Pink Boots stands for equity

Sam Olsen is the Head Brewer of Mujeres Brew House in Barrio Logan, a local craft brewery who have made a names for themselves by being staffed exclusively by women. “We’re the only woman-operated brewery in San Diego, so our whole staff is women,” noted Olsen. “All girls – from the manager all the way down to the beer tenders and delivery drivers!” The small brewery features an outdoor deck with a fantastic view of the Coronado Bridge on the other side of the 5 freeway. The beers are first rate and include typical ales and lagers alongside a few exotic beers, which feature lush tropical notes. And the Micheladas are as authentic as they come with the presentation being cocktail quality. Olsen is also an active member of Pink Boots, an organization that she credits for giving the tools needed to achieve her success.

( l to r ) Pinks Boots members Lia Garcia, Magie Brennan and Sam Olsen

Magie Brennan is the Secretary of Pink Boots, a non-profit that was originally created to give girls a leg up in a predominately male-dominated craft beer industry. But that was well over ten years ago, and a lot has changed since then; including Pink Boots. “Pink Boots in general is an international organization for woman and non-binary people in all craft industries – not just beer – but also wine, mead, cider and distilling… all across the board! And we’ve got chapters all across the world.” Brennan offered.

Members of Pink Boots can log onto an online membership portal and accesses planned events, a job board, and even apply for scholarships offered by the group. These scholarships range from traditional courses to a two-week trip to Belgium to study beer. All this is geared toward insuring that members get whatever they need to excel in the craft industries.

Lia Garcia

Lia Garcia opted for a traditional lager at the Pink Boots meeting held at
Kilowatt Brewery in Kearny Mesa.

Brennan took advantage of the new expanded spectrum to branch out into the world of mead and is now the head mead-maker at Lost Cause Meadery in Bay Park. Mead is an alcoholic drink created by fermenting honey, and has seen a considerable commercial growth locally alongside cider and distilled spirits. She says the Pink Boots meetings are also a great way to network as a way to share information or job openings. “At our chapter, we do educational meetings every other month, and then we do networking happy hours in the supplemental months,” Brennan said. “That way, if people really want to come to the educational meetings, they have two months out to plan for it, or they can come to the more casual networking happy hours and get to know some of our people.”

Mujeres brewer Olsen shares the same view on the value of the meetings. “I’ve been an active member of Pink Boots for nine years, I found out about it because I was interested in working in the beer industry and other people just kind of pushed me into Pink Boots – I Googled it and showed up for a meeting one day – and have been here ever since. For me personally, it’s a lot about networking with an educational component. So, I’ve given a few speeches about the brewing process, the fermentation process, kettle souring and also just sharing information in a more basic consumer-friendly way. So no matter where you’re at – whether you’re at a beginner or advanced level – hopefully you’ll be able to take away something from it.”

And she sees the educational component of Pink Boots as a huge benefit for the members, especially when it comes to the scholarships. If a member obtains a scholarship, they are expected to bring the information learned back to the fold. “Once you have completed your scholarship, you do a presentation to kind of share your knowledge back with the group so it comes full circle and hopefully other members get to benefit from it too.”

As a non-profit, Pink Boots runs off of member dues and public and corporate donations. Dues are $49 a year for active industry members, but there is also a $29 option for those outside the industry and are looking to get in. Members also include people outside the creation of the beverages including suppliers, marketing people and event coordinators. Each local chapter contains a board of directors, which are fully volunteer positions, and overseen by one national board. A big annual fundraiser is the Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day where the organization creates a unique recipe for a beer, then collaborates with local breweries to brew the batch with its own name and artwork. The beer is then sold and the proceeds from those sales go directly to Pink Boots. They also get together for a “hop rub” where they break apart whole hops and sniff the aromas. Then they create a custom blend of hops, which is sold by Yakima Chief Hops to brewers across the nation with the proceeds once again going towards Pink Boots. Another collaboration was recently done with 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Oregon and Pink Lady Apples to create a Pink Boots collaboration cider as part of the expansion to include beverages other than beer.

Lia Garcia is the local Chapter Co-Leader at Pink Boots and her background is in the hospitality and management side of the industry. Garcia has keen insight of this side of the industry, which she brings to the table as a member of Pink Boots.

 “If there is a position, there is a woman in that position; which is incredible!” Garcia offered with enthusiasm. “Pink Boots has been super successful in the sense that people see us in those positions, and they know it’s an achievable thing. Or, they say ‘Ok, well maybe I was afraid before to go out for brewer, but maybe I might have a brewer who can inspire me and guide me along the way.’ But also, because there are so many women that are in any alcohol industry now – and are working alongside men – they have to include us in the conversation, include us in the education and its not completely easy to step into this male-dominated industry, but its making it easier for us to be there, and making us feel more comfortable; how it should be. We should just be treated equal and just be able to fit in and learn and do and work just like anybody else!”

For more information, go to: www.PinkBootsSociety.org

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