Beer Necessities' Sarah Eshelman

Sarah Eshelman of Beer Necessities

Sarah is the energy behind Beer Necessities, a ladies only beer connoisseur Meetup group that started last September and has grown to 80+ women aged 22-69 in just 5 months.

I had lunch with Sarah last week to talk about the group and propose some linked events with Austin Bed & Brew and Austin HomeBrew Supply.  She rode her bike to my place to see the Bn'B, then we raced to my favorite local craft beer spot Black Star Co-op ...I drove.  It was a tie.  She's that fast.

I went to the second meeting after stumbling upon a notice in my Facebook feed.  The invitation was to meet at Craft Pride for a "women in the industry forum."  I had never heard of a "Meetup" or visited the popular Rainey Street area and had no idea what to expect.  I was early and got to watch people slowly file in, get a beer and recognize other lone-women.  We had about an hour to visit, then the 4 person panel began with introductions and a Q & A. It was very informative and fun!

I knew no one but found it quite easy to talk with other women about the fabulous beer selection, brewing process and our interest in meeting other women who find beer our beverage of choice.  The group is large but has a core group of about 25 that show up to the events.  Sarah keeps the events varied and the locations moving. It turns out that the first meeting was at her favorite spot, Hopfields just a few weeks before.  Events run the gamut of activities from informative gatherings at breweries or pubs to activities like March 7th's Twisted X run benefiting Thundering Paws Animal Sanctuary in Dripping Springs; this past Monday night's gathering at Which Craft for a pairing of Boozy's Cupcakes with craft beer and the upcoming home brewing demonstration at AHS.

I asked Sarah how this all came about and it turns out that she was visiting a friend in Chicago, who is part of the 'mother' Beer Necessities group started there by Rachelle Matz.  When Sarah got back to Austin she decided that we needed a group like this here.  She checked in with our local Bitch Beer guru, Caroline Wallace to make sure something similar didn't already exist...and so it began.

Recognizing the need for a group like this is only part of its success, most of it is due to Sarah's efforts, stellar personality, and the fact that she's really very knowledgeable and sincere about her love of the elixir known as beer.  Sarah attributes her interest in beer to her father, Robert.  She describes him as a "North Carolina Hop-head."   His work took him to Belgium several times a year and with each visit he became more excited about rare beers and shared his stories with his eldest.  They're a beer drinking team and he comes to Austin to hang out with she and her friends reveling in the array of delectable beers we have here to savor.  He's fond of saying "I got my daughter into beer, but she's surpassed me."  With the whirlpool of activities she organizes, I'd most probably have to agree with him.

So, just who is Sarah Eshelman?  A dynamic RTVF, UT grad working as a producer, editor and consultant for various organizations and her own Sarahedits.com  She's a strong, uber healthy beer fan, thinker and a true feminist who sees the changing landscape of women in a positive light and recognizes that the majority of our group have self-opted out of the traditional female role-motherhood.  The older ladies in the group, myself included, mostly have grown children but the younger to middle range have opted out.
 
Sarah loves 512 Brewing Co. and when I asked her about her favorite "backup beer" she went on a roll: Founder's Dirty Bastard, Rahr's Iron Thistle, coffee beers, Scotch Ales etc. etc. Since we were at Black Star I asked about her favorite house beer and she said "any of the Dockhand series."  She basically loves variety and adventure and sharing her love of beer with other women!

I always look forward to the Meetup, even though they occur more than I can attend...usually twice monthly. If you have ideas or interest in Beer Necessities, follow the link and get involved!  Sarah has home brewed in the past and plans to get back to it soon...she's a gem!

Cheers!

~Cheryl

Much ado about Brew!

I've been getting an overload of information about home brewing and beer in general lately; it's been difficult to decide what to blog about.

There are so many festivals and festivities that it's hard for this old beer braud to keep up...let me try to explain.  From what I can tell, this home brewing hobby is probably the most time consuming, science plus artisan exploration, that I'm quite sure I'll never get bored.  When I moved to Austin 17 years ago this past August, I moved here from a horrid divorce in Dallas, where I left my ex-husband of 7 years, a Frenchman. During our marriage we shared a bottle or two of wine nearly every night.  When I took my first teaching job I met a lovely young lady who invited me to be part of the "Austin Lady Winos" club.  Every other Thursday we met at a member's house, with wine assignment and our own fancy goblet.  A little over a year into this fabulous club of nearly 80 women, I began to notice my absence at work on Fridays and it wasn't a mere wine hangover, but serious sickness.  I went to the doctor and was told that I had developed an allergy to wine, probably the sulfites within the bottles.  So, I quit the group and went back to margaritas and other cocktails.  Still not a fan of the watery slosh most prevalent at picnics and parties.

Enter love of my life, a beer enthusiast and soon to be home brewer.  Now some 14 years later I'm finding myself an empty nester and someone in need of going out to leave the hubby home alone to finish his dissertation without distraction.  It is absolutely impossible to not have a beer related event, happy hour, anniversary, release party, club meeting etc. every single night of the week.

This old gal is beat.

Would I trade it for a more somber evening by the TV  (we don't own one) or with a great book...well maybe the great book with a beer in hand, but then that would spoil the point of developing my palate and learning from the phenomenal group of learned beer aficionados here in Austin, Texas.

Here's this weeks agenda:  Monday night attending the Black Star Coop's member's extravaganza I was beside myself to meet fellow home brewers and home brew celebrities who I found out used to live on my street...the Dewberrys.  The Dewberrys have won the Black Star Home Brew contest, an honor that bestows upon the recipient the pleasure of having the brewery name and make that beer to sell on tap!  Dan is also the techy in charge of a group that I have recently joined and tonight, will attend my first Happy Hour/release party event!  Dan's been a member of the Austin Zealots for over a decade and he and his lovely wife Jolene have graciously accepted my invitation to interview them and hang out with them during their next brew day!  And to think, I almost didn't go!

Last night I attended a new group for me as well, something I stumbled upon while cruising my Facebook wall from the group Bitch Beer.  Reading their book this summer turned me onto our current 52 in 52 challenge.  The group is Beer Necessities, a ladies "Meet Up" something I, being a solo dork most of the time, had never heard of.  The meeting was a ladies beer forum at Craft Pride, again, a new place for me to attend on the stylish and popular Rainey Street area of downtown.  I was the oldest person there, I'm sure of it.  Friday night is Bitch Beer's "Time of the Month" Happy Hour at Hi-Hat.  Followed Saturday afternoon at Fiesta Gardens, the yearly Texas Craft Beer Festival, featuring all 55 craft breweries in Texas.  Of course we have tickets.

See what I mean?  

The thing is that, at each and every one of these events, I learn something new...something that I need to test out on my next batch and it's making me nervous about the outcome of my 25 gallons that are fermenting...now.  I almost want to toss it all out and start again...but wait...it's beer!  No can do.

All this time, I've been looking at other beer blogs and seeing the snazzy looks of the younger generation's technical capabilities and their already-done up to the minute useful information such as every single event at every single bar/brewery/brew pub in the Central Texas area.  Which leaves me wondering...what do I have to offer?  And, let's face it...if you don't ask yourself this question as a writer/artist...blogger(?) then you are most likely just intellectually masturbating out into the blogosphere...unnecessarily so.

That being said, what I am hoping to accomplish with this modest blog, is nearly the same thing I did with my other blogging endeavors...use this tool as a journal to document my adventures and discoveries while sharing with folks a bit of what going out on a limb, meeting new folks out and about town and inviting oneself into the homes and minds of homebrewers here and now, in what has become, my home town.

I can't wait to meet the Austin Zealots (Zymurgic Enthusiasts of Austin Loosely Organized Through Suds!)

Happy Home Brewing

&

Cheers!!!

~Cheryl