My Friend Lorena is Homebrewer of the Week!

One of my friends from a brewing discussion group, www.homebrewtalk.com,  was recognized as the American Homebrewers Association's Brewer of the Week!  Lorena Evans is a Yooper, which means she lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and a Hophead, which means she loves hoppy American-style ales. You can read the interview and see pictures here. 

You'll notice that her setup is more substantial and engineered than mine.  She uses an electric system, where the water, mash and wort are heated with electric heating elements, not propane flames, and circulated with pumps that move the hot liquids.   I take a more rustic approach - I sometimes joke that a half-gallon pitcher is my most important brewing tool. 

Some of you may be surprised to see a woman who homebrews.  While women are definitely in the minority in the homebrewing and professional brewing communities, it's not that unusual.  In my local homebrew club, for example, there have been two or three women at every meeting I've attended.  One of my mead-making guides is a woman mazer (mead-maker) from Austin, Texas. 

Before the industrialization of brewing, it was a household or farming task, like gardening, canning, bread baking, and cooking.  Both men and women did it.  After industrialization, it became a man's vocation, done in factories. 

Now, with mass marketing, beer is seen as a 'guy' thing - the product is sold with boobs and male-oriented humor, and beer is now associated in our culture with manliness.  But handmade beer is really about self-sufficiency, artisanal skill, doing things more simply and by hand, and building community with your family and friends.  Those are traits that both women and men can claim. 

For example, in addition to beer and wine making, Lorena and her husband, Bob, also garden, grow their own hops, and make handmade cheese and soap.   If you're interested in reading more about brewing and gender, take a look at the book Fermenting Revolution (How to Drink Beer and Save the World).   If you'd like to borrow my copy, let me know.