#WomanCrushWednesday: Anne Becerra

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#WomanCrushWednesday: Anne Becerra

Beer Cred:

Anne Becerra has been actively involved in the beer industry since she “hustled her way into a job” at the Ginger Man, one of New York’s premier beer bars, after returning from an RV trip that would change her life. A former marketing/advertising employee, she realized after quitting her job and traveling across the country and back that she wouldn’t be returning to a desk job.

Today, Anne heads up the beverage program at Treadwell Park, a beer hall and restaurant with locations in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Financial District, where she makes sure to spotlight international classics as well as newer, trendier brews.

“New breweries are fun and exciting, and certainly we want to support them, but we also want to make sure it’s not just chasing trends,” she said. “[That’s] not sustainable for anybody, for breweries, for towns, or for bars. You really have to give credit where credit’s due.”

Well Said:

“A nod to English beer or German beer is not boring. It’s consistent. It’s historical. It is life for so many people. I want to try to really allow people to see how good [the classics] can be and how fun [they] can be, even though they’ve been around for hundreds of years. Appreciate what you’ve got, why it’s special…it’s lasted this long for a reason.”

Find Anne at Treadwell Park or follow her adventures online at @annelikesbeer and @beerincontext. Read about Anne’s latest project, the Cellar at Treadwell Park, here.

Cheers,
Beer Affair

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2016 Update: Girl Scout Cookies and Craft Beer Pairings

Photo via beerandbrewing.com.

Craft Beer & Brewing recommends cookies and stouts. Photo via beerandbrewing.com.

It’s always a fun time of year when the Girl Scout Cookie craft beer pairings come out. I was a Girl Scout for many years (like, the most years — all the way up to the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting — that’s right, I am that cool) and the posts that pop up every winter leave me both salivating and nostalgic.

Craft Beer & Brewing always has a well-produced (and I trust, well-tested) list of Girl Scout Cookie pairing selections, and their 2016 rendition is no different. The key takeaway is that basically any GSC (that’s Girl Scout Cookie) will be delicious with basically any strong stout, but there are certain nuances to be attune to. Like… Continue reading

#WomanCrushWednesday: Wendy Littlefield

Wendy Littlefield. Photo via LinkedIn.com

Wendy Littlefield. Photo via LinkedIn.com

#WCW: Wendy Littlefield

Beer Cred:

In honor of Brewery Ommegang’s 18th birthday next month and my departure for Belgium today, this week’s #WomanCrushWednesday goes to Wendy Littlefield. Along with her husband, Ed, Littlefield’s accolades go far beyond a bulleted list. From a romantic start of eloping in college, moving to Belgium and falling in love—with the tradition and taste of Belgian beer, that is—she became the first American woman inducted into the Belgian Brewers Guild and was nominated for the Mercurius Award, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Belgian government.

Back stateside,  in addition to starting two beer businesses, she started several community-driven food and drink events and associations in her now-hometown of Cooperstown, N.Y. (Belgian Comes to Cooperstown among them). You can learn more about the Littlefields in the self-told “Very Long and Boring Story” of  her career in beer—a lengthy one, yes, but there’s nothing boring about it.

Well Said:

“We have been at this business for 31 years and still adore it, and we are still married and capable of working together. How very fortunate we are. We think of ourselves as cultural anthropologists explaining culture through beer.” – “Why We Do What We Do— An Interview With Our New York Distributor,” March 2012, BelgianBeerExperts.com 

#WomanCrushWednesday: Julia Herz

#WomanCrushWednesday: Julia Herz

Julia Herz, Brewers Association Craft Beer Program Director. Photo via BrewersAssociation.org

#WCW: Julia Herz

Beer Cred:

Well Said:

“Our craft breweries are small businesses that have helped bring great innovation and a less gender-targeted approach to beer marketing than ever before—I’ll cheers to that!” – Weighing in on Women and Beer, craftbeer.com, Aug. 2015

Cheers to that, Julia!
– Beer Affair