Jenn Merrick, former head brewer at Beavertown, is to brew a collaborative beer with Herriot Watt students at Pressure Drop Brewery in London later this month.
The idea came from the team at We Are Beer (London, Edinburgh and Bristol Craft Beer Festivals) who asked Pressure Drop to facilitate a project to celebrate and profile women’s contribution to modern beer.
Jenn (pictured), of yet-to-be-built Earth Station Brewing, will lead the project alongside the students and faculty at Herriot Watt to make a beer that celebrates women in brewing; the craft, creativity and business expertise of women in the industry’s past, present and future.
Sienna O’Rourke, sales and marketing co-ordinator for Pressure Drop, said: “The We Are Beer guys behind the festival did some research and found that 35% of their attendees were female, but they want to grow that to 50%.
They felt that celebrating and profiling amazing female talent would be a great way to head towards this goal. Meanwhile, intake of female students at Herriot Watt is shooting through the roof, and half the staff are female, too, so it felt like a unique opportunity to connect the next generation of female brewing talent.”
The final brew will be launched on Friday, March 23, at the brewery in Tottenham. The name of the beer is up for grabs and will be decided on the day. After that, it will be poured at all the 2018 We Are Beer events and will have a national release in limited edition small pack.
Meanwhile, Jenn will launch Earth Station Brewery this summer. Located in East London’s Royal Docks — a stone’s throw from London City Airport and next to the new Elizabeth rail line — the brewery will form part of an “exciting hub for creativity and manufacturing”, owned by local arts charity Create London.
