A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and Ceos

nDismiss the stereotype of the bearded brewer. n It's women, not men, who've brewed beer throughout most of human history. Their role as family and village brewer lasted for hundreds of thousands of years--through the earliest days of Mesopotamian civilization, the reign of Cleopatra, the witch trials of early modern Europe, and the settling of colonial America. A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse celebrates the contributions and influence of female brewers and explores the forces that have erased them from the brewing world. n n It's a history that's simultaneously inspiring and demeaning. Wherever and whenever the cottage brewing industry has grown profitable, politics, religion, and capitalism have grown greedy. On a macro scale, men have repeatedly seized control and forced women out of the business. Other times, women have simply lost the minimal independence, respect, and economic power brewing brought them. n n But there are more breweries now than at any time in American history and today women serve as founder, CEO, or head brewer at more than one thousand of them. n nAs women continue to work hard for equal treatment and recognition in the industry, author Tara Nurin shows readers that women have been--and are once again becoming--relevant in the brewing world.n