{Update} with Tierney Pomone: A Lady Who Loves Beer

A dream date with Dave Grohl, Bourbon County Rare, and a kitten named Simcoe, Tierney Pomone has her priorities in order. Check out more of what Ms. Pomone has in store in today's update. 

So what's new? I decided to rope myself in about halfway through last year realizing I had stretched myself pretty thin and my priorities were a mess. I've focused my writing to just Stouts and Stilettos and SaraBozich.com. On the professional side I've successfully scaled myself down to just one job, maintaining my cubicle-drone-by-day, craft-beer-evangelista-by-night persona. In my personal life I moved into a new place out of the suburbs and into the actual city of Harrisburg and got a kitten who we appropriately named Simcoe.

Kim Leshinski: A Lady Who Loves Beer

Kim Leshinski is serious about her beer.

A New England native, this Rochester Institute of Technology graduate has combined her love for beer and design into her own small business. Since moving to Chicago to expand her tastes and her portfolio, she's become a noted beer blogger and avid home brewer, founded the Chicago Beer Gals Collective, and left her full-time agency job to pursue self-employment.

Currently working toward becoming a certified beer judge and Cicerone, this smarty-pants beer drinker has made quite a name for herself and no doubt will continue to inspire other women to join the ranks.

Read more about this lady who loves beer in this month's {BeyondATL} feature on women and beer. 

My beer has lady parts (and yours does too)

Dear Fellow Imbibers,

My beer has genitals (again).

A few months back the internets kind of blew up over a craft beer misstep made by a women's forum when they recommended fruity beers as an entryway to the "confusing" world of beer (they've since removed their video). You can read an expletive-laden version of events by Claire Lower (because expletives are really my favorite) or a more sober rendition from Guys Drinking Beer.

Click image to enlarge

This month, La Fleur Magazine's boasts "Girl Beer" as a feature on their January 2014 cover (pictured at left). The gendered article title has elicited some negative reactions. Ginger Johnson of Women Enjoying Beer takes issue with the terminology, stating that "nothing good can come from the perpetuation of less than full respect titles" and that "it perpetuates [the idea of] gender oriented beers."

Despite my own mild objections to the headline, La Fleur's article (which you can read online for yourself) does a decent job of recommending some pretty top-notch beers in a manner that both respects the intelligence of its readers and does justice to the beer itself. Not to mention, it was written by women who actually like beer.

What's a girl to do?

Does it matter what we call ourselves if the end goal is to invite more women to the table? Or is it disrespectful to use "girl" in any context when we're talking about grown women? Is a gender-neutral approach really effective or required when we're trying to call more women to attend to their glass?

Post by Women Enjoying Beer.

Jennifer Rios, a commenter on the WEB Facebook page, says context is key:

"After reading the article, I'm thinking 'girl beer' was meant to be more of a tongue in cheek attention grabbing headline. None of the selected beers are what that title brings to my mind [...] my lady friends & I would have no problem with Pike or Dogfish. Girl beer is just a term, it only has as much power as you give it."

@ATLbrewbabe, who recently started up a Georgia chapter of Girls Pint Out had this to say when asked for comment:

"I'm 31 and don't mind the word 'girl' and use it frequently. I don't think twice about seeing the word 'girl' all over pop culture either, i.e. HBO's GIRLS, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Truth is, there isn’t a clear-cut official marker of adulthood in our culture. If you're 35 living with mom and dad are you a girl (by immaturity) or a woman (by age)? I'm so confused. That's it, I'm bringing back the oh-so-slang, but gender neutral 'peeps.'"

Rather than getting our panties in a bunch, I say we go commando and shine some light on our similarities. Arguments aside, quibbling about the difference doesn't seem to inspire people to shake their groove thing on a common dance floor. You know what I mean? Of course you do.

So let's just let beer be sexy, and if so-called "girls" want to come to the party with their drinking cards, let's ask them to join the rumba. Shall we? Until the next glass my lovelies, eat well, drink whole heartedly, and savor the deliciousness of your daily life. As always, I'm devotedly yours in the way of beer.

Cheers,
hb

{Update} with Jessica Smyer: A Lady Who Loves Beer

The updates from last year's features on women and beer are still pouring in. Here's an update from Jessica Smyer, a local imbiber with a taste for Asheville, Belgian style brews, and beer-cations.

So, update. What's happened since we last checked in with you? 

Admittedly, not much has changed lately. I suppose smooth sailing on the sea of life isn’t always a bad thing. Cheeseburger Bobby’s recently held a fundraiser for Murphy-Harpst Children’s home and raised $11,000. I’m glad we got to benefit a local organization. We are developing the new restaurant schedule for the next year: oncoming franchisees, store updates, and the like. Personally, I’d love to see one open near Savannah or in Florida.

Aly Moler: A Lady Who Loves Beer

There might be a chill in the air, but Aly Moler still has ice cream on the brain. Ice cream and beer, that is. Her goal? More designated ice cream eaters. 

Inspired by a night of drinking, someone poured a beer in the ice cream maker and the idea for Frozen Pints was born. 

A Virginia native, this small-town girl has big city dreams with hopes of growing her small business into a nationwide brand. Partnering with local craft breweries like Terrapin for a series of limited release flavors, Frozen Pints is focused on building a strong presence in Atlanta before expanding to a wider audience. 

With more beer than cream, you'll still need your drinking card to partake. So pick up a pint yourself with your ID ready from local Atlanta markets like Gremlin Growlers, Smyrna Beer Market, and Barrel and Barley (to name just a few). You'll also find Frozen Pints making it's way onto restaurant and bar menus around town, so ask your server for a scoop.

I caught up with Aly over the holidays and asked her to dish about her future plans, past achievements, and favorite spots in Atlanta to partake.