Beer writer Tara Nurin is the official historian of the Pink Boots Society, an organisation created in 2008 to assist, inspire and encourage women working in the beer industry.
Tara’s new book is A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse – A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs.
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It celebrates the contributions and influence of female brewers and explores the forces that have erased them from the brewing world.
Its publication is very timely with the beer industry having had its #metoo moment in recent months.
The industry-wide reckoning was led by Massachusetts, US-based brewer Brienne Allan, who encouraged other women to share the stories of sexism and abuse they’ve suffered in the craft beer and brewing industry.
This is certainly not an American problem. We’ve recently seen a survey conducted by a group of Australian women calling themselves the Beer Agents for Change, which found that 38% of people who work in the beer industry have been abused or harassed, and 90% of the people who reported that type of conduct were female.
So it’s in that context today that we hear from Tara about her new book.
And coming up after that, you’ll meet Briony Leibich, an Australian specialising in sensory analysis and expert tasting for beer, wine and food.
Briony has worked as a sensory specialist for some time now, most recently at the West End Brewery in Adelaide.
Since West End shut down earlier this year, Briony has focused on her own sensory consultancy called Flavour Logic.
I asked Briony how she found her way into this profession.
More:
The Beer Bible author, Jeff Alworth: S11E1
The Grifter head brewer Karli Small: S8E8
Lauren Sheppard of craft beer trailblazer, Moo Brew: S10E5
