Meet the Beer Babes Family: In this blog, Hannah Irvine takes us inside a collaborative brew day at Cannery Brewing, where the Beer Babes Family—a charitable organization empowering women in beer—joined forces with industry professionals to create a Mango Milkshake IPA. Beyond just making delicious beer, this “Babe Brew” collaboration shows how the Beer Babes Family is changing the narrative for women in brewing while raising funds to support female beer entrepreneurs.
It may be sacrilege to say this, but I don’t think that beer is the best thing about the brewing industry. Controversial, I know! Sure, it’s the ultimate aim, and the delicious reward for all the hard work, sweat, and tears, but really, the highlight of this industry isn’t the liquid in your glass, but the people behind it.
How many other industries are there where numerous individual businesses support and collaborate with one another for the benefit of everyone, rather than compete for attention? I love that would-be rival breweries come together to form “Beer Blocks”, share resources in brewery collectives, and work together to create unusual and unique collaboration brews.
In recent years, the industry has also worked hard to confront inequalities and support underrepresented groups within the brewing community. Organizations like Pink Boots Society have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to address gender divisions, champion diversity, and promote an equitable community. Having cheered these groups from the sidelines for many years, I was thrilled to be invited to join an inspirational group of women (and a few men) from the beer industry for a brew day at Cannery Brewing in Penticton. And this wasn’t any old brew day, we would be brewing a Mango Milkshake IPA “Babe Brew” – an exciting collaboration between Cannery Brewing and the Beer Babes Family.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Beer Babes Family, they are a charitable organization that describes themselves as “a global inclusive community for all women in beer”. Co-founder Roxy Brossoit explains that the organization works to “support and positively engage all women in the beer community” from “the casual beer drinkers to the highest level of brewers, Cicerones, and Beer Judges.” I have to admit that I was initially a little sceptical of the name “Beer Babes”. I have never considered myself a “babe,” and the connotations that the name invokes did not sit comfortably with me. My mind was put at ease, though, once I had chatted with a couple of women connected to the Beer Babes Family about this issue. Far from reinforcing the stereotype of a “babe,” the name had been carefully chosen to challenge preconceptions of women in the beer industry, and what it means to be a “beer babe.” In doing so, the organization is striving to change the narrative, from one where women in the brewing industry were limited to a sexualised role of selling or serving beer, to one in which women are empowered in all aspects of the industry.
Pictured above: two of the three Canadian board members of the Beer Babes Family – missing: Catherine Leclerc
Babe Brews play a pivotal role in this mission to promote women in the industry. The Beer Babes Family collaborates with breweries throughout North America to produce unique beers under the Babe Brews label. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these Babe Brews then go to the Beer Babes Family Grants Program, which awards grants to women who work in the beer industry and are trying to improve their beer business. The Beer Babes Family describes Babe Brew as “a series of beers dedicated to the women of our personal lives and of the world: who inspire us, push us, make us think deeper, mentor us and lead by example. To the women who break rules and norms, speak their truth with compassion, live each day with unapologetic confidence, and champion equality for all.” In short, this sounds like a brew that I could wholeheartedly get on board with.
The Beer Babes Family states that they will collaborate with any brewery that has a good reputation for equality and supporting women of all gender identities in beer, and Cannery Brewing couldn’t be closer to the mark. Co-founder and general manager, Patt Dyck, opened the brewery back in 2000 and has been a mainstay in the brewing industry ever since. She was flying the flag of gender equality and inclusivity in brewing at a time when I didn’t even know what a craft beer was, let alone understand the industry behind the brewing process. Kim Lawton from the Cannery Brewing team describes Patt as “an inspiring leader and manager” who “blazed a trail for so many women to work in the craft beer industry.” It was the perfect location, therefore, for this particular group of female beer enthusiasts to meet early one Thursday morning to brew beer.
The group was made up of representatives from all aspects of the brewing industry: from beer blogger and aficionado Colleen Bond and her husband Phil, to Cicerone-in-training Alaina Parchmann, Okanagan Fest of Ale judge Crystal Coverdale, and the first female Cicerone in Western Canada, Lundy Dale, representing both the BC Craft Brewers Guild and Pink Boots Society. Local breweries were also represented with Eleanore Farley, Kim Lawton, and of course, Patt Dyck from the Cannery team; Jill Jarret and Jess Kozak from BNA Brewing in Kelowna, Vernon, and soon Penticton as well; and Brittany Montgomery, head brewer at Giant’s Head Brewing in Summerland, assisting the Cannery brewing team.
Ross Thompson, head brewer and co-owner of Cannery Brewing, led us through the process, encouraging us all to jump in and help with various stages of the brew and explaining the more technical side of things. The mash was made with a mix of barley, oats, and wheat from Canada Malting Company, with the milkshake component of the IPA coming from the addition of vanilla and milk sugars. Ross talked us through his choice of hops for this beer: it will be double dry-hopped with Simcoe and Citra hops from Hops Connect Canada. The combination of these two hop varietals should create a mango flavour, with the Citra hops imbuing the beer with a citrus flavour, while the Simcoe hops add notes of pine. The mango flavour won’t just come from the hops, though, as vast quantities of mango puree will be added to the brew during the secondary fermentation stage, giving it a totally tropical taste.
Now we sit and wait for the hops, grain, water, and yeast to do their magic (well, except the Cannery Brewing team, who still have to finish the brew and can it. Sorry, folx!). According to Ross, the result should be a “super fruity, strong beer with a luxurious and rich mouthfeel” – I, for one, can’t wait to try it! The release date for this Mango Milkshake IPA Babe Brew will be Friday, May 9, in the Cannery Brewing taproom – just in time for Mother’s Day. The beer will be available on tap and in cans, and remember, the more you buy, the more you help to support women in the industry. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!
