Sisters of the Suds
Beer has been around for thousands of years, and for most of its existence women held the title of brewmaster. Making beer was considered comparable to baking — women’s work.
Around the time of the Industrial Revolution things started to change in the brewing business and men became the main brewers. Decades of marketing geared towards men created and enforced a stereotype that beer was a “man’s drink.”
While that certainly isn’t the case, statistics show the craft beer industry is predominantly male-focused. A 2015 U.S. Yankelovich MONITOR survey found women only represent 25 percent of craft beer drinkers.
So why are women drinking less craft beer?
Alex McKeown, owner of one of Northeast Florida’s newest microbreweries, Hyperion Brewing Company, believes male-centric marketing still plays a role in why women aren’t drinking craft. Certain label designs, beer names, even the way some taprooms are decorated can be geared more towards male clientele.
While these things may be created without an intent to alienate, McKeown notes they might not buy the brand loyalty of women as consumers. Instead, she believes that companies looking to be inclusive of both genders should utilize more neutral branding.
Commonly, women can expect to see ladies’ nights as a way to engage them, but even this tactic is flawed to some degree.
“[Breweries] aren’t doing anything other than highlighting that I’m a female coming into the bar,” said McKeown. Instead, she suggests breweries market to women by thinking outside the box and having more fun with their consumers.
By way of an example, she detailed a local brewery event that offered free manicures with beers.
“It was amazing, the place was packed,” she said. “And it’s wrong to think about stereotypes, but I’m a girl and I just want to get my nails done and drink a beer.”
McKeown also suggests flipping stereotypes. She described a bar crawl in which women dressed as lumberjacks as a play on a traditionally male-focused Oktoberfest event.
Although the craft industry seems to have a problem drawing in women, once they become part of the community, most agree they are treated more equally than other industries.
And despite the surge in the number of Jacksonville breweries, that community remains collaborative rather than competitive. Susan Miller, co-owner of Bold City Brewery, believes this non-competitive spirit is the key to why women in the industry are treated well.
Miller worked for a white-collar company before she went into the beer business with her son Brian. The very nature of white-collar work, according to Miller, created more divisions and contributed to women not being treated with equal respect — an issue she hasn’t run into since founding Bold City.
“It’s simpler — we’re just people, working together, making a living, having a fun time,” said Miller. “I think it’s great, at least from my experiences.”
“Whenever I go to a conference, I don’t feel like I’m being treated different or not having my voice heard like my son’s,” Miller continued. She says that such equality between genders is rare in other industries.
So, is the issue with women in craft beer really a marketing and PR flop on the industry’s part? For an industry that is built on working together, the demographic is still narrow — and it’s not just women who are absent.
The previously mentioned study also found African-Americans represent only 10 percent of the market, Asians 9 percent and Hispanics — the most represented minority race — 21 percent. And not a single local brewery is owned by a person of a minority race.
“That’s not saying anything against the brewing industry, that’s saying a lot about society and the opportunities afforded to minorities,” McKeown said.
Despite the underrepresentation of women in the craft beer movement, there’s still plenty of women sipping local suds who are completely turned off by big beer (and its marketing). There is still a need for better representation of women and minority races, but it seems the industry is moving in that direction.
Only a few years ago, similar research showed women as making up only 15 percent of craft beer drinkers. Clearly, women are taking back the craft they perfected centuries ago.
“One day you’ll come to me and say, ‘I just want to write an article on Hyperion that has nothing to do with the fact that you’re a woman,’” McKeown said.
Cheers to that.
Published in Folio Weekly.
