All ‘Ale the Ladies! SBW11 Events for Women

May 23rd, 2011 · No Comments · Deverie Hart, Events

This year’s Seattle Beer Week is chock full of brewer’s dinners, tasting events, celebrity brewer appearances, and more. And as celebrations unfurl all over Western Washington, two events stand out for the beer-loving women of Seattle.

Classic Beers for Classy Ladies

The first female-centric beer event of Seattle Beer Week was held just this last weekend. At The Leary Traveler in Ballard on Saturday, funds were raised for an important local non-profit, and they were raised in a delicious way. The aptly-named “Classic Beers for Classy Ladies” event from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. featured an excellent selection of classic European brewing styles from Merchant Du Vin Importers, pickled food items from locally owned TabbyCat Pickling Co., and the culinary talents of The Leary Traveler.

The Leary Traveler partnered with “ChickChat”,  a local women’s networking group to provide a forum for the ladies to discuss topics and issues pertaining uniquely to them. And to give the event a philanthropic twist, they also partnered with Washington Women In Need, a local non-profit raising money to provide grants to low income women for education and health care.

Tickets were $25.00 per person, and the event included raffle prizes to help raise money for Washington Women In Need.

Ladies of Craft Beer Event

This “Ladies of Craft Beer” event, sponsored by Full Throttle Bottles and Pike Brewing, will take place on Wednesday, May 25th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at The Stables (980 South Nebraska Street, Seattle, WA 98108), which is attached to Full Throttle Bottles (5909 Airport Way S) in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood.

Northwest contributor for Ladies of Craft Beer, Theresa Carpine, and local beer-geek Deverie Hart joined forces to plan an event that would bring Seattle-area women who love craft beer together for an informal evening of conversation, networking, and imbibing during Seattle Beer Week. Admission is free and gentlemen are also invited to attend.

“We want to create a comfortable environment where women who enjoy craft beer can meet one another, and to provide a place where women who are curious about beer can try something new and ask questions,” Theresa said. “It should be a great time for out of town visitors and members of the beer industry to mingle with the beer-loving ladies of the Northwest as well.”

Ladies of Craft Beer is a group consisting of women from around the United States who are interested in the beer community, learning about beer, teaching others about beer, and rallying together to enjoy beer. According to the Ladies of Craft Beer founder, Stevie Caldarola, “these events are not only a place to learn about and taste delicious craft beer but a social venue as well as a place to spread the word about the unjustifiably unknown world of Craft Beer.”

Full Throttle Bottles is a local specialty beer, wine, and cider shop that is owned by Erika Cowan and staffed in part by beer-loving female employees.  Erika was excited to be involved with this and help sponsor the event. Erika moved to Seattle in 1991 and, with a background in management and retail, opened the specialty beer and wine shop in 2008. The name Full Throttle Bottles pays tribute to the store’s industrial neighborhood, as well as Erika’s personal appreciation for autocross cars. “Georgetown is full of planes, trains, semis, and motorcycles. Very engine-oriented, no holds barred, go at full speed!” Erika explained, much like her own ‘go get ‘em’ personality.

As the owner of a shop in a male-dominated industry, Erika was immediately interested in supporting an event to recognize women in the beer industry. “I think this will be a great opportunity for people to talk, and meet other ladies who work hard in this industry. Women have more refined palates usually, so it’s no wonder that we have some great brewers out there!” Erika said.

Erika used her beer connections to recruit another great lady in the Seattle beer scene for the event. Laura Stoudt (of the Stoudt’s Brewing family) arrived on the West Coast about six years ago and worked as a server and bartender at several Seattle-area bars before starting in sales at Elysian Brewing in 2008. She joined Pike Brewing as a Sales Representative in early 2011.

“I was attracted to Pike because it’s family-owned,” Laura said, noting similarities between the Seattle brewery and her family’s business in Pennsylvania. “It’s small but growing, and they’re great people,” she said, referring to owners Charles and Rose Ann Finkel and the whole team at Pike.

When Erika asked if Pike Brewing would take part in the Ladies of Craft Beer event, Laura realized that there had never really been anything about women in beer during Seattle Beer Week. “Women were the first brewers and we want to celebrate that,” Laura said. “It was a great idea.”

The tasting list for the event was recently finalized, and Laura thinks that this setting might be a good time to showcase Pike’s summer seasonal, Dry Wit, as well as their year-round Belgian-style ales, Tandem Double Ale and Monk’s Uncle Tripel Ale, as well as a couple of other brews.

During the event, which is 21+ up only, Laura will be on hand to answer questions about Pike Brewing and provide sample tastes of their craft beers. Ladies of Craft Beer will provide complimentary food for light snacking, and door prizes of craft beer swag will be distributed through a free raffle. To RSVP, email locb.reservation@gmail.com

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