Beer Bettys educates women on beer
Anything boys can do girls can do better, including drinking beer.
A new ladies-only beer club called the Beer Bettys is ensuring that the women of Fort Collins are just as knowledgeable as men when it comes to beer.
Bar manager for The Mayor of Old Town Michelle Peth teaches the class that covers everything from how to drink beer to how to make it.
The beer club, free and open to the public, started around two months ago and meets every Tuesday night at The Mayor of Old Town, 632 S. Mason St. Each class, composed of around 20 women, offers a flight of beers at a reduced price that relates to topic such as the history of stouts.
Peth stresses that the class is not about drinking beer so much as it is educating women about beer, or as she calls it “nerd out.”
“I’m teaching understanding and respect of beer,” she said. “It has built our community up with all of our breweries, so it really does deserve that.”
Historically, Peth said women are more hesitant to try craft beers as they prefer to drink wine. While the stereotype is less common in Fort Collins where many women can hold their own with men at the bars, Peth said Beer Bettys is intended for anyone interested in learning about beer.
Cathy Jones, co-owner of Pateros Creek Brewing with her husband and brewer Steve Jones, is a member of the Beer Bettys club and said even though she already knows a lot about beer she is always excited to learn more.
A founding member, Jones said while beer was previously considered a man’s drink the club helps break that mold.
“I think Fort Collins is a bit of exception to the rule,” Jones said. We are lucky to have an incredibly female supportive and driven (beer) industry city.”
The Beer Bettys are currently learning how to brew beer and Jones has volunteered to let the club come over to Pateros Creek for a tandem brew.
The ladies-only beer club has spawned a new men’s only beer club called the Gary Brewsey Men’s Beer Club, which Peth also teaches.
Peth learned about beer through seven years behind the bar of some of the country’s more upscale beer bars. At The Blind Pig, a famed beer bar in Champaign, Ill. Peth read up on Draft Magazine, Beer Advocate and the acclaimed beer writer Michael Jackson.
When Peth moved to Colorado she started working at Café Vino before going into the retail side of beer sales. When Kevin Bolin, co-owner of The Mayor, offered her the opportunity to manage the beer bar with 100 taps she jumped on it.
Since then The Mayor has been named one of the best 100 beer bars in the country by Draft Magazine.
For more information see Friday’s Coloradoan.
All About Beer with Bill & Sheila
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