A pleasant babble of conversation, along with a tsunami of citrus aroma, was the first thing I noticed when I climbed the stairs of Northern Monk Brewing Co’.s Refectory in Leeds. The second was the friendly, excited atmosphere—this was a room full of friends, all zesting, grating, and juicing various oranges and lemons together.
Every year, women from all over the industry—and from all over the world—take part in the International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day, which coincides with International Women’s Day. Across the U.K., several collaborative brews take place at different breweries, and the beers are anticipated by everyone who takes part. This year, however, my friend Katie at Northern Monk came up with the idea of brewing a beer in advance to be drunk across those brew days—just to really make sure no one goes thirsty.
And so, we had brewers, brewery owners, marketers, taproom managers, bartenders, writers, artists, and numerous others all pitching in and lending a hand—chopping, peeling, mashing in and mashing out, pitching yeast, keeping the taps pouring, and enjoying each others’ company while brewing a citrus Kveik IPA.
Some might say 30+ people at a collaboration brew day is a case of too many cooks. I’d say that, in this context, there’s no such thing.
Words + PhotoLily Waite