Story & Photos by Tess Jewell-Larsen
Dana Robles of Oakshire Brewing and Veronica Vega of Deschutes Brewery stand at the counter of 16 Tons Beer in Eugene, Oregon. The two women, both brewers for their respective companies, order Robles’ Imperial IPA that is on tap for tasting, to see how it came out. Vega compliments Robles on a job well-brewed. It’s the second night of the first annual Eugene Beer Week, and women are celebrating their involvement in the brewing industry at the Women’s Only Beer Tasting and Discussion.
“Before you get to brew beer, as a female, you have to start drinking beer,” Vega says. In the past few years she’s noticed more women grow interested in beer and brewing. “All you have to see is an episode from Mad Men to see where we’ve come. And in just the work place [women] are so far from where we were, and it’s not about that anymore.”
Men still dominate the beer industry, but women are slowly including themselves. “I think with brewing, people are welcoming,” Vega says.
Here’s one thing women should know about beer: it was originally a woman’s industry. According to the ancient Sumanians, the inventor of beer was a goddess called Ninkasi. She was the head brewer for all the gods. In the 1700s, the drink was predominantly made by women because it was a considered a domestic project. At the time seventy-eight percent of licensed brewers in England were women, according to an article called, “The Queens of Beer: Women Make Gains in Brewing Scene,” by Stephanie Montell. The Industrial Revolution, Montell writes, took brewing from the home to the nineteenth century marketplace—a man’s domain.
Now, however, locals rejoice in the return of women to the industry. “I love the female energy that is brought to beer,” says Lisa Morrison, a beer enthusiast, columnist, blogger, and self-nicknamed Beer Goddess. Looking around 16 Tons at all of the female attendants, Morrison exclaims how happy she is that so many women showed up. “Women are so supportive of each other, and to get this support going on for beer is wonderful.”
Morrison laughs at the thought of chick beer. Holding up the taster of Vega’s Vienna Mexican lager she says, “I’m a chick, this is beer: so it must be chick beer.” In her experience men have become more comfortable with women drinking beer, which makes Morrison happy. “All beer is chick beer!”
Not all women want to make beer brewing their careers, but many want more connection to the craft than just at a bar. Such was the case for Rebecca Coffelt, who began home-brewing eight months ago.
“It was the desire to create our own brew,” Coffelt says, explaining the reason she and her husband started making small batches. “We’re radical brewers. We’ve done everything from a cherry stout to a big amber.” Coffelt’s most recent concoction, a dark pilsner lager, was just set fermenting the night before the event. The couple have entered some of their home-brew into a local competition and will find out the results of their placement in the next few days. “I hope we just get honorable mention!” she says.
Many women at 16 Tons home-brew or want to start. One young woman and home-brewer, Jenn Clark, has helped Oakshire Brewery with bottling for the past year, hoping
to get her start in the beer industry. Across the room, a couple of young moms, on a girl’s night out without the kids, talk excitedly about starting a home brew together soon.
The energy in the room is exciting, and the women don’t want to cut their Tuesday night short. At eight-fifteen, almost two hours after the event started, 16 Tons is still full of women connecting over one common love: beer.
 
 

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Women Brew Over Beer at Local Tasting