Women in Brewing

Brewing Was Women's Work

For most of human history, brewing was a female domain. In ancient Mesopotamia, the goddess Ninkasi presided over beer. In medieval Europe, alewives brewed and sold ale from their homes, identified by a broom (ale-stake) hung above the door.

The Alewife Tradition

Before commercial brewing industrialized in the 16th-18th centuries, women dominated beer production across Europe:

England — alewives brewed ale as a household activity and income source. The Brewster (female brewer) was a recognized trade. Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, and countless unnamed women produced the majority of England's beer before the guild system pushed women out.

Germany — brewing guilds gradually excluded women as beer became more commercially valuable. The transition from domestic to industrial production systematically replaced female brewers with male-owned operations.

Africa — women remain the primary traditional brewers in many African cultures today. Sorghum beer production is a female-led skill passed through generations.

The Exclusion Era

As brewing industrialized (1600s-1900s), women were progressively excluded:

Guild restrictions — male brewing guilds explicitly banned female membership in many European cities. Capital requirements — industrial brewing demanded equipment investment that women, with limited property rights, could not access. Cultural shifts — the pub and beer garden became coded as male spaces, particularly in Victorian England and Industrial-era Germany. Advertising — 20th-century beer marketing aggressively targeted men, using women as decorative props rather than acknowledging them as producers or knowledgeable consumers.

The Modern Resurgence

Women's participation in professional brewing has grown significantly since the 1990s:

Brewery founders — Kim Jordan co-founded New Belgium Brewing (1991), becoming one of America's first female brewery CEOs. Carol Stoudt opened Stoudt's Brewing (1987), one of the first female-owned craft breweries. Dozens of women now own and operate successful breweries worldwide.

Brewers — women hold head brewer and brewmaster positions at breweries of all sizes. Organizations like the Pink Boots Society (founded 2007) provide scholarships, education, and community specifically for women in the fermented beverage industry.

Leadership — the Brewers Association, BJCP, and major beer organizations have increased female representation in leadership roles, though progress remains uneven.

Ongoing Challenges

The beer industry still faces significant gender equity issues: workplace harassment (documented by industry surveys), bro culture in taprooms, marketing that objectifies women, and persistent gatekeeping by male beer enthusiasts who question women's knowledge and palates.

Organizations like Pink Boots Society, Brave Noise (an industry-wide initiative addressing discrimination), and individual breweries with explicit inclusion policies are driving change.

Why It Matters

Acknowledging women's central role in brewing history corrects a fundamental misunderstanding. Beer was not invented, developed, and refined by men — it was a female-led craft for millennia. A complete understanding of beer culture must include the women who created it and the women who are shaping its future.