Pink Boots Society: Redefining how women craft
Ask any woman in South Dakota’s Pink Boots Society chapter to describe a stereotypical brewmaster, and you’ll likely get the same reaction.
First, they’ll laugh knowingly.
Then, they’ll describe some variation of a hipster, bearded, IPA-drinking, flannel-shirt-wearing man.
They laugh because there’s a grain of truth behind all stereotypes, but they also know reality looks different than that stock image.
That’s because an increasing number of women are joining South Dakota’s craft beer scene in all aspects of the industry from writing recipes to designing labels to sales.
“Women in the craft beer industry, it’s a really strong community,” said Melissa Heckel, co-owner of Severance Brewing Co. “We know that we’re not the majority, so we’re kind of all in it together.”
The community of women in craft beer in South Dakota became formalized in August with the start of a local chapter of the Pink Boots Society, a national organization created to help educate women and help them advance in the beer industry.
“Such a small percentage of breweries are owned by women,” said Nicki Werner, president of the local Pink Boots chapter. “The inequity is real.”
The guiding philosophy behind Pink Boots is to educate, network and inspire women in the industry.
In its first few months, Pink Boots has hosted a handful of “brew days” where women get together to make a beer, as well as tap takeovers, virtual happy hours and a number of beers brewed with the national society’s special blend of hops.
Werner has been working in the beer industry since 2014, brewing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Colorado before moving to Sioux Falls to be closer to family. She’s now working to open her own brewery, Jefferson Beer Supply, in the southeast South Dakota community of Jefferson.
The craft beer industry as a whole makes “a ton of money and a huge impact on communities,” Werner said.
“Pink Boots provides opportunities to diversify who that’s available to,” she added.
It’s open to women actually doing the brewing, like Werner, but it’s also open to women working in all sides of the craft beer scene.
Sammie Dlugosh had almost no knowledge of craft beer when she got a job bartending at Ben’s Brewing Co. in Yankton a couple of years ago.
“I had just turned 21, and so at that point the only thing I had ever drank beer-wise was Coors Lite and Keystone,” Dlugosh said.
Now, she has worked her way up to a sales and marketing role at Ben’s, and she has Pink Boots and the other women working at Ben’s to credit for her ever-expanding craft beer knowledge.
“There’s so many people out there that are willing to help you along the way,” Dlugosh said.
Over in Hartford, Callie Tuschen, co-owner of Buffalo Ridge Brewing, admits that she never was much of a beer drinker, despite her husband’s long-running home-brewing habit.
“I liked wine,” she said. “I hadn’t really found my (beer) style.”
But when the couple got serious about opening the brewery, she knew it was time to buckle down and learn the ins and outs of craft beer. She discovered a taste for Scotch ale, and she knew Buffalo Ridge needed to add one to its lineup.
The Bonnie Black Agnes has a sweeter, malty backbone, and its name is a nod to Tuschen’s Scottish roots and “Black Agnes,” the nickname for a countess in Scottish history famous for defending her castle against a siege in the 1300s.
“She was a powerful woman without needing a man,” Tuschen said.
Tuschen also hosted a brew day earlier this year, and she came up with the recipe for Buffalo Ridge’s Pink Boots blend called Lemongrass White IPA.
Many of the women in South Dakota’s craft beer industry also are working part time elsewhere.
Tuschen home-schools the family’s three children.
Jackie Choate, co-owner of Obscure Brewing Co. in Sioux Falls, works part time as a physician, putting in mornings at the hospital and afternoons at the brewery.
Choate joined Pink Boots through her connection with Werner, and she said she was surprised by how many women were in the South Dakota craft beer scene.
It’s a small group, certainly, compared to the number of men. Pink Boots has 19 official members, but there’s a group of about 50 women who interact with the local chapter, Werner said.
The hope is that as more breweries open across the state, more women will take an interest in the industry, and Pink Boots will be there to help provide scholarships, education and camaraderie.
“It’s nice to have that support from other women,” Choate said. “It really helps you not feel alone in a world that can feel hard to succeed in.”
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