Yes, Women Drink Beer and Brew It Too
Beer bros aren’t the only players in the game. Mariana Schneider launched Gangsta Ladies of Wort (GLOW) to prove the point. GLOW is a global activist organization that brews collaboration beers and advocates for marginalized people in the brewing industry, including women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. GLOW aims to provide marginalized beer professionals with employment opportunities, financial aid, education, safety, and when necessary, counseling.
According to a 2019 survey by The Brewers Association, a craft beer trade group, only 7.5% of breweries employed women in brewing roles, while 54% of service positions were staffed by women. The study also revealed that among the 54% of breweries owned by a single person, 96% were owned by men. These gender disparities run through typical brewery salaries as well. Data from the popular beer website Beervana (based on information from Glassdoor and Payscale) shows that the average salary for entry-level brewery employees is between $22,000 and $29,000 in San Diego. However, entry-level female brewery employees can expect to earn 11% less than males. Part of GLOW’s mission is to overcome these employment and economic disparities.
More Breweries And Distilleries Upcycle Spent Grains To Reduce Food Waste
As craft breweries and distilleries proliferate, spent grains continue to pile up. Despite being organic waste products, spent grains are high in acidity and bio-oxygen demand, so they aren’t easily disposed of, even in cities with large wastewater treatment plants. Fortunately, spent grains still contain valuable nutrients, and drink-makers have long partnered with farmers to make use of them as nutritious feed for cattle, hogs, chicken, fish and other animals. Kentucky’s Bardstown Bourbon Company gives away about 107,000 gallons a day to local farmers, who come pick it up for free. On a smaller scale, Colby Frey of Nevada’s Frey Ranch Estate Distillery, gives his spent grain to a neighboring farm as cattle feed, while liquids from the spent grain go into the farm’s irrigation system to balance the soil’s pH levels.
Spent grains can also be upcycled in the baking industry. In Toronto, the Spent Goods Company works with bakeries to repurpose spent grains as baked goods sold in grocery stores, farmers markets, schools, and restaurants. California’s ReGrained company transforms them into snack puffs and bars, and pasta maker Barilla recently invested in the company to expand its product line. Rise Products in Brooklyn takes spent grains from local breweries and turns them into light and dark barley flours. A number of New York City restaurants use the barley flour in pasta, granola and brownies, and food companies like Kellogg’s, Whole Foods, DiGiorno and Nestlé have all asked for samples of the flour for use in its products. Look for more products made with spent grains hitting supermarket shelves soon.
Cristalino Clearly A New Type of Tequila
There’s a relatively new tequila in town. Just don’t call it tequila. Cristalino is a clear, oak-aged tequila filtered with charcoal similar to the way many white rums are made. Mature tequila may be labeled blanco (white, aged 2 months or less), Joven (young or gold, typically a blend that’s colored with caramel coloring), reposado (aged at least 2 months), añejo (extra-aged at least 1 year), or extra-añejo (ultra-aged), depending on whether the spirit was barrel aged for two months or for several years. Cristalino is white like a blanco but must be aged for at least two months, so it tastes more like a reposado or añejo. The amber color imparted from barrel-aging is removed via charcoal filtration, giving the spirit its name.
The first commercial cristalino was launched in 2012 by Don Julio as “Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro.” It was recently renamed, Don Julio Añejo Cristalino. Many tequila producers have released cristalino bottlings, but use other terms without referencing “Cristalino” in the name, making the category more obscure as a whole. Producers also have more labeling freedom because cristalino may be barrel-aged anywhere from 2 months to several years, deepening the flavors, yet the spirit remains clear in color.
