Ladies of lager gravitate to beer careers

Onetime registered nurse and Allen Park home brewer Annette May is to the world of beer what a sommelier is to fine wine.

May, 56, is a certified Cicerone. The first woman to pass the U.S.-based certification program in 2008, she has exacting knowledge of how to identify, store, serve, educate and opine about beer.

So when May hears from women that they don't like beer, the beer department manager at Dearborn's Merchant's Fine Wine tells them to try something other than the mass-produced, heavily advertised stuff.

At the store, she gracefully interrogates the curious about their tastes — how fond are they of coffee? Of chocolate? What kind of wines or fruits do they enjoy? And she usually persuades them to try something from the exploding array of craft beers — often made in small breweries in Michigan and around the country.

"Every flavor you can think of, somebody's made a beer out of it," May says. When customers take her advice, what May hears back is: "I didn't know beer could taste like this."

May and her expanding roster of female customers typify how women are brewing up a trend in the yeasty, hoppy, artisanal kettles of the exploding craft beer industry.

An increasing number of women are making and drinking craft beer, and a good long pour of it is made in Michigan. The state was ranked fifth nationally in craft breweries in 2013, according to the Colorado-based national Brewers Association. Just from 2013 to 2014, the number of Michigan craft breweries jumped from 131 to 158.

Across the U.S., 20 percent of craft breweries were founded or cofounded by a woman, and about 17 percent have a female CEO, according to data analyzed by Stanford University researchers, says Bart Watson, the Brewers Association's chief economist.

Many craft breweries grow out of husband-wife collaborations, which start at home, said Watson. It reflects, in part, the experience of Rachel Kanaan, who cofounded Unity Vibrations craft brewery in Ypsilanti with her husband, Tarek.

Kanaan, 43, got into the beer business because of tea. While living in California, she brewed and sold Kombucha tea, which is fermented from tea leaves, sugar, yeast and beneficial bacteria.

Now, back in her husband's home state, the couple's company sells Kombucha tea beverages, but also uses the tea as a base for eight varieties of Unity Vibrations beer.

Unity Vibrations beer and other products, soon to include a vinegar, are marketed in 13 states.

"We became a microbrewery by chance," says Kanaan. To make it prosper, she has benefited from the advice and experience of other women brewers.

A taste worth pursuing

Angela Williams is proud to hold the title of cellarman at Griffin Claw Brewing Co. in Birmingham. She practiced union-side labor law before she followed her taste buds into beer brewing, and experimented with her own home-brewing.

Her epiphany moment came when she paired a Russian Imperial stout with a bite of a fudge brownie.

"I didn't know you could put these things together," says Williams, 45. "I was so used to a light American lager that didn't stand out with foods. I began to realize that craft beer is so much more complex than I ever imagined."

That taste whetted her appetite for learning about brewing on a grander, life-changing scale. She volunteered to work in an Ypsilanti brewery, now the ABC Microbrewery. That gave her a sense of the physicality of making beer. She cleaned floors and kettles for free, while taking beer education seminars. After stints at small breweries, Williams landed at Griffin Claw.

"The first education seminars I went to were mostly men. You go to events now and women are a much greater percentage," says Williams. "I think women appreciate flavors more and the spectrum of craft beers offers a lot in terms of flavor."

Pauline Knighton does marketing for Bellaire-based Short's Brewing. Her job title is "beer liberator" and her presence and pitch at beer tastings is upending stereotypes about who's drinking and knowledgeable about beer. In a culture bombarded by commercials with women as leer-inducing ornamentation, Knighton has to calmly assert herself as knowledgeable and professional

"I'm very young, and I am blond and I am a female. And I have some interesting experiences with that sometimes," says Knighton, 24, a University of Michigan graduate who learned much about beer from her father, a craft beer enthusiast.

She and other women are well-accepted in the industry, she says, but when she's working at beer tastings, she hears the disbelief.

"A guy will say 'I hear a blonde is giving out beer.' And I'm standing right there. I'm very educated about beer. And I get asked all the time if I really drink beer," says Knighton.

Young women, ages 21-34, who comprise about 13 percent of the population, drink about 15 percent of the craft beer, said Watson, the economist for the Brewers Association.

"That's a new finding that shows young women are enjoying craft beer far more than previous generations and it's an interesting shift," says Watson. "Craft brewers have been able to attract young women to the beer category."

Contact Patricia Montemurri: 313-223-4538, pmontemurri@freepress.com or on Twitter @pmontemurri.

Beer advice

■Drink beer from a glass, not a bottle: Beer's more bitter from a bottle, says Annette May of Merchant's Fine Wine in Dearborn. Poured into a glass, beer releases an aroma, opens up and interacts with you, the drinker.

■Ice-cold brew isn't always the best: Some brews are better at room temperature.

■You don't necessarily have to buy a six-pack to try a new beer. At many stores you can make your own six-pack with six different beers. "At about $2 a bottle, why not throw a couple of wild cards, " says May.

■Never underestimate the power of fresh beer. Sure, there are terrific imported beers. "But if you can get the same style of beer and it's brewed locally," says May, "Do it."

■There's a world of flavor to try: Among some popular types of beer are IPAs, known for accentuating the flavor of hops and their tangy, more bitter notes. Belgian Lambic beer styles accentuate fruity qualities and may have wine-like characteristics. Dark beers, such as stouts and porters, may have flavors of coffee and chocolate as qualities.