Indiana Breweries and Groups To Participate in International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day

08 Mar Indiana Breweries and Groups To Participate in International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day

by Indiana On Tap editorial staff

Thursday, March 8^th is International Women’s Day, organized to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. Started in 1909, the observance has grown steadily, with the United Nations recognizing the Day in 2010. To build upon this international celebration, International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) is also celebrated on March 8^th this year. Aimed at highlighting opportunities and collaboration of women in craft beer, many breweries around the country are committed to participating in collaborative brews on this date.

IWCBD was begun in 2013, as an offshoot of Project Venus (a group of female brewers that get together for collaborative brews) by Sophie de Ronde, head brewer at Burnt Mill Brewery in the UK. The Pink Boots Society in the US was a natural partner for this movement in America. The IWCBD is now an autonomous event organization with Pink Boots Society running its own event, with more than 160 breweries, home brew clubs and others participating in the events this year.

image credit: Hunter’s Brewing

Breweries in Australia, New, Zealand, Europe, Africa, as well as North America are holding collaboration brews on the 8^th, including Hunter’s Brewing in Chesterton, IN. Other regional breweries participating include Listermann Brewing in Cincinnati, Destihl Brewing in Illinois, and Central Standard Brewing in Kansas. Together, the collaborations are meant to highlight the ethos of “brewers helping each other out, advise where necessary and when asked, this is a natural part of the brewing community and aids good beer to be produced.”

For the fifth year of IWCBD, the theme is “Unite Exotic,” meaning an emphasis on learning about ingredients and styles from afar. This is a nice pairing with last year’s IWCBD theme that focused on locality and using ingredients and recipes that stressed the intimate relationship of brewers with their immediate environment. Amy Gentry at Hunter’s Brewing will be brewing a version of the collaborative brew next week due to the constraints of her system and schedule. She will reveal the exotic nature of the product when it is ready to be unveiled.

image credit: Pink Boots Society

Amy said, “This is an international collaboration for women brewers.  There’s a virtual element since we are all brewing for the same event using the same theme in different locations around the world, but there’s also a physical onsite collaboration element as many breweries host groups and/or invite their female staff members to participate in the day. Hunter’s Brewing is very small (capacity and physical brewing space), so I do mine on my own.”

Pink Boots Indy is having a collaborative brew session at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis on the 8th with with Amanda Wishin on hand representing Girls Pint Out. As a group, they will be brewing a white IPA as an exotic style and hibiscus as the exotic ingredient. The tapping party will be held at Sun King on April 12th. Please support those breweries that participate by asking about the collaboration brews and drinking the beer. Hopefully, the movement will continue to grow in size and profile in the year to come.