Dealing with Prejudice
A very happy Mother’s Day to those who celebrate it. It feels oddly appropriate (though completely unintentional, I hate to admit) to have this post, in which we’ll cover sexism and discrimination in brewing (a craft that was once the honor and responsibility of women in cultures all over the world), go live on a day designated to celebrate women who have played the role of nurturer. It is also (just about) the anniversary of the Instagram post heard ‘round the brewing world, which really launched the reckoning around sexism in the industry.
Market-Based Misogyny
On May 11, 2021, brewer Brienne Allan, formerly of Notch Brewing in Salem, MA, asked on Instagram, under her handle RatMagnet, what sexist comments other women in the industry had experienced. The response was overwhelming, with over 1,000 accounts of microaggressions, inappropriate comments, and physical assault. She has shared these stories, kicking off what is considered the brewing chapter of the #MeToo movement.[1]
Marketing campaigns for beer for almost a century have reinforced it as a drink for men, with women showing up not as consumers but as an an advertising vehicle: either to keep men happy by providing the beer and/or as a sex object to market it.[2] These marketing trends certainly aren’t the only factor that has contributed to sexism in the industry, but they certainly haven’t helped either. As a homebrewer, the worst I tend to face is having a homebrew supply clerk or bartender try to mansplain beer to me, but for professionals, there are real barriers to advancement rooted in the perception that beer is a “man’s drink.”
Photo credit: Christian Korey
In response to Brienne Allan’s post and the subsequent showcase of horrifying responses, breweries have begun adding harassment policies where there weren’t any before; strengthening them where they were flimsy.[3] Corporate improvements include steps such as 1) fostering more intentional, inclusive communication with employees about their experiences, 2) creating (and publicizing, and enforcing) written codes of conduct, 3) performing corporate audits to systematically assess employee perspectives, habits, and wellbeing, and 4) establishing robust, reliable systems for reporting incidents.[4]
Broader Bigotry
I have to be honest and admit that when I think of women in brewing, the image that comes to my mind is specifically, exclusively, white women. The beer industry is still dominated by men (with women making up only 22% of craft brewery owners), but it is even more dominated by people who are white (with about 20% of brewery owners identifying as non-white, just 1% identifying as Black).[5] And in the wake of the reckoning around sexism in brewing, there were those who asked why the issue of racism in brewing didn’t see the same groundswell when it was raised the year before.
The summer of 2020 was rife with overdue conversations about structural racism in the United States, sparked by George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. The reading and listening I did that summer helped me understand how our own unconscious, ingrained personal biases inform how we as individuals respond in certain situations and even unintentionally perpetuate race-based advantages and disadvantages across a variety of industries,[6] brewing being one of them.
Image credit: [7]
Even in the absence of overt discrimination, factors like education, networking, financial stability, and even representation play roles in how easy or hard it is for someone to survive, if not thrive, in the brewing industry. That awareness combined with a desire to foster a more diverse and representative business community is why we’re seeing a growing support network for people who have been traditionally underrepresented, including women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals.
Intentional Inclusion
Approximately 10% of brewers and 15% of craft drinkers in 2018 were non-white, according to the Brewers Association.[8] In a chicken-and-egg scenario, it has proved difficult to build out a diverse workforce without a diverse consumer base, and vice-versa. In response, more BIPOC-owned breweries and programs are taking steps to diversify their applicant pools, supporting education and financial assistance for those trying to break into the industry.[9] The Brewers Association has supported these initiatives, specifically hiring their first Diversity Ambassador (note: a pre-2020 hire) to help the brewing community increase diversity of customer base and employees.[10]
I am proud to say that Pittsburgh has become incredibly fertile ground, not only for craft breweries (we currently have 40 from which to choose [11]), but also for initiatives that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Particularly of note for the Pittsburgh brewing world are the Pittsburgh Brewery Diversity Council, a group designed “to spearhead city- and industry-wide projects that promote diversity and inclusion,” [12] and the Barrel and Flow Festival, which showcases Black brewers, entertainers, artists, and small businesses.[13] That’s not to say that we live in a perfectly enlightened utopia, as the 2021 Barrel and Flow Festival was marred with accusations of hate speech, but, again, I am choosing to use whatever influence I have with my voice and my dollar to support breweries that make issues of equity a priority. One very easy (and delicious) way to do that is to buy beer that specifically supports awareness of social justice issues.
The first time I recall seeing any kind of cross-brewery collaboration for fundraising was after the Camp Fire ravaged Butte County, CA in November 2018. Sierra Nevada Brewing made its Resilience IPA recipe publicly available and called for other breweries across the country to brew it and donate 100% of the proceeds to fundraising efforts.[14] The next time I saw such an effort was in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Marcus Baskerville at Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio did the same thing with their Black Is Beautiful imperial stout. More than 1,000 breweries across all 50 states and 22 countries signed up to participate and donate 100% of the beer’s proceeds “to local foundations that support police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged.”[15] Similarly, in the near future, and thanks to Brienne Allan, Brave Noise, an American Pale Ale, will be doing the same thing for those who have faced discrimination, harassment, or assault in the brewing industry.[16]
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Next week we’ll wrap up this topic with an account of my own ill-fated attempt at brewing Black is Beautiful, as well as a summary of what to know and what to remember when you’re choosing your beer – just in time for American Craft Beer Week.
For now, what are you drinking?
Thanks for reading!
[2] https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/13-sexist-beer-ads-since-1950s/
[5] https://civileats.com/2021/10/19/craft-beer-faces-a-gender-and-race-reckoning/
[6] https://radicalmoderate.online/everyones-a-little-bit-racist-part-1/
[8] https://www.brewersassociation.org/insights/shifting-demographics-among-craft-drinkers/
[9] https://daily.sevenfifty.com/quest-to-diversify-craft-beer-world/
[11] https://pittsburghbreweries.com/
[13] https://www.barrelandflow.com/
[14] https://sierranevada.com/camp-fire-relief/
[15] https://blackisbeautiful.beer/
[16] https://www.bravenoisebeer.com/
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