Women in beer are sick of getting invited to festivals and conventions to address sexism and nothing else—I know I am. Amélie Tassin, the founder of Tipple Marketing in Edinburgh, Scotland, didn’t wait for people to understand that women in beer can talk about other subjects—like their professional skills—and decided to create her own events. In 2018, she launched Beers Without Beards, “a group for women and non-binary folks who like good beer and good company,” and the following year, the Women in Beer Festival.
At the WiB fest, you won’t attend a seminar about what it’s like to be a woman in the beer industry, which is a check-box exercise for inclusivity at many beer festivals. Instead, women and non-binary professionals are given the floor to discuss everything from the next industry trends to the importance of yeast management in certain beer styles and company branding.
“We could’ve had male speakers at the WiB fest if female experts on a particular subject were nowhere to be found, but I’ve never had a problem finding one,” Tassin says with a hint of sarcasm, implying that other beer-related events could and should do better.
After two years of COVID-induced absence, the second edition of the WiB fest took place in October 2022 and was open to visitors of all genders. It featured seminars, tastings, and a charity run for Scottish Women’s Aid, a domestic abuse nonprofit. In the spirit of integrity, Tassin reviewed her partnership with two important sponsors after finding out they took part in BrewDog’s 2022 CollabFest event, dropping promotion for them and even changing venues just a week before the event. “Our values and theirs [BrewDog’s] are more than incompatible and we are extremely strict on this,” she shared in a statement.
With the relaunched WiB Festival, Amélie Tassin created a truly inclusive and diverse platform built for everyone—not just cisgender white women—to showcase different talents and voices. A selfish part of me wishes Tassin would’ve stayed here in France to launch WiB, but maybe I’ll book a ticket to Scotland instead; I can’t wait to see what she’ll have in store for us next year.
Words,Anaïs Lecoq