Beer Art: Women of Craft Beer

Digital Art by Amy Martin, on display at the Oliver Art Center’s exhiBEERtion II during Frankfort Beer Week.

Artist Statement:

Women of Craft Beer – Amy Martin

Did you know that the history of beer began with women, and females have played a significant role in the brewing scene ever since? In fact, The Oxford Companion to Beer states that “for most of recorded human history, women have been responsible for supplying the world’s beer.” This piece is meant to highlight just a few ways women have impacted the beer scene both historically and today.

The upper left image represents Sumerian goddess Ninkasi, the goddess who watched over all brewing activities. The very first documented beer recipe is from a tablet dating back to 1800 BC called Hymn to Ninkasi.

The upper right image is meant to represent the role that religious women have played in the world of beer. One nun, St. Hildegard of Bingen, was the first person in history to publicly recommend using hops for brewing, because of their healing and preserving qualities. Throughout history, much beer has been brewed in Abbeys by nuns. To this day, Sister Doris Engelhard, Europe’s last brewmaster nun, is brewing at Mallersdorf Abbey. She has been quoted saying that brewing is her way of serving God.

The lower left image represents The Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit with international membership created to assist, inspire and encourage women beer industry professionals to advance their careers through education. Their webpage says, “We are the female movers and shakers in the beer industry.”

The lower right image is meant to represent the need for the craft beer industry to to invest in diversity and inclusion. This includes women and nongender identifying individuals, and people of all different races and backgrounds. The Brewers Association acknowledged this need by establishing its Diversity Committee in 2017. Recently, this issue has come even more to the forefront with the #IAmCraftBeer movement – a hashtag introduced in response to a racist email sent to Chicago beer writer Chalonda White.