Gina Silva: A Lady Who Loves Beer

Raised in Puerto Rico with an inevitable taste for rum, this gal has purportedly been drinking beer since she was a baby (no, really--she sent evidence). She now enjoys the slow-sippin, porch life of the ATL with her husband and her black lab, Sam. When she's not dreaming up new beer recipes, supervising her husband's home brew efforts, and chillin with her pup, she also enjoys competitive cooking (Drunken Chicken Chili anyone?), and transforming her drinking leftovers into Pinterest worthy creations.

This is Gina Silva, and she loves beer.

Before Gina was a beer drinker, she mostly drank…

More beer. According to a baby pic I found recently I was drinking beer before I remember having my first beer. If we went based on memory though, it would be Rum. I was raised in Puerto Rico, the Rum Capital of the World. I didn’t stand a chance.

When she’s not drinking beer, she enjoys…

I love cooking with beer. My team Hangover Chili participated in Chomp & Stomp last year. We didn’t take home any trophies, but my Drunken Chicken Chili (made with Red Hare Brewery’s Lager) received many compliments. Crafting with beer was purely created out of boredom. I made an awesome Christmas wreath out of bottle caps this past year. Thanks Pinterest! Lately I’ve been educating myself about beer making. After watching my husband homebrew for awhile now I got inspired. So much so that I’m dreaming about beer recipes.

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

My favorites are Porters & Farmhouse Ales, but every year I anxiously await Abita’s seasonal Strawberry Harvest Lager. It’s a lager brewed with pilsner, wheat malts and Vanguard hops. I’m seriously in love with this beer. I squealed when Abita Brewery reply tweeted me this year about the release.

Her favorite place to drink is…

a patio. ANYWHERE. Beer + patios go together like pms + Ben & Jerry’s.

Her favorite person to drink with is…

Before my beer lovin’ husband came into my life, it was my black lab Sam. Sam and I would go for an afternoon run then grab lunch and a beer at Meehans, a local pub in Vinings, Ga.

What do you most like/loathe about the culture of beer. How do you see women represented locally, nationally, globally. What you’d like to less/more of?

I’m a woman, so clearly I want the sweetest and lightest thing you have! WRONG. Fortunately, I’m seeing this change more and more. I hardly ever get that funny look for ordering Guinness or any other big, dense, dark beers that I love. 

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

In the state of Georgia we have a couple of groups for women. There is Lupulin Ladies & GALS . Both are women’s group that focus on education and appreciation of craft beer. I’ve read that GALS has planned a trip to Savannah to volunteer for The Savannah Craft Beer Fest in August. I am so down.

Photo credit Anne Almasy

To connect with Gina follow her on Twitter, and Untappd. 

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.