It’s no secret that, in the past, beer brewing has been a bit of a boy’s club. One only needs to look at the list of breweries in Boulder to see a fairly male-dominated industry. Now, whether that was purposeful of not, I can’t say (I’m not here to write a dissertation, just a blog post, honey), but the good news is that things are changing and women are getting into all aspects of the beer brewing game. Boulder County is no slouch when it comes to female brewers, brewery owners, and managers and here are some places you can go to show love for the ladies of beer.
Avery Brewing has gone from little baby brewery to craft beer heavy hitter with a pretty big staff over the past few years, so it’s no surprise that their brewhouse crew is co-ed. Laura Vaznelis and Breanna Kennedy work as a special projects brewer and brewer respectively. Fun fact: both of the women list a variety of stout as their favorite Avery beer. Do with that what you will.
While female brewers may still not be commonplace, women are taking on leadership roles in breweries, such as Kristy Frazee, the Tasting Room Manager at Gravity Brewing in Louisville or Sarah Ingraham, General Manager at The Post Brewing Company in Old Town Lafayette. Sure, it’s important that your brewery makes delicious beer, but it’s equally important to have knowledgeable management to make sure that the tap room runs just as smoothly as the brewhouse. Hat tip to these women for making our experiences memorable ones!
And then there are the owners. The women building breweries from the ground up and; there are several of these in Boulder County right now: Gunbarrel Brewing Company (Gunbarrel), Odd13 Brewing (Louisville), Bootstrap Brewing (Niwot/Longmont), Wild Woods Brewery (Boulder), and Nighthawk Brewery (Broomfield). Many of these breweries are owned and run by partners in life as well as partners in business. As you can see, there are quite a few wife and husband teams starting breweries around Boulder County.
I personally hope to see these numbers grow over the next decade, to the point where the male/female workforce ratio evens up with the national average. In the meantime, keep supporting these female run and led business by drinking their beer. I know, it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
