to showcase women in the beer industry. The weekend was abuzz.
You could see countless women gathering to make specialty craft beers for the occasion. The Pink Boots Society is an organization of women beer professionals and hosted several events all over the country this weekend. The North Texas Chapter, which includes the DFW metroplex, really showed up and showed out. One day is never enough, so in Dallas on Friday we had a kick-off at Craft and Growler. Sadly, I had a previous engagement, as a brand ambassador, so I couldn’t stay for the whole event. Nonetheless, my desire is always to help. As a Brand Ambassador, I’ve helped pour at festivals and with ticket sales but I have never helped setup the beer or vendor tables.
Dani Oliver, with Island to Island and Beersgiving, was willing to show me how to set up a “traveling” beer keg. She even showed me how to clear the lines, and get the beer festival ready! So I did a thing. Now, we had to ensure the male counterparts that we are absolutely enabled to handle any and everything beer related. Dani had to flex her muscles a few times to let them know she was ok, knew what she was doing and didn’t need their help, I was so proud. I started to think Dani needed a badge that said, “Hey I’m a professional!” She’s a very established owner and brewer, she really took the time to show me how things are done behind the scenes and I’m grateful, #eachoneteachone. I felt empowered and now I feel like a full-service beer maven ready to slay festivals, in a different way. It was really cool and I want to do it again, very soon (I’ll need a badge that says, professional helper.) I put in my time and whisked off to my gig. I had a desperate amount of FOMO as I saw all the amazing pictures.
Saturday, the next stop was Ft. Worth’s Rahr and Son, and their normal brewery tour also had a commemorative glass for International Women’s Month. I’ve been told they do this every year so now I understand why the lines were long but steady. I received my commemorative glass and immediately went to seek out the Pink Boot Societies beer collaboration, Pretty in Pug. It was a wonderful creamy chocolate variation of Rahr’s Ugly Pug. The Pretty in Pug is a Black lager/Schwarzbier with chocolate, strawberries and peanut butter at 5.0%. The Pink Boots information table was center stage as customers casually stopped by for information. Luckily enough I made it to the event on time to get the collectors glasses because they ran out. Rahr and Son made an amazing glass with a flip of Rosie the Riveter. I loved it. After the fun at Rahr, I decided to stay in Ft. Worth and check out Funky Picnic.
Funky Picnic, OMG, why did it take me so long? The Beer Goddess was with me and I got a perfect parking place. The space is laid out nicely. There was ample seating, but I had the best time at the bar. I was able to talk to the staff and got their takes on the beers on draft. I went with a friend and we looked at the beer menu and instantly said, “Beer Flight!” Funky Picnic has a full-service restaurant so I got a snack and some beer.
The Pink boots Collaboration offering was Every King Needs Her Crown, a Belgian Dark Strong that was malty and had notes of spice and figs. I immediately recalled figs from my Mom making her homemade preserves. This beer made me think about home and my family’s tradition of gathering figs and eating them on country roads in Louisiana.
I ended the weekend at The Bearded Lady to don on my newest pantaloons for food and drinks. Pink Boots Society hosted The Alewives Beer Dinner on Sunday. We had a four-course meal and beer pairing. Every beer paired was made by the women sitting at the table. The starter had several kinds of cheese with HopFusion’s #BTS Sorachi Ace Hopped Berliner Weisse 5.2%. The salad was field greens with citrus accents paired with Martin House’s My Pretty Lady-Citrus IPA 6.4%. The main entrée was lamb with risotto and broccolini paired with Funky Picnic’s Every King Needs Her Crown 8.5%. Finally, the dessert was a peanut butter brownie and strawberries paired with Rahr and Sons’ Pretty In Pug 5.5%
From start to finish this meal was exceptional. There was a supportive and delightful conversation as women smiled proudly describing their creations after each course. I was stuffed by the salad so I opted for a carry-out because that lamb was going home with me. It didn’t matter if it was via my stomach or a foil-papered plate…that risotto wasn’t getting away. Thankfully, they boxed it for me. International Women’s day gave me a deeper love for Ft. Worth and introduced a collection of beer industry peers that came together to make their voices loud and proud. I hope that if you didn’t get to check out your local beer collaboration this weekend you will before the end of the month. Ask around for beers made or collaborated by Women Brewmasters, because your next favorite beer will probably be made by a kick ass women.
