Florida Homebrew Clubs Empower Women Brewers

by Popy Fouch

From the editor: In 2014, the American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee formed the Diversity Subcomittee with the purpose of exploring ways to bring homebrewing to a wider audience. Florida-based homebrewer, Florencia “Popy” Fouch, volunteered after hearing about the subcommittee’s formation during the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference.

Popy has gone above and beyond to indoctrinate more women brewers in her community. Below she shares her model to encourage greater female participation in the homebrewing hobby.

A few years ago, Jennifer Sedillo, first lady of Special Hoperations homebrew club, made an interesting observation among her homebrew club’s members. Many of the wives wanted to learn how to brew, but didn’t want their husbands to teach them, as they can get a little irritated during the brewing process. Sedillo came up with a plan: a “Women Only” brew day. The idea was to pair seasoned female brewers with those who had little to no homebrewing experience. This event was open to all homebrew clubs around the Tampa Bay area, and the result was a big hit!

In 2013, thirty-five female homebrewers (18 experienced, 17 novice) gathered at Southern Brewing & Winemaking in Tampa to kick off the inaugural event. Attendees set up equipment around 8am, and by 9am Sedillo called out “burners on!” marking the start of the brew session.

Some ladies were working on small extract batches, others large-volume all-grain batches and everything in between. Many of the local female professional brewers were in attendance to cheer on the homebrewers and offer advice, as well as a few husbands and male-friends who were around to support the event and lend a helping hand if needed. Towards the end of the brewday, a raffle of donated items from local breweries was held with all the proceeds donated to the Pink Boots scholarship followed by a final toast to honor the success of the event.

The women homebrewers of the Tampa Bay area now plan to gather together once a year to brew, laugh, imbibe, share and just have good time. It has served as a great way to network and empower female homebrewers, while letting classic club rivalries take a back seat.