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niyad

(112,434 posts)
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:16 PM Jan 2012

rachel beer told, "women can't brew"

Rachel Beer Told “Women Can’t Brew”

With a name like Rachel Beer, you pretty much have to assume that brewing is in her blood. And so it is, but apparently she’s lacking the Y chromosome to do it, according to the officials at a New Zealand home brewing competition.

Despite making multiple batches of her own brew over the last few years, Lake Hayes A&P Show in Queenstown has denied her request to be judged in their annual contest, saying it’s only for men.

According to the NZ Herald News, “Who cares if I have or haven’t got balls?” she fumed. “At the end of the day a home brew is a home brew.”

Contest officials have asked her to put in a request for a “ladies” or a special “mixed sex” bracket next year, rather than stating the obvious — there’s no reason gender would make any difference in the brewing of beer and as such, no reason to have a men’s only bracket in the first place. Does there really need to be a separate contest as if there’s a “bitches brew?”

According to Martin Bulmer, of the Society of Beer Advocates, women make up 10 percent of the society’s 500 members. That’s a lot of women to make hopping mad

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/rachel-beer-told-women-cant-brew.html#ixzz1jkwt1gOl

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mysuzuki2

(3,521 posts)
1. The funny thing about this , and about the fact that the majority of home brewers today are male is
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:23 PM
Jan 2012

that in traditional societies and in western societies before the development of commercial brewing, brewing of beer is an overwhelmingly female activity. Beer has traditionally been treated as a food like any other and was usually prepared by women. So in short, there is no reason women should not brew beer because most of the beer brewed in human history has been brewed by women.

ProfessionalLeftist

(4,982 posts)
4. Exactly. That's the HERstory of beer
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:29 PM
Jan 2012

Any dude who tries to twist that around now is being either ignorant or dishonest or both.

arely staircase

(12,482 posts)
3. unless the contest has a weightlifting component i fail to see why gender brackets are necessary
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:27 PM
Jan 2012

seriously, why would you not want women to participate? this is so archaic that i don't think i personally know anybody (this includes tea party simpletons and religious right devotes) who would have a problem with letting "girls" in their contest. well, maybe some of the pentecostals - but they wouldn't be brewing beer to begin with.

TexasProgresive

(12,148 posts)
5. Hmmm-what would St. Brigid of Ireland say about that?
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:29 PM
Jan 2012
A prayer attributed to St. Brigid begins "I'd Like A Great Lake Of Beer For The King Of Kings. I Would Like To Be Watching Heaven's Family Drinking It Through All Eternity."

Initech

(99,913 posts)
6. What would Lost Coast Brewing Co. Say about that?
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:35 PM
Jan 2012

They're an all-female employed and owned brewery in Nor Cal...

MADem

(135,425 posts)
7. Gee, I always thought that New Zealand was "better" in every way.
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:40 PM
Jan 2012

I've seen them held up over the years as paragons of virtue for this reason or that.

If the earthquakes weren't bad enough, I'd say a bunch of sexist nitwits making asses of themselves with a story that has hit the world press has taken them down more than a few notches.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
8. This wouldn't fly in my local homebrew group.
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 06:42 PM
Jan 2012

We have a number of female brewers -- and they rock the brew!

 

provis99

(13,062 posts)
9. beer brewing was a women's job in Celtic and Germanic societies.
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 07:31 PM
Jan 2012

and of course, witches became known for their "witches brew" because women were associated with brewing.

In South America, chicha (corn beer) is brewed only by women.

The Lake Hayes A&P show chauvinists should be reminded they are involved in a women's profession, not a man's.

Quantess

(27,630 posts)
12. Honestly, beer brewing sounds more like traditional "women's work" than "men's work"
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 08:29 PM
Jan 2012

if they really want to turn this into a gender thing.

flvegan

(64,389 posts)
13. LOL! They need to meet my roomie.
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 08:40 PM
Jan 2012

I get samples of what she and her brewmaster (is that the right word? whatever.) friends concoct. Now and then I get samples. The shit is GOOD. And she doesn't bring me the high octane stuff cuz I'm a wimp.

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