Grand Teton women try their hand at brewing
Published at | Updated at
VICTOR — The popularity of craft beer has exploded in the past decade, and while women make up half the market, they are under-represented in the industry.
Last week, Grand Teton Brewing Company hosted a women’s brew, and has an upcoming event to celebrate women in the beer industry.
Katie Taylor, the quality control and safety manager at Grand Teton Brewing Company, received the Cicerone Beer Savvy Online Scholarship from the Pink Boots Society in 2014, as well as her own pink steel-toe rubber boots.
The Pink Boots Society was created to support and provide educational opportunities for women in the beer industry.
Taylor has worked at the brewery for six years and has been the quality control manager for almost five.
“I have always felt really welcome when I judge at events like NABA. I never feel overpowered,” said Taylor, referring to the North American Brewers Association Awards in Idaho Falls.
She wishes that there were more women in the brewing industry, and that they pursued more fields within the industry.
“Pink Boots has a lot of scholarships for women who brew and owners and pub managers, but I’ve reached out a couple times about other aspects of the industry, like QC,” she said.
On Feb. 6, with some guidance from the brewers, Taylor and a few of the other female Grand Teton employees brewed a honey ale, a historical American beer style. They used Idaho grain and honey. With a small but sophisticated homebrew system, they produced a barrel’s worth of beer, which will be available for sale in the Grand Teton brewpub starting on March 8.
Taylor hasn’t worked on that side of the brew kettles before.
“I have a good feel for the overall process and each step, but this gave me a better idea of the logistics,” she said.
March 8 is International Women’s Day, and the Pink Boots Society is holding women’s brewing events across the country. Taylor opted to have the beer ready on March 8 instead. A percentage of brewpub sales on that day will go towards the Pink Boots scholarship fund.
“We wanted to give back to the program,” said Taylor.
This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.