Fest pours one out for equality
Women-centric FemAle Brew Fest returns to Hallandale Beach.
As Denielle Mizrahi describes it, a Bud Light commercial airing during the Super Bowl gave her the guts to quit her job and brew craft beer full-time.
Five years ago, Mizrahi and her husband, Daniel Pfaffenbach, scoffed when the commercial touted Bud Light’s four main ingredients – hops, water, barley and rice. “Dan and I looked at each other and were like, ‘What about the yeast?’ Yeast is the most important ingredient. It just activates the beer, turning sugars into alcohol.”
Convinced they could brew artisanal beers that spotlight yeast’s role in beermaking, Mizrahi quit her job as a corporate manager for a skincare spa franchise in Estero. So did Pfaffenbach, a news correspondent for a Fort Myers TV station. Together they formed Yeasty Brews, set to open this fall in a Lauderhill warehouse one mile north of the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop.
This weekend, Mizrahi will represent Yeasty Brews during the women-centric beer bash FemAle Brew Fest, returning for its third edition on Saturday, March 23, inside Pegasus Park at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach.
As a new player on South Florida’s craft-beer scene Mizrahi, now of Plantation, says she was hardly surprised to find the industry dominated by male brewers. But as the number of microbreweries climbs in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties – from six in 2013 to nearly 50 now – more women are turning to careers in suds, helping the scene to evolve as brewery owners, head brewers and brewing assistants.
At Yeasty Brews, Mizrahi’s beer knowledge is mostly self-taught. She devoured books on home brewing, and made test batches with her husband, previously a brewer at LauderAle in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers Brewing. “I was like, ‘You’re so friggin’ passionate about it, I’m excited, too,’ ” Mizrahi recalls. “The more I was in the beer culture, the more I wanted to learn.”
“We do everything together, even swapping job duties,” she says. “We need to make sure we can do each other’s job in case one of us is sick. When he brews, I do the marketing. When I brew, he does the marketing. It’s really exciting to make new recipes.”
For FemAle Brew Fest, Mizrahi will pour Banana Slinger, a hazy milkshake hefeweizen punched with lactose and vanilla beans.She will also serve a Belgian pale ale spiked with red dragonfruit.
Here’s what else is on tap at FemAle Brew Fest.
How much to belly up?
Tickets for the 21-and-older FemAle Brew Fest will cost $35 for general-admission access (3-6 p.m.), which includes beer samples, $45 for early access at 2 p.m. and $60 for VIP, which includes free bites in the VIP lounge. (Yes, even men are allowed.)
Who else is brewing at FemAle Brew Fest?
All told, there will be 22 female brewers from around the country, including Stephanie Harper, head brewer at Islamorada Beer Company; Kristen Lorow, certified cicerone at Funky Buddha Brewery; Jessica Dornblaser, co-owner of NOBO Brewing in Boynton Beach; Laurie Grasty, owner of Miami Brew Bus; and Emily Rodriguez, manager at Nightlife Brewing in Miami.
Female Brew Fest will take place 2-6 p.m. Saturday, March 23, inside Pegasus Park at Gulfstream Park, 901 S. Federal Highway, in Hallandale Beach. Go to FemAleBrewFest.com.