Tag: women in beer

Posted on

McFerren Fund

From the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild…

“The Los Angeles County Brewers Guild (LABG) is proud to announce the formation of the McFerren Fund for the advancement of women in craft beer in memory of LABG Founding Member Rob McFerren who passed away in December 2020. Rob McFerren was a pioneer of the L.A. craft brewing industry, founding Wolf Creek Brewery and Restaurant in 1996 with his wife and co-founder Laina McFerren. Rob was an incredible advocate for women in the beer industry. His immense support of his wife Laina as a board member and President of our Guild was palpable. As a proud father of two daughters, Rob’s devotion to the empowerment of women came from the most genuine place. We could not think of a better way to honor his memory than to create a special fund within our nonprofit dedicated to curating professional networking and development opportunities for women in the beer industry.

The McFerren Fund will be a special financial allocation earmarked in our organization’s budget for professional networking and development programming. Donations are accepted and sponsorship opportunities will also become available. An initial goal of the fund is to work hand-in-hand with the LABG’s mission to increase efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the craft brewing industry.”

Posted on

Keep Acting Better – Action # 1

It is a new month but that doesn’t mean that we file away the last one and forget about it.

The whole beer world has to keep acting better and we can use this new month to learn new practices.

This month, I will touch upon what can actually be done to make improvements. Some of which I touched upon in my first post about the craft beer reckoning with the horrible treatment of women.

First, create your own damn spreadsheet. Why did men need women to track all the offenses? That just removes men from the process that they should be involved in.

Here is what you do. Go HERE to find the spreadsheet. Take notes on the breweries who appear on it and match that with the breweries in your area. Are any that you go to on the list? Are any in your ‘fridge that is on the list?

Make your own spreadsheet. Check to see if the brewery or person on your list has apologized and taken action. Also read the accounts linked to them to prioritize. If a brewery is cited multiple times and it is one that you have gone to many times, and they are silent about it, now you know to not go there to start and you can develop a plan as to what additional steps can be taken.

An example, I received a media package from BrewDog during the first week this news was coming to light. I checked the spreadsheet and they were on it. So I reached out to the PR firm that sent the beer asking what BrewDog had to say.

The person I e-mailed with answered honestly, appalled at what had been posted and said that I would get answers when they got them from BrewDog. So I posted a photo on Instagram and until I get the answers, that is all I will be doing. If no answers come then no posts from me even if the founders rescue a thousand cats from a thousand trees that they planted to save the rainforest.

I will also be checking that spreadsheet to make sure that I don’t post about the places and people in the future. Because, I am not here on a high horse dictating tactics. We all need to be in the field.

Posted on

Crafting a Conversation 2

Angel City Brewery is back with a second conversation, this time gathering together beer industry women to talk about their beer journeys, should be an interesting discussion, so grab a beer (perhaps a Pink Boots Collab brew) and listen. March 28th is the date of you want to catch it live or follow Angel City on YouTube to stream at your convenience.

Posted on

Beer Book – The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Most, if not all books about beer, are non-fiction. You are not going to find brewers as the focus of fictional lives. The tilt is towards the dangerous and event filled occupations like firefighters or spies. But along comes….

What’s great about the Lager Queen of Minnesota (which is now on my reading list) is that it is not only about beer but about woman and beer. The author, ” Stradal says he visited more than three dozen breweries in his research for the book. “The women I met working at these breweries were really inspiring,” he says.”