Bright and citrusy — a classic, familiar American pale ale. But with a fresh, tropical touch.
Grab a swig. This one’s for the girls.
International Women’s Day is fast-approaching next month, this year fashioned around the theme to “Inspire Inclusion.” And a group of women from across the Chicago area are doing just that — through beer.
Craft beer organizations hailing from Crystal Lake to Munster, Indiana, have come together to create something special for the global celebration: a craft brew made and inspired by women. Vibes Since 1920 is what they’re calling it, set to hit menus and shelves by March 8. More than 100 women representing dozens of breweries, bottle shops and taprooms have signed onto the effort.
And Naperville’s Solemn Oath Brewery is leading the charge.
“These are some really rad women getting together as a group,” said Charolette Converse, Solemn Oath’s hospitality and events manager, “who are saying look what we’re able to accomplish when we’re supporting each other.”
The sentiment was palpable at Solemn Oath Tuesday as the brewery commenced the Vibes Since 1920 venture with an hours-long, open invitation brew day for the limited-edition ale. Some 80 women turned out through the day to lend a hand in bringing the unique batch to fruition.
“Moments like this make you fall in love with beer all over again,” Converse said.
Though first and foremost collaborative, Vibes Since 1920 was borne of an idea that Converse had been toying with for a while, a nod to the female relationships she’s built since entering the Chicago beer scene.
When she started out as a part-time bartender in Gurnee some eight and half years ago, she expected a mostly male-dominated environment. She didn’t mind, just happy to work with craft beer, something she’s always loved. But over the years, as she moved from brewery to brewery and dove more into the industry, she found an unexpected network of women in beer in and around the Chicago area who naturally became her support system.
“I mean, (they’re) everything now,” she said. “Some of my closest friends are women that I met through beer. … It’s like having a group of cheerleaders having your back for any moment, and it’s awesome because it’s driving you.
“You know that all right, cool — I can do this. I am confident enough to do this (because) even if I don’t know what I’m doing, there are five people that I can call, and they’re going to help me through this. (I’m) so thankful for it.”
As her own network grew, Converse started paying those connections forward. She began organizing small-scale events for the women on staff at the different breweries she worked at. Momentum kept building until Solemn Oath, where Converse has been for the past year and half, gave her the go ahead to pursue something bigger — an actual brew — for International Women’s Day.
That was three months ago. Her idea caught on quick, circulated through word of mouth and social media, Converse said. Female brewers, but also bartenders, brewery owners, even beer podcasters wanted in. The “whole gamut” of women in Chicago’s beer scene, Converse said.
They amassed into what Converse affectionately calls “an army of really great, talented people” and got to imagining what they wanted for their International Women’s Day drink, starting with flavor profile.
A month ago, about half of the group gathered at Solemn Oath’s Chicago location to sample different hops and ultimately vote on the final blend. They decided on an American pale ale that was easy to drink and widely appealing but infused with a few modern notes to pay homage to the forward-thinking it took to make.
Then came the name. For inspiration, Converse said she just kept coming back “to the idea that Chicago has this history of women who have rallied together to do cool stuff.” Take Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, establishing Hull House, the nation’s first settlement house on Chicago’s Near West Side in 1889. Or journalist Ida B. Wells’ Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago, the first Black women’s club in the U.S. focused specifically on suffrage.
“I wanted to tie all of that together … and it just kind of went from there,” Converse said.
Tuesday put last month’s recommendations into practice, but the day went beyond just brewing. With beers in hand, music blaring and name tags on, it was as much a networking opportunity as it was the next step in seeing Vibes Since 1920 through.
“It’s not even about the beer itself,” said attendee Emily Slayton, co-founder of Skeleton Key Brewery in Woodridge. “It’s about this opportunity to increase the visibility of women in beer, and let people know just how much women do, whether it’s behind the scenes, front of house, whatever.”
Slayton said she especially hopes events like Tuesday’s and ideas like Converse’s demonstrate “to young women who are looking to get into this industry that this is a viable career path and that this is something they can do.”
At 26, Evynn Davis welcomed “the culture that we’re building here.”
Davis is the general manager of Miskatonic Brewing in Darien. She also oversees the social media for Miskatonic’s newly-opened Naperville location. She got into the beer industry a few years ago, really as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started as a biologist … then COVID happened,” she said. “A brewery opened up the street from my house, and I started bartending.”
She was hooked. Still, “being in such a male-dominated industry, you sometimes feel kind of alone,” Davis said. But moments like this week’s brew day at Solemn Oath are a testament to the industry shifting, she says.
“It’s kind of fun seeing the rhetoric and the industry change where it’s more welcoming,” she said. “Just showing that women brew beer, women like beer. … We’re writing the recipes, we’re picking out the hops, we’re doing the work. … Women do more than serve the beer.”
Tess Kenny , 2024-02-15 21:30:43
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