Posted By: Stevie Caldarola
As the president of Ladies of Craft Beer, I get the pleasure of meeting many amazing women who are a part of the craft beer industry. Each woman has great stories and amazing insight into the world of craft beer. This has inspired me to start a “Women in Beer” interview series. Whether brewing, blogging, selling, marketing, or advocating craft beer, women from all over the industry will answer the following ten questions to share with your their thoughts and experiences with craft beer. I hope that these little glimpses into the minds of these great women will inspire you.
If you know or have heard of a woman in the craft beer community that you think deserves to be highlighted in this series, please send me your suggestion(s).
Cheers!
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Karen Walker, Colette Johnson and Krista Homiak are the leaders of the Denver, Colorado based women and beer group called Hopped Up Dames.
Karen, Krista and Colette
1. What was your first beer experience?
Karen: I grew up outside of Akron, OH and I had a fake ID I would use to buy my friends Natural Light or “Nattie Light”. Hence, I did not like beer until I tried a Guinness several years later while studying abroad in Pamplona, Spain. I moved to Colorado after living in Pamplona and I couldn’t believe how good beer could be until I started sampling micro brews!
Colette: Similar to Karens…I grew up in Oklahoma, and until recently they haven’t offered many choices with microbrews. So long story short, I disliked beer until I homebrewed in college with my roommates. That’s when I first tasted a beer that didn’t taste like water! The rest is history!
2. If you brew/homebrew, what or who inspired you to start brewing? What do you do in the industry and what or who inspired you to get into it?
Karen: I do not brew/homebrew. One of the other founders of the “Hopped Up Dames”, Colette, has homebrewed in the past. One day I hope to open a tap room and have our own brew on tap along with other local Colorado brews.
Colette: I haven’t homebrewed since college, but really want to start up again! I just need to find the space in my house!
3. What is your favorite beer to brew and why? What is your favorite beer to drink and why?
Karen: I prefer darker beers, but love to try everything and learn about all types of beer. My favorite time of year for beer is Oktoberfest. I love the Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen. As for microbrews, a good scotch ale like Old Chub from Oskar Blues is on my list. They also have a delicious Hazelnut Brown you can only get from the brewery. I always come prepared with a growler. My current favorite beer is a Black Pale Ale from Strange Brewing in Denver. As you can see it is hard to pick a favorite when I live in a state with over 90 microbreweries!
Colette: I don’t think I could say I have one favorite. There are way too many to choose from. It definitely depends on the season and my mood! Here are a some of my many favorites…Great Divide’s 17th Anniversary Ale, IPAphany India Pale Ale from Strange Brewing, and Left Hand’s Milk Stout.
4. What is/was your favorite beer event to attend, and why?
Karen: Our women’s beer tasting group has begun volunteering at smaller brew fests and these have been my favorite events. We get to help out while sampling brews. Brew fests have grown so much over the years and attendance has gone up substantially. I think that 71% of the GABF for 9/30 has already sold out this year? [Editor's Note: The Great American Beer Festival has already completely sold out.] When there are so many people tasting brews, it is hard to have good conversation with the breweries. I do enjoy a large brew fest all the same. Large brew fests are great events to just hang out with friends and enjoy beer. Smaller brew fests are a great place to learn more about the craft beers I am drinking and to make connections/build friendships with people in the craft beer industry.
Colette: I love going to Snowmass Chili and Brew Fest. The scenery and atmosphere paired along with craft beer and music make this event one of my favorites.
The Hopped Up Dames!
5. Have you taken any tasting and/or brewing courses? What are your thoughts on such courses?
Karen: I haven’t taken any formal courses, but our group did host a beer and cheese pairing. I really enjoyed researching how beer pairs so well with cheese, even better than wine pairs with cheese. Our group is about enjoying and educating ourselves along the way. We don’t pretend to be experts in beer. The fun of the group is learning together and meeting other women who enjoy great beer.
I think formal courses on tasting and brewing will be in our future. Currently we are establishing our group (which is open to the public, no membership required) in the craft beer industry. I think getting out there and talking to people in the industry is just as effective as a tasting course; however, when it comes to brewing, I would need a course b/c that is more complex than just tasting brews. It’s no wonder that many master brewers have a background in chemistry or other sciences.
6. What advice do you have for anyone interested in getting into your aspect of the beer industry?
Karen: We try to be creative with the experiences we set up for ladies who attend our events. Women would lose interest if all we did was go on brewery tours. Also, like I said, we are not experts in beer. We started this group because we loved to try all kinds of beer and wanted to learn more about the industry as well as introduce more women to great beer. So far, we have been effective! As for getting into ‘our aspect’, just get out there a support the micro brew industry by drinking craft beer.
7. What beer would you want to brew/ want to see brewed?
Karen: We tasted a Cocoa Blonde from Dry Dock Brewing. It was refreshing to have a chocolate beer that was not dark, but looked more like a Pilsner. I would like to see more of that. I also love when a brewery experiments with a Firkin keg.
8. What has been your hardest challenge in the industry? What has been your greatest success?
Karen: Our hardest challenge is getting ladies to attend events outside of the Denver area. When we host events in Denver, we have up to 20 women show up. No matter what, we enjoy going beyond those boundaries, but I have to admit it is disappointing when you set up an event at an amazing brewery and only 4 ladies show up! Especially since we work with the breweries to give us free flights of beer or pints to make it a low cost event and we also have a designated driver to carpool us to the event.
Our greatest success has been the word of mouth. Every event has a new face or faces. Quite honestly, it is a great way to meet other women (which is why men have tried to infiltrate our events)! Friendships form out of meeting at one of our events. Friendships begin from a common interest- a love of craft beer. I mean, c’mon, how fantastic is that?!?
9. Tell us your most fun beer story.
Karen: There have been so many fun times in conjunction with beer, it is hard to decide on one that was most fun. My most recent fun time was at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. New Belgium supplied beer for the entire event. I enjoyed sipping brews in a gorgeous valley surrounded by 13-14,000 ft. peaks with waterfalls in the distance and amazing musicians on stage for 4 straight days. Not bad at all!
10. What is your take on the craft beer industry? What is your favorite thing about it? What could stand improvement?
Karen: My take on the craft beer industry is that it is huge and the rate it is growing is incredible! Besides the unending variety in craft beers, I love the fact that many breweries are giving back to the local community. By just drinking beer, you can be supporting a cause or charity. I would love to see more of that as the craft beer industry grows. I would also like to bring that aspect to our beer tasting group and, one day I hope to be inviting y’all to a Hopped Up Dames brew fest!
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