The Love of Beer

We have teamed with organizers of the first ever PDX Beer Week for our Saturday evening party. PDX Beer Week is proud to to present the World Premiere of Alison Grayson’s documentary on women in the craft beer industry, The Love of Beer.

The Love of Beer is a documentary devoted to the stories and passion of the women at the forefront of the Pacific Northwest beer community. The beer industry is exploding; as of 2010, there are 1,759 breweries operating within the United States–1,716 of these are craft breweries. While the industry is expanding rapidly, growing 11% by volume in 2010, women within the industry are a vast minority. Out of the approximately 50,000 craft beer workers, only 598 currently belong to the Pink Boots Society, an organization for women in the industry.

Things weren’t always this way. Brewing used to be a household chore that fell upon women. Both Egyptian and Sumerian cultures have goddesses of beer, and in in the middle ages, fewer than 8% of brewers were male. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that brewing shifted from a women’s small enterprise to the domain of (mostly male) factory workers. Beer and brewing gained a “men’s club” stereotype and, further enforced by marketing and popular media, the industry has remained a heavily male-dominated field.

However, in the Pacific NW, women are fighting their way towards being some of the most influential people in the brewing industry. From the farm to the consumer, Pacific NW women are setting new standards for brewing and changing the way the nation looks at women and beer.

See the Love of Beer trailer online.

The film will be shown at 9:00 PM at the world-renowned McMenamins Bagdad Theater. Thanks to sponsors Deschutes and Bend Brewing, the theater will be offering $3 pint specials from these fine Bend-based breweries all evening. This will be a perfect cap to our dinner at Bridgeport BrewPub.