Women Enjoying Beer

Focus Group Participants Wanted

Feb 19, 2010 Events, Focus Group Information Leave a comment

Here ye, Here ye -

In search of Focus Group participants!!!

Requirements: Female who drinks beer, willing to talk about it, available (next) Wednesday February 24th, 7 - 830 pm, in Ashland Oregon.

If you can join us, we’re looking for up to 6 more women to contribute their opinions and thoughts, ideas and any other valid information that fits per women and beer.

Can you host one yourself with up to a dozen people? Absolutely!! Please Contact me.

Any opportunity women can offer to contribute their thoughts is exactly the information that drives WEB to assist breweries and brewers accurately and authentically develop female market share.

Lots of Chatter

Feb 19, 2010 Beer & Other Edibles, Celebration worthy, Events, education Leave a comment

Thanks to everyone - from Vancouver British Columbia Canada to Ashlanders in Oregon - for all the chatter you’ve generated per  last week’s Women Enjoying Beer recreational group launch.

It tells us that this is something many people want to talk about. Women and beer that is.

And talk about it we shall. The contacts people have reached out to make are fortifying and reaffirming that yes, Virginia, there is something to this conversation.

Be sure to get in touch if you want to be part of the info stream (all info is always safe - no sharing, renting, giving, etc. of personal data).

Cheers!

p.s. the next Ashland area event is already on the agenda…

p.s.s. if you want to see a group start in your area, get in touch…

Successful Launch

Feb 16, 2010 Events, education Leave a comment

A hearty thanks to the 21 women who came to the lively launch of Women Enjoying Beer at Standing Stone last Thursday night. What a great group!

All wanted to be there for a variety of reasons - many times overlapping reasons with their neighbor at the table. We enjoyed a flight of 4 beers (Lager, Nitro Stout, Oak Aged Barley Wine, and IPA), talked about what they want from their beer and in general had a good time learning more about beer.

Don’t take my word for it though - ask the women who attended. Thanks also to Vickie at the Daily Tidings for the coverage. It’s the most accurate article yet written about Women Enjoying Beer.

And accuracy is important - which I why I keep preaching it.

Next meet up for the Ashland Area wing of Women Enjoying Beer will be March 11th. Get in touch if you want to be in the loop. (the information you share is always safe)

Now, which beer to enjoy for lunch today….

New Women Enjoying Beer Wing Launches Tonight!

Feb 11, 2010 Beer & Other Edibles, Celebration worthy, Events, education 1 Comment

Join us tonight if for the launch of the Ashland area/Southern Oregon/Rogue Valley (yet to be named) wing of Women Enjoying Beer.

If you’re a women who likes beer, would like to know more about it, is already knowledgeable - then come join the fun.

We’re meeting at Standing Stone Brewing Company from 7 - 9 pm tonight. A flight is included in the incredibly reasonably priced $10 event price. A 4 beer flight, program and great camaraderie are all part of the evening.

You’re more than welcome to order some tasty food on your own as well - they have a terrific locally focused, organically focused menu.

Call me at 515.450.7757 if you can make it. Hope to see you soon!

p.s. want to form your own group? Get in touch with me here.

Denver Hotel Bar

Feb 8, 2010 Assumptions, Myth Busting, education 1 Comment

Today’s post goes out to Joel and Wes of Knoxville Tennessee. I had the pleasure of coincidentally sitting at the same bar in the hotel last night for a beer and dinner.

They’re in Denver to ski - excellent plan - and I’m here on (pleasurable) business. One great thing about Women Enjoying Beer is that it’s a real conversation starter.

“Really?” is the comment from a lot of people when I introduce myself and pass them a business card. Beer holds a lot of allure and fascination regardless of if people drink much beer or not.

(I know…tough job. I do take it seriously while having fun at it though.)

So Joel asked me last night - what did I think were the two top reasons women didn’t drink much beer.

I turned the question and asked him what he thought the reasons were. His answer: calories and carbs.

Bingo - one exact reason WEB is around is to bust those kinds of myths.

Not so - and this is according to the hundreds of women I have talked to about beer, whether formally in focus groups or casually at, say, hotel bars. The calorie and carbs issue is a perfect example of advertisers marketing to what they think women want - without necessarily asking them directly. It’s someone else’s lens placed on the view.

And while health is  part of the conversation for women and beer, as it is for men as well, it’s not the very top of mind issue.

The top two would easily be:

Number 1 they haven’t been marketed to accurately and authentically hence little engagement.

And number 2 that they haven’t been actively and consistently pursued educationally. i.e. breweries specifically reaching out to women about beer - not pandering or patronizing. Reaching out - recognizing the potential, realizing that beer should be genderless in it’s audience yet  you have to first capture that market share to address it (like any market share).

And it’s not what I think. Those answers come from a large number of women from all kinds of backgrounds and in many different demographics.

Thanks Joel for the lively conversation and asking questions. The conversation has to include all genders. I hope you two had a fun night in Denver. How was Wynkoop?

Clean Thy Glass!

Feb 4, 2010 Something To Think About, craft beer Leave a comment

What does “beer clean” mean? Here’s a helpful post.

Beer clean glassware is also indicative of the commitment of the brewery, brewpub, operator - whoever is in charge of the beer inclusively - to high quality beer.

Larry Chase, brew master at Standing Stone Brewing Company is Ashland Oregon, told me this.

“Because beer is alive and produced by a living organism (yeast), in order to make better beer, the entire brew house should be clean. Everything the beer is going not touch needs to be clean.”

He tells me it tastes better and it’s more consistent when everything is clean. Not just surficially clean, really elbow grease scrubbed clean.

The dedication to a clean brew house and all its equipment is evident in fresh, clean beer - yes, you can taste the difference.

Any while contamination may not make you sick, it’s kind of a disheartening thought. To think that after all that effort, someone may be slipshod on cleanliness.

Quality assurance quality control makes sense to the senses.  Make sure your brewery is clean. All the way to the glassware.

Water Thinker

Feb 2, 2010 Good People, Something To Think About 1 Comment

My hat goes off this morning to Lucy Saunders as I continue to read about her spearheading efforts to bring water usage

to the forefront of the conversation.

Water is after all the highest percentage of the ingredients in beer. We must not and cannot afford to ever take it for granted.

The great thing about the beer community is that - by and large - they are all progressive conscientious people, engaged in creating a high quality product and aware and concerned about the impact of what they are doing.

Lucy has been writing about beer for a long time, sharp, and helping further progressive thought.

Keg, Bottles (and not vs.) Cans

Feb 1, 2010 Beer & Other Edibles, Myth Busting, Something To Think About, education Leave a comment

This is a good article on outlining why cans can be a good option. Thinking about it is the first step.

Indeed, whatever receptacle we choose to get our beer in, be conscientious of its impact, how, why, when, again and so forth.

Taste profiles of beers right out of a can and right out of a bottle and right out of a keg and right out of a serving vessel….

Keep in mind beer is always best fresh, best served how it should be served regardless of how it comes.  There are resources aplenty of the sensory science behind glassware. Rebecca would know for sure.

Home Free Thank You

Jan 29, 2010 Celebration worthy, Home Free Tour 2009, Unbelievable Leave a comment

It’s already been a full month since the Home Free Tour officially ended (followed promptly by a relocation to Ashland Oregon). We were on the road for well over 15,000 miles and more than 14 weeks all around this incredible

country of ours. Remarkable would be an understatement.

So I want to extend enormous thanks and express my gratitude for all the unerringly hospitable beer community people. They were all fun, enlightening and continue to fuel the passion to serve the beer community at large.

Specific thanks to these breweries, their great people, the tours and all you provided: Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY; Wynkoop Brewing, Denver; Grand Teton Brewing, Victor ID; Bridgeport Brewing, Portland OR; Standing Stone Brewing, Ashland OR; Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico CA; Buckbean Brewing & CANFEST, Reno NV; Dogfish Head, Rehoboth & Milton DE; Rogue, Newport OR; Avery Brewing, Boulder, CO; Firestone Walker, Buellton & Paso Robles CA; Four Peaks, Tempe AZ; BJ’s Reno NV; Lazy Magnolia Kiln MS; Bell’s, Galesburg MI; New Glarus, New Glarus WI; Russian River, Santa Rosa CA; St. Arnold Brewing, Houston TX; Terrapin Beer, Athens GA; Willimantic Brewing, Willimantic, CT; Roy Farms, Moxee WA; Lawson’s Finest, Warren VT.

A huge thank you to all the fine hosts who either had a cozy place to stay, fed us, gave us some tasty beer, and/or welcomed us into their homes and breweries and businesses as respite on the trip: Chris Erickson, Teri Fahrendorf & Jon Graber, Alex & Danielle Amarotico, Steve, Christine, Sophie & George Parkes, Rebecca Newman, Doug Booth and Dan Kahn, Sam Calagione & Mark Carter, C V Howe, David Walker & Jamie Smith, Ted Golden and Andy Ingram, Dan Pedersen, Leslie & Mark Henderson, Ann Ewing and Thomas Wilson, Laura Bell and Gary, Dan Carey & Jean Henstl, Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo, Rob Sizemore, Brock Wagner, Horace Cunningham, Sharon Caskey, Julie Johnson, Craig Purser, David Wollner, Seth Schneider, Ben & Amy Julian, Pete Mervin & Rob Mullin, April Green, Terrence Sullivan, John Martin & Jesse, Tyson Blake, Sean Lawson, John & Stacey Maier.

Mile 0 in Key West

Additionally we stopped at places: Upstream Brewing, Omaha NE; The Library, Laramie, WY; Harvest Moon Brew, Belt MT; Bozeman Brewing, Bozeman, MT; Concordia Ale House, Portland OR; Caldera Brewing, Ashland OR; Triple Rock Brewing, Berkeley CA; Fifty Fifty, Truckee CA; Flying Saucer, Houston TX; Stone Brewing, Escondido, CA; San Diego Brewing, San Diego CA; Gritty McDuff’s, Portland ME; Sleepy Dog, Tempe, AZ; Kelly’s, Key West FL; Highland Brewing, Asheville NC; Triangle Brewing, Durham NC; Brickskeller, Washington DC; Crosby & Baker, Westport MA; Six Rivers, Arcata CA; Brewzzi’s, West Palm Beach FL; Magic Hat, Burlington VT; The Brewerie, Erie PA; Leinenkugel’s, Chippewa Falls WI; Barley John’s, New Brighton MN.

To those who gave us an extra hand as we carried on: Sebbie Buhler, Darcy Quinn, Steve Grossman, Ronnie Crocker, Greg Kitsock, Martin Wooster, Jonathon Lunardi, Julie Wartell, Ann Ewing, Erika Rietz & Jessica Daynor & Austin Wilson, Jake Harkins & Nikki Brodt, John Mallett, Claire Sykes, Jim Boyd,

To those we missed, well – there’s always hope and planning to do it again, with a different geographic route to see, meet, and enjoy more great beer and camaraderie together.

A glass is raised to you all – Cheers!!

Being Beer Geek Not A Snob

Jan 28, 2010 Myth Busting, Something To Think About, education Leave a comment

Here’s a perfect example of being a beer geek not a snob. Beer nerdiness is good too.

Thanks to Julie for giving me a heads up on this piece.