Ok, ok. This has been written so many times I should probably just save my words, but here we go....
Milwaukee loves beer.
But even though today's beer industry (and consumers) definitely skew male, thanks to the group, Barley's Angels, we could be seeing more female brewers (and beer-enthusiasts!) in Milwaukee's near future.
But, first things first: women in beer.
Did you know that for thousands of years brewing was actually done exclusively by females?
Let's go back to 1800 B.C.
Brewing beer was actually among a woman's daily chores in ancient Sumerian and Egyptian societies. Women would make bread, bread uses yeast, beer uses yeast... you get it. In fact, beer was so strongly associated with females that there were even goddesses of beer, Tenent (she was the Egyptian goddess of beer) and Ninkasi (Sumerian tutelary goddess of beer).
Either way, history was history, fast-forward back to 2017, and beer today is usually associate with males. Which, hey, isn't a bad thing, but just a fact.
"I was just starting to get into craft beer and trying to learn about it... but every time I went out to drink beer it was always just guys. I always thought it would be great to meet some girls that drink beer,"
Jodi Wilson has been an 'angel' for about five years now. Well, a Barley's Angel, that is.
The group consists of women from all over Milwaukee with one thing in common: they like beer. And the first Thursday of every month, they meet up at a local brewery to talk brewing practices, beer trends, the craft beer scene in Milwaukee, and to, of course, try one or two along the way,
"We've had hops classes, we've done style tastings where we'll go to a place and learn all about sours or belgians or stouts... last month we even had a beer and chocolate pairing at Indulgence Chocolate, which was amazing," explains Jodi.
Curious about beer or looking to just chat with some women over a cold brew? Jodi says joining the group is as easy as simply bringing a few bucks and showing up to the brewery of choice for that month.
So what are you waiting for? Make Tenent and Ninkasi proud.
Or you can just go for the beer. That always works too.
For more on the Milwaukee Chapter of Barley's Angels, you can visit them and find upcoming events at BarleysAngelsMKE.comor on Facebook.