Cheers to the beer queens
New Zealand women are blazing a trail through the beer industry, Josie Steenhart writes.
Long considered a men’sonly domain, beer – the making, and drinking of – is increasingly being taken up by women around the world.
Historically, it was women who did the brewing, whipping up a batch of beer while we baked the bread.
It’s really only been in the last 150 years, when beer went from being domestic to commercial, that it came to be considered such a masculine realm.
And as you’d expect from a country of strong females and one with an insatiable thirst for beer, New Zealand women are leading the charge towards industry equality.
The beer brewer
‘‘When I started in the brewing industry in the early 80s it was very different from how it is now,’’ says Nelson-based brewer Tracy Banner.
‘‘Men would stand with their hands in their pockets and watch me roll these barrels, which were two or three times the weight that I was. That just wouldn’t happen now – the guys run over to help you, even if you don’t really need the help.’’
But despite a shift in attitude, Banner says there’s still a long way to go before the maledominated industry shows any sign of balance between the sexes.
‘‘It’s always been maledominated and it probably will continue to be like that for quite some time,’’ she admits.
‘‘But there are a lot more women coming into it, and I think it’s good for the industry.’’
Banner, head brewer and coowner of Sprig & Fern has, herself, been a significant trailblazer for women and beer in her 30-year career.
Renowned as one of the country’s top brewers, Banner believes it was initially the sheer physicality of the task that set it into a male-only domain.
‘‘Nowadays we’re using 25-, 30and 50-litre kegs, but even back when I was first starting out, the barrels were the equivalent of something like 165 and 200 litres, over three times what we’re having to handle now.
‘‘So you just had to have brute strength to move these barrels.’’
She says the job still involves a lot of heavy lifting and physical labour, ‘‘but you’ve just got to