Photo
DRAFTMag.com exclusive: Top 10 Beers Brewed by Women
Portland-based master brewer Teri Fahrendorf has been making craft beer for more than 20 years. After experimenting with fermenting beer at home, she left her job as a software programmer to become the second woman brewmaster at a microbrewery in the nation. Why? She’s got a passion for yeast. “To me, it’s related to alchemy. It’s taking nature’s goodness and turning it into liquid gold,” says Fahrendorf.
Today, she works as an account manager at Great Western Malting, but for years she was the only woman at the table at company meetings. Luckily, she fit in just fine with the boys — three of her recipes won gold at the Great American Beer Festival — but she keenly felt the need to connect with other women brewers. In 2007, she embarked on a five-month road trip to visit more than 70 breweries and distilleries across the nation. Along the way, she met with dozens of women brewers and founded the Pink Boots Society, a compilation of all the professional female brewers worldwide.
“A lot of the younger women had never met other women brewers,” says Fahrendorf, 50. By her estimation, less than one percent of craft brewers are women. The Pink Boots Society is still in its fledgling stages, but if it has a mission, says Fahrendorf, it’s to support and encourage young women to become brewers and stay in the field. Here are a few of her favorite beers that women have a hand in brewing.
