When I arrive at Wiper & True, they're weighing out hops—my favorite part of any brew day. I’m greeted with smiles and an enthusiastic explanation of what hops and herbs are being used in today's brew. A jar of meadowsweet is thrust under my nose, filling my head with strong, sweet aromas.
From concept to creation to distribution, today's beer is solely being made, handled, and marketed by women. Wiper & True has a 50/50 gender split on their team, so this isn’t all that unusual for the Bristol-based brewery. Nevertheless, this brew emphasizes their existing reality, and serves as a bit of positive news alongside the current, ongoing conversation around sexism in the industry.
The conversation itself is good, though it can certainly lead to a lot of negative, overwhelming chatter. And that can detract from some great stuff—women like these in the industry going to work every day and doing an amazing job, for instance.