AN EVENT held to encourage women to explore the brewing process was held at a Tilehurst brewery last week.
Double-Barrelled Brewery held an collaboration brew to celebrate International Women’s Day, on Tuesday, March 8, at their taproom on Stadium Way.
The sell-out day was attended by 50 women, including Reading mayor Cllr Rachel Eden. They were all there to learn from DBB’s female staff and to take part in making a special IWD beer.
Cllr Eden — who is a fan of real ale — enjoyed a tour of the brewery with Luci Clayton-Jones, Double-Barrelled’s co-founder and managing director.
“Lots has changed for women, but there is still work to be done,” Cllr Eden says.
“Beer still has a stereotype that it’s not for women, so the ethos of this event is really important.
“It’s also lots of fun.”
It was the first public IWD event held at the brewery. For Luci, it was a chance to address a misconception that a drink can be associated with gender.
“The UK has low numbers of women who drink beer and it has a knock on effect on the industry,” she says.
“So even though I run the business equally with Mike, people still tend to gravitate to him.
“Representation of women in craft beer in Reading is pretty good, but elsewhere it is very male.”
Assistant brewer Chelsea Craigie created the recipe for the collaboration brew, which will be on sale in early April. She moved to brewing from being a member of bar staff at Double-Barrelled.
“I met the brewers here and decided that I wanted to get involved,” she adds.
The artwork for the can was painted by another member of DBB staff, Laura Skelton. She is an abstract artist, and an associate at Jelly.
“Chelsea did last year’s IWD can artwork and thought that my work would fit this year’s theme, which is celebration,” Laura explains.
“My process changed, because I was working specifically for the can — the painting will become a thing in someone’s hand.
“But I love that so many people will see my work.”
For some of the women who attended, the event was also a chance to spend time with friends and meet new people.
Rebecca Riley and Eleonor Wigmore are two friends who went to the collaboration brew day together.
“We both like a beer,” Rebecca says.
“So we took the opportunity to learn more about the process and spend time together in a female-only environment.”
Eleanor agrees, adding: “This is a comfortable event to ask questions at, because women are so visible,”
“Sometimes I am the only woman in a pub and it can feel a bit awkward.”
Double-Barrelled co-founder Luci hopes to run more female-only events.
For more information, visit: doublebarrelled.co.uk
