Breweries

March 8th is International Women’s Day and many breweries have been busy planning brew days that celebrate not just the women who work in the industry, but women’s achievement throughout history.

The theme for IWD 2019 is #BalanceforBetter and this theme is meant to be carried throughout the entire year.  For anyone who knows me outside of craft beer, you will be familiar with my other life of activism, social justice, and gender equity.  I completely own the fact that I am the feminist killjoy in my social circles!  As I read up on this campaign, I was struck by the use of the word “balance”.  We can all use a little more balance in our lives, right?  Whether it’s balancing our work/home life, the scales of Lady Justice, or the malt bill on a tricky new recipe, BALANCE is something we should all strive for.  And as for balancing gender representation in the craft beer industry, women are here!  Women have always been here and even more are just discovering their palate.  The Pink Boots Society has had a major hand in this representation and sisterhood, as well as local women-focused craft beer enthusiast groups like Girls Pint Out, Barley’s Angels, and Beer for Babes.

Alexis Degan

Now about the beer!  March is Women’s History Month and I had the pleasure of meeting with Director Alexis Degan of the New Jersey Brewers Association.  We shared a few beers and talked about her new adventure in the craft beer world and about the NJBA Facebook posts highlighting women in beer throughout the month.  Learning some of the history of women in beer was her inspiration, which bore the idea for the NJBA Women’s Collaboration Brew Day that happened on March 6th.

This Blood Orange IPA with Lavender was brewed with ingredients contributed by Forgotten Boardwalk, Czig Meister, Eight & Sand, and Krogh’s Restaurant and Brewpub.  Additionally, women from Twin Elephant, Carton, Tuckahoe, Human Village, Bonesaw, Vinyl, Third State, Hidden Sands, and Eclipse came together for multiple shifts to make this happen.

It definitely does not take 17-20 people (simultaneously) to brew two barrels of beer!  And for anyone who’s brewed or been around brewing knows, there is a lot of waiting during each step of the way.  This gave us all the wonderful opportunity to get to know each other.  For a group of women who all work various positions in the same industry, getting this many of us together in one spot was a major achievement – especially on short notice.

“What was most gratifying,” Alexis said, “was watching the relationships form between the attendees who hadn’t gotten the chance to meet each other before.”  I can personally attest to this!  As someone who doesn’t get out of the tasting room very much, I loved the chance to get to know other women in the industry.

We aren’t even halfway through March, but the reception to the NJBA’s posts is telling.  Alexis pointed out, “Others who may be looking to get into the industry are able to see themselves in the women we’re highlighting and know there’s a network of their peers out there.  Women can be found in every aspect of the brewing community across New Jersey, from running the tasting room, taking care of the books, sales, or merchandising.  Women make New Jersey beer happen!”

If you’re wondering where to find this awesome beer, it will be available at the Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival!  Can’t wait to see you all there!  Cheers!

Editor’s Note:  Many Thanks To Alexis Degan for providing the great photo’s for the piece!  Cheers!

Cape May Brewing Company Proudly Releases Cape May Lager

Cape May, NJ — Cape May Brewing Company is thrilled to announce the newest addition to their award-winning lineup of beers: Cape May Lager, a clean, crisp, and easy-drinking Pale Lager.

“Beer brings people together,” says CEO and co-founder Ryan Krill. “That’s why we’ve spent more time and energy developing this particular brew than anything else in our portfolio, to ensure that we’ve brewed the most approachable beer in our lineup, something that’s meant to bring every beer drinker together and leave no one behind.”

In developing Cape May Lager, the idea was to build a beer that would appeal to both the entrenched craft enthusiast as well as the uninitiated beer drinker, more accustomed to readily-available macro lagers.

“We wanted it to have the depth of flavor craved by craft beer aficionados while maintaining an everyman approach that the uninitiated would be excited to try,” explains Innovation Director Brian Hink. “If we played it too safe, we’d lose out on the craft beer drinker, but if we went too aggressive with the flavor, we might be able to grab the average beer drinker out of an initial intrigue, but the likelihood of it becoming their next go-to simply wouldn’t happen.”

Cape May Brewing Company has been developing this beer for over a year, with elements of the recipe stretching back to things they’d learned from an earlier brew, June of 2016’s Mooncusser Pilsner, and continued through CMBC’s R.A.D. Series — Research And Development — an experimental series to test new offerings. In that series, the brewers were given a bit more latitude to tweak, change, and modify the recipe for what would eventually become Cape May Lager.

“The R.A.D. process also came in handy in getting feedback from our fans and seeing what they preferred,” says Director of Brewing Operations Jimmy Valm. “This was very helpful. There was one iteration where we thought it was fantastic, but a lot of our fans who enjoy Pale Lagers thought it was too hoppy. So, getting some feedback and direction certainly helped.”

Pale Lagers are notoriously delicate to brew: minor changes in the recipe could have far-reaching effects on the final beer.

“In such a simple beer,” says Valm, “anything even slightly off really stands out. They take a lot of time and each batch has to be handled very carefully. For Cape May Lager, we wanted there to be a slight hoppiness but nothing overpowering.”

Cape May Lager went through multiple iterations in the R.A.D. process. R.A.D. #001 was essentially a less hoppy Mooncusser Pilsner, yet the hops aroma from the whirlpool addition was still a little too aggressive for the final brew. R.A.D. #005 in February of last year completely removed the hops from the whirlpool, which resulted in a beer that was universally agreed to be too bland and lackluster. By R.A.D. #007, released in the early summer of 2017, Cape May focused on on layering the hop flavor and aroma throughout the boil.

“It was universally agreed to be the beer that we would eventually call Cape May Lager,” Hink says, “and I happily drank plenty of pints of it for the few weeks it was available in July.”

The standard ingredients for a pale lager include pale pilsner malts, a Bohemian yeast, and noble Saaz hops.

“But it’s what you do with them that make the difference,” says Valm.

Cape May Lager adds a touch of Melanoiden malt — less than 5% of the total malt bill — for color and a bit of “zing.” The result is a clean, crisp, approachable brew that shows off each ingredient, giving each its moment to shine without overpowering the others, perfect for ball games, barbecues, and winding down after a long day at work.

“In the end, I think we got a great beer with a fantastic light malt flavor and just the right level of the Noble hop aroma from the Saaz,” says Valm.

Cape May Lager releases for distribution in New Jersey by Cape May Brewing Company’s distribution arm, Cape Beverage, on Thursday, February 21, in their Tasting Room at 1288 Hornet Road in the Cape May Airport the following day, and in Pennsylvania on Monday, March 4th. Find it at better bars and liquor stores throughout the area.

For more information on Cape May Brewing Company — including for tastings and tours — call (609) 849-9933 or see their website at capemaybrewery.com.