Archives for July 2018

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Brink Brewing Company proudly took home four medals last week from the 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Dow Scoggins, director of the U.S. Open Beer and Cider Championships, presented these medals to the brewery last week at their tasting room in College Hill. Brink received three gold medals and one silver, earning them second place in the competition’s Top Breweries of 2018.

Professional breweries and award-winning home-brewers from all over the world sent in 6,300 beers representing more than 110 different styles for the 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Brink Brewing placed first in the English Mild Ale, Brown Ale, and Strong Scottish Ale categories for Hold the Reins, Father G’s Bees, and Duncan Clan, respectively. Additionally, the brewery placed second for their Moozie in the Cream Stout Category.

Hold the Reins is an English Mild, a classic “Session Ale” while still full flavored. Moderate sweetness, a bit nutty with a touch of caramel. Chocolate and roast notes give way to a dry finish. Hold the Reins also recently won Gold at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival®.

Named after the brewery’s College Hill neighbor, Father George, of Saint Clare Parish who also happens to be a beekeeper; Father G’s Bees features 40 pounds of honey from his harvest. The combination of Maris Otter, chocolate, and caramel malts provide a richness while the honey gives a touch of boozy sweetness to this delectable Brown Ale. Beer Styles

Duncan Clan is a Scottish Ale featuring rich, malty flavors of caramel and toffee balanced by roastiness and a subtle rye spiciness. This true-to-style brew is all about featuring the malt, leaving a very subtle hop presence.

Moozie is a rich Milk Stout. Like a chocolate milkshake without the straw, it features chocolate and coffee notes and is almost chewy thanks to the addition of lactose and flaked oats. This beer also boasts a bronze medal from the 2018 World Beer Cup®, a bronze from the 2017 Denver International Beer Competition and a silver medal from the 2017 U.S. Open Beer Championship after only being open for four months (one of the youngest breweries to place that year).

“Any win at this competition is a great achievement for our team, let alone four medals,” says Co-Founder Founder John McGarry. “We take great pride in our ability to brew high-quality beers across a variety of styles and these U.S. Open medals really validates that. Our Co-Founder and Head Brewer Kelly and his team have shown that dedication to their craft can have results, even though we’ve only been a business for a short time.”

ABOUT BRINK BREWING
Brink Brewing Co is neighborhood Craft Brewery in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati. Providing quality beers in a welcoming, comfortable taproom. In their one year of operation, they have accumulated an impressive amount of awards including a Gold at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival®, a Bronze at the 2018 World Beer Cup®, seven U.S. Open Beer Competition medals, and two Denver International Beer Competition awards. For more information visit brinkbrewing.com.

Growing up a Portland native I have always known I wanted to be in the craft brewing industry. As a woman I dream about a day where the craft brewing industry sees as many female brewery owners as males. My long-term vision is to start a brewery of my own with a female brew master. With this on my mind, I was feeling inspired lately by the hard working women I am around and decided to pick their brains. I was lucky enough to conduct some interviews with some powerful women involved and leading the way in the craft brewing industry.

The most challenging part of being a woman in beer is the “boys club” mentality that we face everyday. “You kind of have to prove yourself,” as Molly Tyler, former Administrative Assistant at Base Camp Brewing Co. puts it. Like most admins, Molly was the glue of Base Camp and did all the grunt work to keep the company going. Not only is it a boy’s club in the brewing industry, but also, female brewers are combatted everyday with struggles of how they function in a brewery. Being a brewer is a very manual job and can be even harder for women.

The industry has seen a shift in the last five years. What used to be a male dominated industry has transitioned and now women fill about fifty percent of positions. Karolyn Simon, Associate Brand Manager for Kona Brewing Company, has been in the industry for 7 years. She has felt the movement. “I don’t think the industry is dominated by males as much anymore… maybe on the brewing and packaging side, but definitely not in the other parts of the business. I have met so many female brewery reps, marketing pros, QA techs, and beyond lately! That shows where we’re going. When society changes I think the industry changes too.”

Karmen Olson, Director of Innovation at Craft Brew Alliance, sums it up very well. “In the last five years there has been a lot of progress. In five years from now, I see the movement continuing. In ten years from now we should expect gender equality. That can’t happen without the influence of men in the industry as well.” We have seen this shift and now it’s time to continue on that momentum and make sure that gender equality seeps into every aspect and role of the craft brewing industry. Whether you’re rinsing kegs, or designing packaging, the main focus is that we all are doing what we love in a community that we love.

For more information on how to get involved in the craft brewing community for women in your city check out the Pink Boots Society.

Story by Austin Foster – BeerInfo’s Portland Craft Beer Writer