When they’re not encouraging you to “Mosher It” (fluffy beer foam only plz) or helping put on a Monster Jam-themed Pilsner festival, Shawna Cormier and Jess Keller Poole of the Seattle Beer School are opening doors and windows and just about any other damn entry point to make the beer world more accessible.
Both industry veterans, Cormier and Keller Poole have seen firsthand the difficulties underrepresented people face in beer. Not content with accepting the status quo, they started Seattle Beer School to make beer education fun, accessible, and inclusive. “Education is power,” says Cormier. “We’ve come across some major gatekeepers and jerks along the way and we did not want anyone else to experience that.”
This last year has served as valuable time to focus on the growth of their platform, but not without approaching internal growth first. “Unfortunately a lot of DEI work is centered around white people learning more, not about giving up power and redistributing resources … It’s about making white people feel better,” says Keller Poole. With that in mind, the two have focused on creating space structurally for underrepresented people in beer, and Seattle Beer School has reevaluated its partners, curriculum, and organizational structure.
Like most things, SBS’ programming has gone predominantly online since the pandemic started, and these virtual experiences have included everything from malt sensory classes to happy hours for underrepresented people in beer. At the outset virtual-anything was never front of mind for the two, but Cormier has been impressed with the results. “I never ever thought we’d do that before the pandemic. People are into buying a beer package, chilling at home with their partner or friend, and tuning in virtually.” These events have included people from all walks of life who previously may not have felt comfortable in white-male-dominated spaces. Notably, those happy hour events have created a community that now has strength in shared experience.
“They [happy hours] are a safe space and a space to seek advice, and helped me understand how others felt in spaces that were not necessarily created for them and how they’ve navigated that,” says Cormier. This perspective caused both Keller Poole and Cormier to ensure that these stories remain centered when developing the SBS curriculum. For these events, they’ve also partnered with leaders in the beer industry such as Beer Kulture, a non-profit focused on reaching Black and BIPOC communities through beer.
As for what’s next, outside of joking about “SBS on Ice!” and seriously considering producing a traveling RV beer-related TV show, Cormier and Keller Poole have their sights set on building more avenues for people to learn about beer. Their aim is to work with more like-minded beer educators to bring communities together, reach beyond beer to work with outside groups, and continue to listen. “The Seattle Beer School grows through what our community is benefitting from,” says Keller Poole.
Words,Dave Riddile