Most of the women in medieval England went by at least one of the following names: wife, witch or brewster.

 

The brewing of beer was originally seen as a low-skilled, household task and so was the work of women.

 

But as the drink escalated in popularity, women in the home could no longer keep up with demand. Factories were built, men took over and stereotypes have formed ever since.

 

Precise figures for the number of present-day brewsters are unavailable but the Campaign for Real Ale believe brewing is coming full circle and back into the hands of women as well as men.

 

“Arguably the most powerful woman in brewing is called Emma Gilleland who’s in charge of overall production for Marsten’s which is the biggest independent brewery in the country,” according to Good Beer Guide editor

Roger Protz.

 

“So that’s big,” he remarks.

 

Many brewers who’ve turned to the profession have come from a background in science.

 

Sara Barton, of Brewsters Brewery in Lincolnshire, was inspired to join the industry during her time

as a university biochemistry student. She told the BBC that's where she got involved with learning about

the science side of beer and decided to do a masters in brewing once she graduated. You could say it’s

paid off as Sara was the first and only woman so far to hold the esteemed Brewer of the Year title awarded

by the British Guild of Beer Writers in 2013.

 

Claire Monk, head brewer at Welbeck Abbey Brewery in Yorkshire, also studied biochemistry at the

University of Sheffield. When it came to her graduation, she didn’t know which path to go down until one

of her lecturers suggested the food and drinks industry. From there, she began training as a brewer before progressing into her current role.

 

“Brewing is a scientific process which is where my degree comes in.

 

“You have to consider what you want the ABV to be and work out how much sugar is needed for the yeast

to ferment into alcohol, as well as deciding on what style you want.

 

“It’s very demanding, but great fun,” she’s quoted saying on the brewery’s website.

 

Lizzie Ellis, of Horncastle Ales also in Lincolnshire, doesn’t really like beer all that much but finds the creativity

and craft of the brewing process exciting.

 

A noticeable trend amongst these women is that they’ve been turning to beer, as opposed to knowing it’s an industry they’ve always wanted to work in. Some beer lovers believe this stems from the negative light beer is often cast in towards young women.

 

Beer sommelier Melissa Cole told the BBC: “Alcohol is currently so demonised but I’d like to get to the point where brewing is pushed in schools as a career choice to young girls who are interested in science.”

 

Sarah Warman, BrewDog’s project manager, reckons the reason many girls don’t start off drinking beer is because of the conditioning nature of the advertising business.

 

“Boys are taught ‘you wanna drink beer’ so they train their palates to like beer.

 

“Voluptuous women are plastered on nasty pump clips and create this negativity,” she adds.

 

BrewDog, like many other craft brewers, have strived to make their branding gender-neutral which hasn’t gone unnoticed by some prolific beer bloggers who’ve credited the simple yet effective way to make the drink more enticing to women.

 

So is there a difference between what male and female brewers brew?

 

Academic Erica Horton snuffed this question a lot at her FEM.ALE festival, a weekend-long celebration in Norwich where only beer brewed by women is sold.

 

But according to Sara Barton, there might be.

 

“Men can be tied to the more traditional ways of doing things whereas we think outside the boring, brown bitter box,” she told the BBC.

 

“We’re not forever going down the hoppier, stronger route.”

 

Melissa Cole added: “[Women] think of beer and how it goes with food. They are also collaborative, into sharing ideas and innovating. They want to share the love.”

 

Sara founded the first major collaborative brewing group in the UK, Project Venus, in 2011 after coming across an equivalent in the US, the Pink Boots society. Since then, many other collaborations have taken place to try and continue to break down barriers between women and beer, encouraging anyone even with just the slightest of curiosities to come along.

 

One thing's for certain, though: the meet-ups should not be interpreted as therapy sessions which these women need to rely on in order to stand their ground in a male-dominated industry.

 

Michelle Kelsall, from Offbeat Brewery in Cheshire, says: “The brewing industry is incredibly co-operative and friendly.

 

“It can be a bit intimidating being only one of two female faces.

 

“But a lot of [the meetings] are just social so that's been a great help."