A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs

by Tara Nurin, Teri Fahrendorf

• North American Guild of Beer Writers Best Book 2022 Dismiss the stereotype of the bearded brewer. It's women, not men, who've brewed beer throughout most of human history. Their role as family and village brewer lasted for hundreds of thousands of years—through the earliest days of Mesopotamian civilization, the reign of Cleopatra, the witch trials of early modern Europe, and the settling of colonial America. A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse celebrates the contributions and influence of female brewers and explores the forces that have erased them from the brewing world. It's a history that's simultaneously inspiring and demeaning. Wherever and whenever the cottage brewing industry has grown profitable, politics, religion, and capitalism have grown greedy. On a macro scale, men have repeatedly seized control and forced women out of the business. Other times, women have simply lost the minimal independence, respect, and economic power brewing brought them. But there are more breweries now than at any time in American history and today women serve as founder, CEO, or head brewer at more than one thousand of them.As women continue to work hard for equal treatment and recognition in the industry, author Tara Nurin shows readers that women have been—and are once again becoming—relevant in the brewing world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Beer, Food, Audiobook, Brewing

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2021

Reviews

[Rachel Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a great example of a fascinating topic but poor execution and editing. Nurin strives to tell the history of female involvement in brewing, from ancient times all the way to the 21st-century brewpub. While the subject matter is intriguing, the writing itself was painful to endure. One thing that made the book difficult to read was the constant switching between the "ancient times" story of brewing and the modern stories. This could have been utilized to greater effect, but it seemed to chop up the book in a way that made the stories jilted and awkward. Nurin's storytelling also lacked flow. There were huge sections that should have been re-written or better edited. Examples included overuse of parenthetical phrases that drop in non-sequitur facts and entire paragraphs that began with the word "however". While I tried to trudge through the mediocre writing for the content, it just became too painful. Finally, Nurin's point about the forgotten role of women in brewing is valid, but some of her examples could have been explained better. For example, at one point she drops the fact about women not being able to get loans on their own until the mid-1970s- a key point in feminist history- but this fact could have been given its own section and context, adding value to the story. Instead, it's thrown in as a 2-sentence anecdote and then Nurin moves on to another disconnected story about failed attempts at a brewery. Overall, I don't blame Nurin for the book's execution. This is a failure on the part of an editor to support an author in taking very interesting content and helping the author craft a cogent, cohesive narrative. With better editing, this book would be amazing.

[Max Finnance · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars: This is an important book, and I really wanted to love it, but several aspects held it back from being what I was truly hoping for. While this book was filled with interesting snippets and the stories of many of the most important women in craft beer in America from the last 50 years, it also reads like a “who’s who” of the author’s friends, often offering two sentences about a woman who owned a brewery (and/or brewed, and/or ran a sales team) before jumping on to a new character, offering two sentences about them, and moving on again, often for pages on end.

Less effort to include every woman who played a role in building the craft beer industry in America, and more space dedicated to diving deeper into some well chosen characters, would have greatly improved the readability and led to a more cohesive narrative. Still, if you have more than a passing interest in how women’s roles have evolved through (and been written out of) brewing history, this book is well worth your time!

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe more like a 2.5 stars. I learned some interested stuff, but the overall writing was rambling and disjointed. I'd be in the middle of a chapter and have no idea what the point of said chapter was, bopping from subject to subject in an unconnected manner.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

My wife’s cousin recommended this book to me a while ago , and I wanted to like it more but it’s a DNF for me. Your mileage may vary. I just thought it was super boring sadly. I love beer too, but this book was NOT for me. Oh well. Lots of books on my list to choose from.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might have the tiniest print I've ever encountered. Gonna be an adventure, for sure.

I enjoyed learning about the history of brewing. My biggest issue with this book was the layout. Chapters tracing the development of beer are interspersed with more recent history tracking the craft beer revolution since the 1970s & 80s. Going back and forth like this feels disjointed, and as soon as I got in one head space, I was jerked out and plopped into another. As a result, the more recent history chapters read like a list of who the author knows in the industry and the jobs they've held. I found I kept having to go back ("who is that person again? I'm only getting first names here"), and it was very difficult to track the movements of some of the most influential people in the industry. I have worked at a brewery for seven years, and have one foot in that world, but it was all a little over my head.
Still, the author clearly knows her stuff, and has led me to some interesting organizations and social media accounts. Appreciate the effort. Might be a little too "inside baseball" for the casual reader.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a great book, but not a comprehensive history, probably more of a 3.5. There was less on the history of women as the main brewers & sellers of beer than I was expecting, particularly given the blurb, there was a heavy focus instead on the recent American history.
The author does include brief passages on Belgian, German & UK beer women & history as well as nods to American women suffering extra isolation at not knowing more of the world history of women & beer. And with the focus on more recent history important topics such as inclusion for women of colour, gay & trans brewsters were explored along with misogyny & #MeToo.
I would have liked to see a stronger Notes section as a few comments were made without the citation to back it up.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so empowered after reading this!

[Renée L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. But it was so poorly edited, poorly organized and just did not tick all the boxes for a book that is touted as being about the place of women in brewing. Not to say I didn't learn anything, I definitely did. However, I would need a chart to keep names straight, dates straight, and locations/breweries straight....and there was no chart. This felt like an author who knows a lot of stuff and people but got caught up in putting it all on the page and decided that she was going to talk about her friends and experiences and then go on a tangent of interesting things that don't all connect. It attempts to be a feminist book and hold up women in brewery but in my opinion got lost in the insulting side of feminism and was confusing in most chapters. This book would make a good history of the Pink Boots Society, but as an overall book for the average woman interested in reading about women in brewhouse history, this is not one I would recommend.

[Viral · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.

A solid book about the story of women in beer. Got a bit repetitive near the end, and personally just felt the author had a very white bougie liberal read of what feminism and women's liberation in the context of brewing means. It lacked a structural analysis of the situation, focused very heavily on individual interactions and grievances. Wish it was more than it is.

[Jena Best · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sad I didn't enjoy this more.
There were so many interesting things here (lots of cool history, lots of neat things about craft beer) but it felt really disorganized.
When I was reading, I was really interested, but it was also hard to pick back up once I put it down.

[Eric Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts out rocky, in dire need of a couple revisions and some editing, but it eventually smooths out. The topic is absolutely fascinating and the information is very important, but the writing sometimes gets in the way. When talking about modern times, she has the habit of introducing numerous superfluous characters, perhaps a bar manager or saleswoman who is only in the book for several paragraphs until another character is introduced. It sometimes feels as if she is trying to cover every important woman in the business, but with such shallow coverage of the women it becomes an overload. The book really shines when she takes the time to have an in-depth look at these trailblazers.

The ancient history of the book fares better, and the second half of the past millennium is an especially engaging read. This could be an essential addition to beer history with a bit of reworking. Four stars because the topic is so important and fascinating.

[Honest Mabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

this should have been better

The writing is wildly disjointed and the editing is appalling. This reads like an afternoon in my mind as a person with adhd my thoughts are all over the place but that is NOT how you execute a book.

I was very tired very quickly into the book with how much nonsense the author puts in of her own opinions as well as drawing ridiculous assumptions on the reader.

I don’t even like beer but I did want to know about women in the industry and brewmasters. But we open to a story that shouldn’t have been included. The women played very little role in creating it besides financials and secretarial basically. It’s not what I expected when I opened this book and it certainly shouldn’t have been the opening story. It did not improve from there.

Personally? This book should be pulled, edited by an editor who cares, and then republished. This book could have potential.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

The structure of this book really does it a disservice and I think listening to it rather than reading a hard copy did too.

I would have much preferred a straight timeline as much as possible rather than a chapter about historical women and their place in brewing then a chapter about modern women in brewing. It became too hard to keep things straight and it threw off the narrative.

But each chapter individually was fine largely and I think the ones that weren't weren't because of the writer or writing but because of the lack of information to be had about that aspect of brewing history/records of women in brewing.

Overall, I wanted to really love this, but I was pretty much ready to be done listening about 70% of the way through. If you're interested, definitely pick up a hard copy... But also maybe prepare to think "...I maybe only care about how cool a brewery is and how the beer tastes and not all of this"

[Tye · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a New Age feminists’ best friend. It has occasional facts on historical events where women participated in the beer industry and loaded down with commentary on why men and the patriarchy are the root of why women are having a tough time there. It also seems like a marketing ploy for The Pink Boots Society, which no surprise the Author founded. I bought it because I love beer and history hoping to learn about the amazing things that women have contributed to beer throughout human civilization, and if you can read it with facts in the forefront of your mind and set aside the Author’s bias comments they you may get something out of it. However, forcing myself to finish reading it, in order to give it a fair shake, was a very painful process. 2/5 stars for the facts.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good

I really wanted to love this book. I was really looking forward to reading a definitive history of women's contributions to brewing, that is not this book. when I was in college I was taught that constantly quoting other peoples work didn't make for a good research paper, I think the same goes for scholarly books. Even other sentence was a quote or reference to someone else's work. She wrote a few chapters on Sumerian brewing but Supremes to focus more on the demotion of Sumerian goddesses and gender politics than on beer. This book seems more like it has axe to grind rather than wanting to set the record straight on millennia of female led brewing history. It was a super disappointing and poorly written read.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

The topic could be fascinating, and it is a story that should be told, but this book is not the one to do it.
First off the title is a bit deceiving, it is much more about the CEO's marketing, Craft Beers and recent history than Ancient history. This is made more obvious by chapters with short blurbs on ancient beer that reads like wikipedia article, then jumping to modern history or craft beers, which makes things scattered and difficult to follow.
Names of this woman or that are mentioned, or quips and anecdotes stated, but nothing on what those womens contributions were, or the struggles they overcame.

2 Star for a good idea, and interesting topic, that was not executed well.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically, 3.5 stars. I rounded up.

Lots of really fascinating information, I enjoyed the stories and the history alike. I learned a lot about the beer industry that I hadn’t known.

But.

I don’t understand the organization of the book, it entirely lacks in cohesion. It jumps all over the place from chapter to chapter or even within chapters. In at least one case, someone is mentioned at length in one chapter but not property introduced for another three or four, it’s confusing. With a better flow and throughline, this book could easily have been 4.5 or 5 stars.

[Mr R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book for the topic it covered, it is very easy to get lost in a brewing culture of middle=aged beared white guys. Particularly if you are one. So this brings a different perspective and bit of history that is easily missed. Can't say it is particularly well written or insightful. It is balanced and relatively nuanced, portraying the varied roles; constructive and destructive, women have played in the history of beer. Definately worth a read alongside anything else your read on the history of beer.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a beer drinker of any sorts, although this book did convince me to pick up both mainstream and indie beer with a newfound determination to find at least one beer I genuinely liked, it was a fascinating read. I greatly enjoyed the history chapters of the book focusing on what ancient women were doing with beer and how beer was viewed during those times. The chapters are short which make this for an easy to pick up read and even easier to get pulled into.

[Maria Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compact history of brewing starting back to beyond written history. A wonderful contribution to the library, this is a herstory of challenges, invisibility and rising in the face of adversity. I learned a few things here and was delighted at some of the people interviewed and highlighted in this. Written with the Pink Boots Society who does amazing work internationally, I was so glad to see how empowered the industry has become! ❤️ Cheers!

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me awhile to pick this book up again to finish it but I'm glad I did. There's so much information about women in the beer industry, much of it not known. At least not by me.

I enjoyed knowing the information is readily available and I'm sure I'll refer to the book time and again. I plan to go through the bibliography as well to find other sources of information.

I applaud the brave women who forged the road and opened the doors for others to follow.

[Brigid Douglass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed it and learned a lot.

I do feel like there were too many people mentioned in this book to keep track of, especially women who started breweries or got involved in craft beer in the 80s and 90s but aren’t doing it anymore.

Additionally, the writing style at times was awkward. I had to reread sentences a couple times at various points throughout the book.

That being said, it was worth the read and now I really want to go on a “beercation” to Germany.

[Magdalena Regli · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A fascinating topic that is close to my heart, but the execution of the book lacked the academic rigor I look for in a nonfiction/historical text. As a woman who has a history degree and has spent most of her career in the beer world, I hope a historian tackles this topic someday and executes this story in the way I hoped this book would.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half. A much-needed look at the hidden, untold, and sometimes appropriated stories in the millennia-old history of women brewing beer and other fermented beverages. Nurin goes back to Sumeria and mythology, and comes forward to the resurgence of women in beer and brewing across the world, with a focus on the United States.

[Michelle Kowalczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a chronology of women’s role in brewing, this book was fascinating. However, I felt that the book itself was too long. Rather, the audiobook was too long. The first five hours of listening were enjoyable. The last five seemed to be a bit of a slog to get through. Very interesting information for women and home brewers.

[Cambria Findley-Grubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 for me. I really enjoyed certain aspects of the book, but the structure of jumping back and forth between ancient times, historical brewing, and modern day made it less of a narrative structure than I would have liked. That being said, I did learn a ton and appreciate the work being done to raise awareness of the female brewers and owners who have transformed the craft beer industry.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be an interesting subject to read about, and I was right. It is interesting and I learned from it. However, I feel the book is a bit disjointed and jumps from history to modern times frequently without really relating the two topics. I feel it would be better if written in chronological order.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you did not know you wanted to know about microbreweries. There were to many people in the mix, and beers that I had never heard of before. I am not a big beer person, but I thought I would learn a little history, which I did. Some of the chapters about beer before the 1930's was very interesting. I even enjoyed the chapters about prohibition and the aftermath.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting content, but really designed for if you love beer and less if you're just in it for the feminism. I learned a lot but it took me ages to get through because it was quite dense. But again, really interesting, and really well researched. I switched to the audiobook for the second half (found it on Spotify!) and it was really helpful to finally finish it!

[Groucho42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book about the history of women and beer. The only problem is that it often seems like lists turned into sentences rather than a story. Still, both context and content are a good read.