The Love of Beer

Last week two points of controversy erupted regarding women and beer. The debate once again flared up about women’s beer tastes, marketing towards women, and gender-offensive labeling of craft and non-craft beer. I’ve been writing about this for some time now, but the very same day I was disheartened by finding a new beer “marketed specifically towards women” I also found something that made my heart soar with pride – a movie about women and craft beer.

I have been seeking and hoping for more “normal” images of women enjoying, brewing, and talking about their love of craft beer for a while now. “I am a craft beer drinker” accomplished that by keeping a pretty even gender ratio within its declaration. But there’s been little in the mainstream media to keep women’s place in craft beer a normal thing to see.

I admit, probably because I’m on the East Coast, I didn’t hear about this movie’s development until just before it is to be released. The Love of Beer is a documentary about women in the beer industry in Portland, OR, and will be released during PDX Beer Week (coincidentally the same weekend as the beer blogger’s conference…). I have not seen the movie, but the trailer gives me great hope.

The Love of Beer from Lingering Illocutions on Vimeo.

I sincerely hope that I can make it to the Beer Bloggers Conference this year (wanna help that happen?) so that I can meet someone of the women responsible for this, as well as re-affirm that we (women) are not alone as craft beer lovers!

As for anyone not in the Portland, OR area – there is information about how you can find this documentary online at their website (http://theloveofbeermovie.com/) and facebook page.

Cheers!