She Knows Beer

In the opening paragraphs of Tasting Beer, author Randy Mosher welcomes readers to the world of lagers, pilsners, IPAs, and sours with a word on community. “There is definitely something about beer,” he writes. “Beer brings people together on common ground and has been doing so for thousands of years.”

However, as a woman in the industry, that “common ground” isn’t always easy to find.

“While my experience has been mostly positive, I have, unfortunately, faced discrimination along the way from those in the industry and in taprooms,” says Lauren Hughes, head brewer at Necromancer Brewing and the only female head brewer in Pittsburgh Right now. “ Especially as a woman and a queer person.”

To celebrate women working in craft beer and raise awareness around the male-heavy industry, the Pittsburgh Brewery and Taproom Diversity Council created She Knows Beer, an ongoing, collaboration beer.

Collaborations between brewers have consistently been a big part of the industry. During the pandemic, they took on a much bigger role, connecting breweries and their communities internationally. All Together, a one-recipe beer crafted worldwide, raised money for hospitality professionals when the pandemic closed restaurants and bars; Black is Beautiful, a single-recipe stout, raised awareness for the injustices people of color face every day.

The diversity council, a group of industry professionals created with the mission of elevating and leveling the playing field for women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities in beer, took inspiration from All Together and Black is Beautiful to create She Knows Beer.

The first iteration of She Knows Beer – the collaboration is an open-source recipe, so the brewery partnering with the diversity council can brew any style of beer – is a 7% IPA conditioned on orange puree made in partnership with Necromancer Brewing, Trace Brewing, and the diversity council. A portion of the proceeds (from this beer and future versions of She Knows Beer) will be donated to a nonprofit organization that elevates the role of the trans, LGBTQ, and female communities.

It will be the council’s inaugural release, almost like a launch, showcasing who they are as an organization.

“When the diversity council started as just a group text among like seven or eight of us in beer who were either black or brown or gay or women, we were talking about what would be a good first deliverable,” says Aadam Soorma, member of the council and head of marketing and guest experience at Trace Brewing. “We all work in beer, so a beer made the most sense, it was just a matter of finding a collaborative partner.”

The release, set for June 1, comes at a heartbreaking time for the brewing industry. In the past weeks, Instagram user @ratmagnet has invited women in beer to tell their stories of sexual harassment, sharing them on her account. Among the hundreds of submissions, numerous allegations were found against Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, PA, a major player in Pennsylvania beer.

“As someone who has both faced discrimination and witnessed it, this collaboration really hits home for me; it has been very rewarding and validating to have something so important to me and to the Diversity Council come to fruition,” Hughes says.

“If we allow these things to happen in the industry, it will bleed into taprooms and vice versa. So, the industry as a whole – owners, employees, and guests – needs to participate in the culture change, with the industry leaders driving it. We – the producers of craft beer - are the role models for our patrons,” she continues.

“I’m very proud to be a part of a project that strives to bring awareness to women’s expertise and experience in the beer industry and our impact on beer culture, especially in light of the recent press,” says Hughes.

So, back to Tasting Beer: “beer brings people together.” The brewing industry serves as a place for people to connect and form communities; it can also serve as a place to have these conversations. That’s the hope, at least, with the release of She Knows Beer – keep the conversation going.

She Knows Beer will be released on June 1. A portion of the proceeds will go to SisTers PGH. The diversity council will continue the collaboration with Dancing Gnome in Sharpsburg and plans to keep making new She Knows Beer brews with different breweries, eventually hoping to expand outside of Pittsburgh.