New Content: Women, Food, and Beer!

We have finalized details on the last two topics to be presented at the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference: a talk on The Science of Food and Beer Pairing and a three-person panel titled Craft Beer and Women: As Consumers, Industry Members, and Blog Readers.

The Science of Food and Beer Pairing will feature beer pairing expert Ray Decker. Ray has been involved in the restaurant industry since he was five years old when he lived over his family’s seafood restaurant in New Jersey. Ray is a certified Second Level Sommelier and is General Manager of The Kitchen, a very popular restaurant in downtown Boulder.

Among the duties Ray has not delegated in his role as General Manager is the beer selection. He has personally selected each of the 80+ beers on offer, many of them selected for their pairing qualities and featured in occasional beer pairing dinners at the restaurant. Ray will explain some of the unique flavor profiles of beer via three distinct beers you will be able to taste from Avery Brewing: India Pale Ale, Ellie’s Brown, and Salvation Belgium Strong Pale Ale.

Craft Beer and Women: As Consumers, Industry Members, and Blog Readers was one of the more popular selections in the vote we had among registered participants when they were able to voice their opinion on the conference content. We have a distinguished panel of three industry experts who will discuss the role of women in the craft beer industry – including as readers of your blog.

Julia Herz is the Craft Beer Program Director at the Brewers Association and will provide an industry-wide viewpoint on the subject. Sebbie Buhler from Rogue Ales will reveal her two decades of experience as a craft beer industry member and blogger at Rogue Chocolate Stout. Tamre Mullins from Girls’ Pint Out will explain her experience engaging women beer drinkers with her drinking social club for women, now launching chapters in a growing number of cities.

So why is this important for you? Here’s why. Since so many people prefer drinking beer with food, you might consider adding a food pairing component to your beer reviews. And since women now make up 25% of beer drinkers in the US (according to one statistic we pulled off the Internet). So if you are not accounting for who your readers are and what they like, you might not have your readers for long!