One of my favorite beer-related T-shirts reads, “Doesn’t Drink Beer Like a Girl.”
It’s not disparaging; it’s about treating women as equals in the world of beer. When’s the last time you saw a television commercial featuring a group of female athletes hanging out, enjoying a beer after a game?
Thursday is International Women’s Day, and it’s about time the fairer sex got its due in the mostly masculine world of craft brewing. One of the leading exponents is Ginger Johnson, an Oregon-based and energetic beer evangelist out to get makers and sellers to tumble to the fact that half the potential market is female.
“You’ve got women and beer everywhere,” said Johnson, who last month pitched her campaign to local retailers in a meeting at the Wynkoop Brewing Co. “I’m not the typical woman. A huge part of it is women haven’t been invited into it. If we’re not part of the conversation, it doesn’t resonate with the average, intelligent woman.”
Johnson is head of Women Enjoying Beer, a research-based education company whose goal is to get purveyors to understand that bringing women into the conversation is the best way to grow their markets, to expand their base. “You’re never going to grow their markets unless they expand. Otherwise, you’ve got your head in the sand.”
Her advice for male drinkers: “You’ve got to start with flavor. Get them in a position where they crack open just a little bit. ‘I’m not asking you to like it; just try it.’ Then talk about why they didn’t like it. There’s a lot of memory retention to it.”
One of her tools is what she describes as “single-gender-only events.” In other words, for women. She suggests beer tours of breweries, tastings and talks by brewing personnel. “I am a firm believer in single-gender events. They are extremely powerful. Begin with a single characteristic — women who only cook with wooden spoons or are Irish-setter owners. That’s where the learning can start.”
Her goal: “The day will be great when we don’t talk about gender. We can all sit back and enjoy a beer. Beer is a social lubricant. Everybody comes out better.”
Johnson, who is frequently on the road at beer events, is doing a women-only tasting at the Cheeky Monk on Capitol Hill during this fall’s Great American Beer Festival. She can be reached at ginger@womenenjoyingbeer.com.
Beer notes
The state’s first true “beer garden” will open this summer in the Lowry neighborhood, Westword reports. The Lowry Beer Garden will cover 4,000 square feet and feature 20 beers on tap and burgers, brats and pretzels. Larimer Associates, the people behind Billy’s Inn and Madison Street, are running the project. … New beers: Breckenridge Brewery and Stranahan’s whiskey (who share a facility on South Kalamath), are teaming up to produce Stranahan’s Well-Built ESB, aged in Stranahan oak barrels. … AC Golden Brewing, the imaginative arm of MillerCoors, has released an India Pale Lager, made with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Simcoe hops. It’s around until March 18. And, Twisted Pine in Boulder is just out with Sacred Spice Chai Porter as part of its year-long Artisan Ale Project. The bottles feature the work of local artists. Twisted Pine is hosting a fundraising tasting from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday to combat multiple sclerosis and raise money for the MS Ride. … Quotable:“Filled with mingled cream and amber I will drain that glass again. Such hilarious visions clamber through the chambers of my brain — quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies come to life and fade away. Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today.” — Edgar Allan Poe
Dick Kreck’s e-mail: rakreck@yahoo.com. Send mail to him c/o The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202.
