“Oh, yes—a woman!,” must have gone through some staffers’ heads last year when I was the only woman to win a Gold Medal at the National Homebrew Competition. Now, the event photos would look more balanced, both men and women champions, they surely thought. What a relief!
The craft beer industry loves to showcase its women contributors. We see photos everywhere of Meg Gill, the co-founder and president of Golden Road Brewing; and Kim Jordan, co-founder of New Belgium Brewing Company. The program director of the Brewers Association is Julia Hertz; a woman! How can this industry have a sexism problem with all of these celebrated, high-ranking women on display?
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True: There isn’t a shortage of women working in the craft beer industry. While there is a considerable gap in women with high-level roles in craft beer, it is not as egregious as the gaps we see in the tech and finance industries. In 2014, 17 percent of craft breweries had a female CEO and 21 percent had a female in an executive role. During the same year in Silicon Valley, women held just 11 percent of executive positions and a dismal 9 percent of executive officer positions.
The women missing from craft beer are primarily on the consumption side. Women make up only 25 percent of regular (weekly) craft beer drinkers.



