“any female-identifying person who’s earning 25 per cent or more
of their income from any sector of the beer industry. We do have
student memberships for women who are currently enrolled, but
not yet employed.”
There are four Canadian chapters of the Pink Boots Society:
Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver. The founder of the
Toronto chapter is craft beer, sensory consultant and book author
Mirella Amato, a Master Cicerone and Doemens Beer Sommelier.
“I actually was at the very first meeting of Pink Boots in San
Diego in 2008,” she said. “At that time, I wasn’t even a member, but
one of the first decisions they put to vote was whether Pink Boots
would be open only to brewsters, or whether it would be open to
anyone making their living in beer.” As soon as the vote was held, “I
became a member, and I’ve been a member ever since.”
Amato has distinct memories of “being at that meeting and
realizing how valuable it was for those women to meet other
women in the industry.” Later, at the CBC World Beer Cup Awards
Ceremony, “when one of the women went up to accept an award,
someone else just got up and screamed ‘She’s a Pink Booter!’ I just
remember this amazing wave of energy and recognizing that this
was something special and something needed, and something that
I wanted to be a part of.”
Launched in March 2018, the Toronto chapter has almost 40
members. “Our first meeting was fairly small; we had maybe 10
or 15 people in attendance; from there, our number-one goal has
been to spread the word,” Amato said.
“We’re finally in the position where we’ve raised a little bit of
funding and we’re going to start offering scholarships locally,” she
said. The Ontario Craft Brewers Association donated proceeds
from a charity golf tournament. Toronto’s Goose Island Brewhouse
and The Exchange Brewery in Niagara-on-the-Lake collaborated
last August in the Clash for a Cause, which saw attendees voting to
choose the evening’s best beer.
“My hope for the Toronto chapter is to connect strongly
with the other Canadian chapters and to create not only interna-tional
scholarships, but also scholarships to help us get together,”
Amato said. “Canada is a very large country, and because beer is
regulated provincially, we tend to be in little pockets. This is a great
“I remember recognizing
that this was something
special and something
needed and something that
I wanted to be a part of.”
– Mirella Amato, Master Cicerone and
Doemens Beer Sommelier
chance to connect and to learn what’s going on in the rest of the
beer industry.”
Wynn Smith, tap room supervisor at Alley Kat Brewing
Company, started the Edmonton chapter of Pink Boots in January
2019. “I find Pink Boots is a great way for women working in
what was – not so much any more – a male-dominated industry,”
she said.
Smith, who has also worked in Australia, says she has seen the
brewing industry become more open to women in recent years,
but that many women don’t know how to enter the industry. “Pink
Boots is a way for people thinking about joining the industry to
approach other women to ask, ‘How did you get your job? How did
you get your information?’” she said.
In Edmonton, “at the first meeting, 25 women showed up, and
the thing I kept hearing was, ‘I’m so glad this is here!’ For me, Pink
Boots is a huge part of what my career is: the opportunity to teach
or open the industry for other women is a huge passion of mine,
and I’m very grateful for the other women who are doing the same
thing,” said Smith.
“The community aspect for me is the most important aspect,”
said Amato. “Even I’m meeting new women at every meeting; that’s
really cool. When I started in beer in Ontario, I was one of very
few women in the industry, often the only one at industry events. I
would say that has changed dramatically.”
In ancient times, Wiest points out, “beer was a women’s thing.
One of the earliest recorded recipes for beer is a hymn to Ninkasi, a
3,000-year-old female beer goddess.” Today, women are taking their
place in the industry and although they still struggle with a sub-stantial
pay gap and other inequities, Pink Boots has grown from
its original 16 members to the point where “it’s getting really hard
to take a group photo,” she said.
In July 2019, Pink Boots president Laura Ulrich attended
a conference in Quito, Ecuador, as part of the organization’s
evolution towards supporting more women internationally.
Women who are interested in getting involved can sign up online
at www.pinkbootssociety.org.
“And,” said Wiest, “People can sign up for our newsletter if
they’re interested in following along.”
Courtesy of Andrew Budziak
EDUCAT I O N
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/www.pinkbootssociety.org
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