"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee is brought to you by Miller Brewing Company, calling Milwaukee home since 1855. For the entire month of March, we're serving up fun articles on bars, clubs and beverages – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews, the results of our Best of Bars poll and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
From 6,000 B.C. when women brewed "magical" elixirs at the behest of Ninkasi, goddess of brewing to the modern day, women have played an integral role in the the production of beer, both nationally and abroad.
In this two-part episode, we chat with Beermaster Kim Bell and Beverage Director Ileana Rivera of Lowlands Group about brewing history and the major role females have played. We discuss the stories behind women-led breweries, the messaging that put Trappist Monks at the fore of brewing in Belgium and the challenges women have faced in the industry. We'll also share our perspectives on the current (and ever changing) relationship between modern women and beer.
Listen in!
Dig deeper
For more on women in brewing and furthering your education about beer, check out these articles and web sites.
- New York Times: "Craft Beer Looks Beyond ‘Young White Dudes With Beards’"
- The Atlantic: "Women and Beer: A 4,500-Year history is coming full circle"
- Beervana: "Sexism in beer"
- VinePair: "In England, brewing beer was women's work until it became big business"
- CraftBeer.com: "The evolving role of women's contributions to brewing beer"
- Pink Boots Society: Read about (and apply for) cool beer scholarships for women
- Taste & Learn: Sign up for a Lowlands BierKlasse
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Got an idea for a topic we should consider for FoodCrush? Want to offer feedback on our latest episode? Email me at lori@staff.onmilwaukee.com. You can also give @FoodCrushMKE a follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
