Over the past couple months, a group of women who work at Foam have been getting together to brainstorm, workshop, and get creative about beer. They hosted a beer tasting and discussed thoughts and perspectives on style, color, flavor profiles, and the like. The goal was to brew something different from what you might typically find at Foam, but to stick to a specific style that everyone could learn from. The organizer of this project is a brewer at Foam named Olivia Sommers. Olivia had the idea after contemplating the reality that there are so few female-identifying brewers in the industry, yet plenty who work in the industry in general, and certainly a whole lot of women who enjoy beer. Olivia wanted to create the opportunity for the female-identifying folks at Foam to learn about the process and get real experience in the brew house. So a few weeks ago, the first ever Women of Foam Brew took place at 112 Lake Street.
The result of this passionate and interested group of women putting their minds together was creativity, fresh ideas, and a delicious beer. This of course comes as no surprise. The women in this group come from all different parts of the company, each bringing something thoughtful to the table, from a place outside the usual flow of production. They have different experiences in the industry from the brewers. For example, if one of the women is a bartender, she might interact with tens of customers over the course of a day. She hears what people are enjoying and is able to have conversations about beer with community members. Some of the positions held by the women at Foam allow them to have more face-to-face interactions with other industry folks who also have different perspectives. They talk to co-workers about what each other is enjoying and bounce ideas off each other. While these experiences are outside of the nitty gritty of the brewing process, they're all incredibly important and interesting when it comes to brewing beer that people will enjoy - and not just one type of person.
On top of the ingenuity that's spawned from this project so far, another goal of the women’s brew was to foster community - not only at Foam, but in the industry at large. This project creates the opportunity for the women of Foam to not only learn and get hands-on experience in the brewhouse, but also to put forth ideas that might not always be a part of the process. Not to mention, it’s just a fun way for the crew to get together and get to know each other. There's something to be said for working and getting creative in a female-dominated environment, especially in an industry where that's rarely the case.
And so, on Thursday, January 27th, we tapped the first Women of Foam beer. It's called Intuition, and it is an Amber Ale. This beer is the realization of the Women of Foam’s vision outlined at their first meeting: It’s refreshing, presents a striking color, and stands on its own from our usual draft offerings. Brewed with Cascade and Columbus, and dry-hopped with Simcoe, Intuition is a complex beer flush with aromas of bitter orange peel and apricot. You’ll find floral and soft pine flavors on the palate and a reminiscent Negroni note.
This beer is an ode to the incredible Women of Foam and a commitment to our continuing support for female-identifying folks in the brewing industry and beyond. To coincide with the release of this beer, we will be making a $1000 donation to Vermont Access to Reproductive Freedom. Reproductive health resonates as a topical issue for the women in this group, and it represents the interconnected approach the Women of Foam want to take toward issues impacting women and people seeking reproductive health services in the community beyond the brewery.
We can’t wait for you all to enjoy this beer, and stay tuned. This is just the beginning of this project. More to come from the Women of Foam. Thanks to all the women who participated in the planning and brewing of Intuition.
