I’ve been following the Women in Beer movement for a while and wholeheartedly support this industry is not gender biased. As a woman myself, and a beer lover, I am thrilled Sean let me in at the helm as we co-created a beer and concept together for IWD24. My earliest memories of strong women has got to be Greek and Roman mythology – we’re talking 5 years old, crossed legged and flicking through my mother’s bookshelves. Immediately drawn to the Gorgons, Medusa, Sirens, Bastet, Persiphone, Lilith and Boudica. I was glued to the screen with 60s/70s/80s TV shows – Catwoman, Wonderwoman, Spiderwoman, Xena, Storm, Rogue, She-ra, Cat-ra, Cheetara – they all had a part to play in who I’ll become. One historical figure came to my attention (randomly) Amelia Earhart – learning of her endeavours from the back of a cereal box (of all things) – do they still teach history on those things? Spunky, strong women have been at the core of how I have set myself today as an individual.

We set about chatting on what would be a suitable fit. I’m a little out there and need reigning in – I’m not going to lie, but Sean is the type of person who lets your creativity soar. We wanted a sessionable easy drinking beer which would appeal to our customer base. Settling on a Golden Ale, it was then down to sourcing ingredients and thinking about how we would like the beer to taste.

I’ve always been drawn to Cornwall, even wrote a short story about the Pendour Cove Siren, an idea I pitched for IWD24, but as we got to chatting more about this brew, I couldn’t stop thinking about Boudica and how one woman grew an army and took on the strongest military powerhouse of its time. Invoking the Goddess Andraste before her battle in AD60, the two literally clicked for me. I had a vision in my mind of Andraste’s Hare I wanted our illustrator to work his magic on, and he did – brilliantly, as always.

Brew Day

Head Brewer for day was exciting and scary at the same time, mainly exciting. An early start ensued and we got to pressing buttons, moving heavy sacks and measuring ingredients. Once they were in place, the kettle was on and the music started – music actually started with our playlist (see below). I knew the brewery was on the chilly side from my regular visits – it’s colder than cold – and yes, my old faithful mini heater came along for the ride too. The grain was in the hopper and I was keeping an eye on the hot liquor tank to get the right mash consistency. With the aid of a spreadsheet the number crunching was taken care of, I just had to make sure I kept a tally of when things stopped, started and when to add hops and yeast. Whilst it may be true there is a bit of waiting around in between stages – there is always something else to be done… cask washing, tank prep, cleaning, and more cleaning – did I mention there was cleaning! I didn’t sit down once and my back is telling me all about it. Did I enjoy my first day as Head Brewer? YES, and YES again. Would I do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT.

PLAYLIST

Harking back to our long distance commutes, I would listen to the 9-hour playlist I put together for the wake of my cat, Eric (I am that individual who holds wakes for their cats). The Andraste’s Hare playlist features some of my favourite female artists and we hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we did on brew day (which saw a lot of toe tapping and a little bopping in the process). Listen Here: Andraste’s Hare Playlist

Although Ruth has taken the lead with this blog post, I wanted to say something about the reasons it was important for me to support International Women’s Day. One of my earliest memories is going with my mum to the first Ipswich Women’s Refuge, which she was involved in setting up in 1976. I was far too young at that time to understand the significance, but I learnt from my mum’s activism as I grew older.

I also have to pay tribute to Ruth Goldsmith for the influence she has had on my beer journey – introducing me to Untappd, beer Twitter, ‘craft beer’, and my first proper brew day experience with ‘the nicest man in beer’.

Finally, I have to thank Ruth Shedwick, first for the encouragement she has given me to follow my dreams in setting up Bríd’s Cross and then for the work she does on graphic design, and helping on market days.