Lucy Gellman Photos
In the dimly lit but buzzing back room of Kelly’s Gastropub, Tiffany Ulrich was midway through a pint of Front Porch IPA, describing to a handful of listeners how it was made. Noelle Shipley went with the Two Roads Hefewiesen. Sunny Khaira was heading for the same brewery’s Honeyspot Road. Alison Graham stuck with Sam Adams, deep in a conversation with two new friends as she sipped and sniffed her drink to show how an IPA smelled different from say, a pilsner.
Fresh on the heels of New Haven Craft Beer Week, Thursday evening marked the third annual beer tasting fundraiser for the Junior League of Greater New Haven, focused this year especially on “Connecticut women in beer.” The funds raised — around $350 in all — will go to the work that the Junior League does every Wednesday with residents of the McConaughy Terrace Apartments, where the group sponsors a community room for children.
“The Junior League of Greater New Haven is just an amazing organization of some of the most wonderful, talented and intelligent women that I’ve had the fortune to work with,” said Shipley, the organization’s current president. She added that this year, she and colleagues have really tried to tease out the women in beer angle, because they find such resonance in it.
“One of the neat things about tonight that we haven’t focused on as much [in years past] but that’s really part of our mission is that we’re working with breweries that have strong female leaders or brewers involved with them. We really think it is awesome … we really did want to go about this thinking about women in brewing,” she said.
That vision came alive Thursday night. Filing in between 7 and 9 p.m., around 40 attendees milled about, catching up with each other, making new friends, and learning a little more about local breweries with each swig. They had the best of teachers — breweries, bartenders, and brewery reps from the region.
“This event is really cool because it celebrates women in the work industry,” said Graham (pictured above), a representative for Boston Beer. “I feel very privileged to work at Boston Beer because about 50 percent of our sales force is women — it’s really cool to see that New Haven supports women, and would have an event to really showcase women.”
At the bar behind her, Junior League director of engagement — and planner of the evening — Rebecca Melnick was gearing up for a glass of Front Porch IPA.
“We are just trying to make an impact — trying to educate women on how to be powerful volunteers and leaders,” she said.
Ulrich, a bartender and brewer for Front Porch who runs an annual celebration of women in beer, put another voice to it. Speaking openly about a double standard that has lasted the test of time in the beer industry, she said she was thrilled to be at the event.
“It’s every woman’s dream to open a brewery, and they add another voice to the industry. But I meet men who give me issues all the time. That’s why I like events like this.”
“Women in beer are just going to explode,” she added.
