A Lady Who Loves Beer: Tierney Pomone

A part-time fashionista and full time brew aficionado "on a quest for the Holy Grail of beer," this lady hails from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and is a self described mix of "Carrie Bradshaw, Zane Lamprey and the girl next door". A contributor to SaraBozich.com (your unofficial guide to Harrisburg, PA), BeerStreetJournal, and a founding member of Stouts&Stilletos, may I introduce...

Tierney Pomone: a lady who loves beer.

When she’s not drinking beer, she enjoys… 

Making Spotify playlists, traveling, collecting key necklaces and cocktail rings, cooking, and going to see local bands. 

Her current drinking obsession and/or favorite beer(s) of the moment are…

At the moment, I am of course still in love with bourbon barrel aged stouts. My tastes change constantly, but for the past year or so stouts, specifically the bourbon barrel aged variety, have been my constant. I've been making a more conscious effort to seek out and sample more saisons and sours lately, as it seems my palate is developing again. 

Her favorite place to drink is…

For the atmosphere I always enjoy McGrath’s Pub, and for the beer selection I love Al’s of Hampden. Of course, nothing beats a good beer on my couch while I catch up with the DVR. 

Can you tell us about women friendly spaces of note in your area (or wherever you travel regularly)?

I feel like most bars in my area are very female friendly. Most places around here seem to have learned to ask about preferences instead of just assuming a recommendation which I think is important regardless of your gender. 

What kind of “strange misconceptions” do the women you know have about beer? Why is it important to you to change these misconceptions?

I think a lot of women still see beer as the fizzy yellow water they tried in college and didn’t enjoy. Beer has a lot more flavors than just the overly carbonated watered-down nonsense they once knew, and everyone, not just women, need to know this. I think that it’s important that women feel welcome in this community and that it’s not just a bunch of beardy guys at the end of the bar sniffing their beers (don’t worry I still love you guys). Just like a fine wine, artisan cheese, and a well made chocolate, craft beer is flavorful, elegant, and complex. 

Before Ms. Pomone was a beer drinker… [read the unabridged story]

I haven’t always loved beer. In fact, for a good part of my drinking life I didn’t even like beer. I was a vodka girl, then I was a whiskey girl, then I was a tequila girl, and then a vodka girl again. I’m still a wine-o now and then, but craft beer is truly the object of my deepest affections. For a long, long time I only drank Coors Lite. It came to the point where my favorite college bar would automatically just pour me a pitcher of Coors Lite when I walked in the door. We were inseparable.

Then, I was introduced to a little something called Golden Monkey. I remember it fondly. From there on out I tried everything that I could with my college student budget. It wasn’t easy, especially since the two college bars (yes there were only two) didn’t have a great selection, but I made due with Sam Adam’s Seasonals, Leinenkugels, and Troegs DreamWeaver (lots of DreamWeaver). Coors Lite and I have been divorced ever since.

My true love affair didn’t begin until after college. My world was expanded exponentially as I started finding more and more friends who had an interest in craft beer too. Since I have more opportunities now, it seems that my desires change with the seasons: Spring and Summer I still want my wheats, in Fall I need pumpkin and fest beers, and in Winter it’s got be a good, rich stout – preferably bourbon barrel aged. I find it hard to commit to just one beer, one style, one flavor, but my one constant has been the hefeweizen/wheat beer. I just hope they don’t mind my flings.  

 Her favorite person to drink with is…

I really enjoy having some bevs with my girls any night of the week especially since they all love craft beer too!  

What do you most like/loathe about the culture of beer? 

As far as the beer culture around me, I think the biggest thing I want to steer people away from is the strange snobbishness that seems to be spreading like wildfire. Yes, of course I want everyone I know to try craft beer, try more beers, and explore, but not everyone will and that's okay. It seems a lot of them have strange misconceptions and I want to change them. I will always be an encouraging advocate, but I refuse to be a bitch, refuse to be a snot about it, and think that because of this I take advocacy to the next level. A new generation is brewing, for lack of a better term. 

To connect with Tierney follow her on on Untappd and Twitter, or keep up with her on Stouts&Stilettos via Twitter @StoutsStilettos, Facebook, and stoutsandstilletos.wordpress.com. 

Are you a lady who loves beer? Do you know someone who is?

Hey, Brewtiful is looking for women home brewers (and their accomplices), female beer aficionados and connoisseurs, ladies working in the beer biz who know their stuff, broads who love their local beer haunts and the brew they serve, and ladies who bake, cook, or otherwise experiment with beer to share their stuff in a guest post or short feature on hey, brewtiful. Are you game? To get in on the already evolving lineup of women, email me at heybrewtiful{at}gmail{dot}com with your story.