In part two of this ongoing series, women from all corners of the beer industry--brewing, distribution, retail, administration, and journalism--share their experiences. They are at turns illuminating, painful, and harrowing, and with each story reveal what it's like to be a woman working in the beer industry.
Read MoreThe recent cases of harassment by powerful men have given people the opportunity to subject the beer industry to a good, hard look. What the #MeToo movement offers is a moment to reflect on that hidden consciousness we've constructed and how it might change if we include the voices and presence of women.
Read MoreThe recent Facebook post by Atlanta-based Scofflaw got a lot of attention for its ill-advised tone and photo. More interesting was how it surfaced an issue that doesn't get a lot of discussion: the role class and culture play among beer drinkers, brewery workers, and increasingly, among small breweries.
Read MoreThe banks closed in early May, staying closed through mid-November. Things had actually been grinding down from March, and it would take until early 1971 for them to come fully back on line, so "banking in Ireland was disrupted for nearly a full year."
Read MoreIn the Pacific Northwest, there is a spectacular harvest product made with hops plucked straight from the bine and placed thereafter in boiling wort, a whirlpool, and/or a tank of conditioning beer. These are known as fresh hop beers.
Read MoreDon't buy the hype. In an increasingly confused marketplace with thousands of breweries and tens of thousands of beers, groupthink has identified certain winners. They're almost certainly good, but there are so many more out there that are also good--and possibly even better, or at least more suited to your preferences.
Read MoreWhat humans prize is inversely proportional to what is common. Is this a need to desire what others don't have? Do we have a gene that tells us the rare is useful to survival? Whatever the reason, it's an iron law, and one we follow, in the manner of self-parody, back and forth across the decades.
There is a cafe in Brussels. It is close and cozy, feminine in a way that is unlike pubs anywhere else I've visited. The walls are so coated in objects and pictures that you are able to confirm their existence largely by inference. The tables are small and dainty, as are the chairs.
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