A Woman’s Brew

It’s time for another dive into the Question Jar! (or should we say, the Tell-All Tankard?) In this episode, Tori and Jo catch up after a hectic week, cracking open a couple of colourful beers—including one that turns your tongue blue—and sharing what’s been going on in their lives. From Aussie Schwarzbiers to imperial gelato sours, there’s plenty of tasting chat and spontaneous tangents sparked b...

This week we are chatting to Mirella Amato – the most qualified beer judge in Canada!  Mirella not only has a wealth of knowledge from her experience in the beer industry and a multitude of qualifications, she has also literally written the book on it!   We chat to Mirella about her journey in beer so far and her work with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in creating their new beer qua...

This week we catch up, after far too long, with Sophie from Buxton Brewery.  We first met Sophie at IWCBD at Heist back in 2022 and we are excited to hear about her adventures since then.   Sophie shared 3 excellent beers from Buxton with us – Plan Bee, a honey pale ale, Adventure is Worthwhile, a Kviek NEIPA from IWCBD and The Wang Doodle, an American brown.    We talk about Sophie’s journey into...

We’ve got a long one for you this week as we welcome Kate Hyde from Hand Brew Co to join us once again!   This time we take the opportunity to hear about Kate’s journey into beer – it is captivating!  We then dive right into International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day.  Kate shares how she planned her first event, we talk about this year’s brew at Hand Brew Co, celebrating all the great people th...

We’ve been inspired by Mauldon’s Brewery and their International Women’s Day beer Anna Maria, to find out about some lesser know women in beer.   We find out more about Anna Maria, the founder of Mauldon’s.  We also introduce you to Mary Lisle and reintroduce you to Sister Doris, who you may remember from A Woman’s Place Is In The Brewhouse by Tara Nurin.   Do you have any women you’d like us to f...

It’s April already – so that can mean only one thing… Our quarter 1 review!   Jo can’t remember any of her bear goals, so sets herself some new ones.  Tori is making good progress and we are both filling up the super spreadsheet of (beer) wonder!   We share our highlights from the first quarter of the year, our plans for Q2 and how we are doing with the A Woman’s Brew challenge and the Drink Harde...

We are starting a new series – Bucket List Beers!  And if this beer isn’t on your bucket list, you should probably add it.  We’re starting with Westvleteren 12!   We go deep, giving you the history of the beer, the BJCP guidelines, tasting notes specific to the beer and Jo’s live reaction to her first ever taste!   Find out more about this beer here: https://www.trappistwestvleteren.be/en/our-beer...

This week we are joined by Nia and James from Ideal Day Family Brewery. Based in Cornwall, Nia and James tell us about their vision of success for the brewery and how the whole family gets involved.   We sample some of the delicious beers from Ideal Day and discuss the beer styles on offer – what is a field beer and why is it so refreshing?  We talk regenerative agriculture and how brewers can lea...

This week we are being chatty Cathys and bringing you some random, news, topics, updates and answers to questions you didn’t even know you needed to hear!   Our topics range from sustainability, brewery closures, haunted restaurants, beer & food pairing and KFC mac & cheese! We also introduce you to our ‘new’ logo… we’ve had it for a year, but we never told you about it! Oh!  And we’ve got...

We are revisiting tasting mystery beers this week, but we let our husbands pick the beers….. do we know our stash as well as we think we do?   Join us as we try to guess the beers with literally no context.  We put our tasting skills and knowledge of the beers in our fridge to the test.  Will we guess them correctly, or will we fail miserably?!   We also top off the episode with some questions fro...

We bring you rest and relaxation this week when we take the podcast on the road and visit the UK’s first beer spa!   The Norfolk Mead, near Norwich, opened it’s beer spa in July 2024.  We visited in January 2025 and share our experience.  This is a 45 minute experience with unlimited beer – we see how much you can really drink in this time and still have a relaxing experience.  We share out tips f...

We are very excited to welcome Dr Christina Wade to talk about her new book Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland, which is being published this week!   We find out what makes a Filthy Queen (spoiler, it’s the opinion of a man!), discuss historical drink recipes, how varying historical sources and experimental archaeology bring us closer to the truth of our history and share our favourite st...

Interrupting our usual format, today is all about the latest in beer news as we present our first news episode of 2025. Our conversation dives into a range of compelling topics in the beer world, with an aim to stir both minds and emotions.   First up, we explore a series of polarizing yet crucial news articles. We recap the trending stories and the larger conversations they provoke, from politica...

This week we go back to the summer when Tori was in the US.  She set herself up a blind beer tasting of American Light Lagers to see if she could tell the difference between craft and macro – how do you think she did?   We recap the tasting notes for American Light Lager and give tips on blind beer tasting.  Tori also shares some tips around her American beer road trip.   Would you like to see us...

Happy New Year! We’re starting off 2025 by having a clear out and sharing some leftovers and beer pairings we think you should try.  We love a bit of food and beer pairing, and this felt like the perfect way to clean out our fridges! Do you have chocolate, cheese and snacks left over from Christmas?  We try out a variety of beers with these foods so you don’t have to!   We also set our personal be...

Strap in kids – this is a long one, and rightly so! We look back at 2024 and all the great things that have happened along the way for A Woman’s Brew   We look at our Untappd stats, our Spotify Wrapped for the podcast, how well we did with the Drink Harder Challenge and did we achieve our 2024 beer goals.   We’re thinking about what our goals should be for 2025 – what do you want to see us try?  A...

Gather ‘round, dear listeners, because this episode is all about embracing the festive spirit! We’ve selected three seasonal brews with traditional flavours to sample, alongside asking our AI overlords to come up with unique gifts for the craft beer lover in your life – how do you think they will do?   We raise our glasses to discuss a mulled dark cherry sour and gingerbread latte stout from Vault...

This week we are joined by the one and only Tom Bacon!  Previously from Meantime, Peroni, Brew York and Wander Beyond, Tom has a plethora of beer industry stories and plenty of ‘opinions’!   The Great Dive Bar Debate is finally resolved (maybe!) and we talk beer stashes, Untappd, what you should do if you get a beer with a fault in a bar, and what’s better filtered or unfiltered?   Tom recommends...

Let’s have a catch up!  Tori and Jo have been on their travels and share with you their experiences of Brau Beviale in Nuremberg and The British Guild of Beer Writers Awards in London.  Did you know we were shortlisted for two awards?!  We didn’t win, but that just makes us more determined for next year!   Tori also visited Manchester and gives you her top tips for places to visit.  Jo visited Gla...

This week, we dive into the magical world of IPAs with Tartarus Beers’ captivating goddess-themed tasting challenge. We'll unravel the mystique of three mysterious IPAs, each with a secret ingredient twist. As we embark on this flavourful journey, we promise to bring you along for every sip, sniff, and guessing game.   Our tasting session is set against the backdrop of breathtaking artwork, each l...

Recently SIBA (The Society for Independent Brewers and Associates) launched their Indie Beer campaign, designed to define what independent beer really is. According to SIBA, ‘Independent beer is handmade by real people who truly care about the quality and flavour of the beer they are producing’. They have also produced a set of guidelines to determine which breweries are independent and a tool for...

This week we are finally bringing you another interview! We connect with Tom Canning, founder and organiser of the Berkshire Beer Festival. From missing kegs to randomly sized fence posts, Tom talks us through how he grew his festival from 80 attendees to the successful event that has been running for 13 years. We ask the hard questions – like how do you even begin to choose all the beer?! Tom als...

It’s our favourite season once again – the pumpkin beers are out! We’re running out of things to talk about when it comes to pumpkin beers now… but we’ve still found something! Jo brings you tips on how to grow your own pumpkins and Tori has found the top pumpkin and bonfire night beers in the UK. We also bring back the cauldron of questions to find out what horror films we would pair with our bee...

This week, we're embracing the eerie and chilling vibes as it’s spooky season! Venture with us into the haunted corridors of Moon River Brewing in Savannah, where ghosts of gamblers and yellow fever victims roam, and Phoenix Brewing Company in Ohio, famously located in a former mortuary with a history that's as dark as its beer. We'll also recount ghostly legends like the playful yet eerie spirit...

In another episode of our Lager series, we're diving into the rich and toasty world of Munich Dunkels through a tantalizing exploration of Hofbrau and Augustiner beers. Using these two iconic brews as our focal point, we delve into their distinctive taste profiles, contrasting the higher bitterness and drier finish of Hofbrau with the strong, malty character of Augustiner. Traveling back to the 12...