Haley Cowan: A Lady Who Loves Beer

Haley Cowan is one busy lady. Juggling both her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree and her role as Brand Manager for the local and newly launched Eventide Brewing, this South Georgia native grew up among the cotton blossoms and the peanut crops. 

When she's not talking, tasting, and toeing the beer line, she's got her nose in the books studying for exams. Despite her Georgia roots, she'd gladly relocate to Spain (tomorrow, if you asked) and travel back in time to meet Amelia Earhart for a flight of another kind. Find out more about Haley in this month's focus on Atlanta Ladies Who Love Beer.

Tell us about you. Where are you from? How did you end up in Atlanta? Do you think this is your forever home?

I grew up in a small town in South Georgia, in a place where the smell of freshly dug up peanuts permeates the air in late summer, giving way to cotton blossoms in the fall. I spent my college years in Statesboro at Georgia Southern where I met Nathan and Geoffrey. After graduating, Nathan and I spent a few years living up and down the East Coast. We settled on Atlanta in 2009 so that I could pursue a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at Mercer while he pursued a career in engineering. While we have a lot of roots and family in Atlanta, we have high hopes of living abroad. I would happily move to Spain tomorrow given the opportunity.

When you're not drinking beer, you're...

Not drinking beer…ha, that’s a rare occurrence, though a truer statement would be when you aren’t sampling beer. It’s rare that I get to sit and enjoy a full glass. When I am not focusing on my family or Eventide I am buried in the books, studying for my next exam, or working on my research project.

Tell us about your involvement in with Eventide. Is there a lot of collaboration between you and the rest of the team (Nathan, Geoffrey, Mat) or are your job responsibilities pretty separate?

My current role with Eventide is Brand Manager. As Brand Manager, I work to maintain sales relationships with our distributor, support our existing accounts, as well as scout new accounts. While we each have our own roles and areas of focus, we all work very closely together. This allows us to transition into other roles, if necessary, ensuring our company’s needs are met. 

Can you tell us about the strategy of opening up with a Kolsch and Pale Ale? From a beer geek perspective it kind of has me stumped that Kolsch in particular seems to be trending as a launch beer for startup breweries in and around Atlanta.

Our Kolsch Style Ale joined our launch line up in part due to our motto, “Great doesn’t have to be complicated.” So often in craft beer you see complex and overpowering flavors that only the most resolved fan would seek out and likely enjoy. Our approach was to provide a style that would easily “bridge the gap” between the craft and the non-craft consumer while providing a tasty experience. It’s our bridge to craft. The same holds true for our Pale Ale.

In your off hours, where's your favorite spot(s) in Atlanta to grab a brew?

I enjoy anywhere that has a nice patio, preferably with some live music, and a large draft selection. Thankfully, Atlanta has an abundance of options meeting the criteria.

What new brews are you loving right now? What beers are your standbys? If you could have a clone of one of your favorite beers on tap at Eventide, what would it be?

In the “new” brew category I’m enjoying our Stout. The road between home brewing and opening the doors at Eventide proved to be long and barricaded by government regulations, leaving us in a dry spell with our own beers. For me our stout has been a long time favorite and I’m glad for the opportunity to have it back in my glass. I don’t really have a stand-by beer, rather a go to style(s). I’m happy with an Imperial Stout or Belgian Strong Ale any day. Given the choice it will always be Oerbier.

Future goals/plans/dreams, either beer-related or not...

I’ll skip the ten year plan and give you the short version. My biggest goal in the coming years is to successfully complete my Doctorate of Pharmacy, while positively contributing to the growth and success of Eventide.

If you could have one beer with anywhere and with anyone you like (past or present) who/where would you raise your glass and why?

Without an ounce of hesitation, Amelia Earhart, during her last flight circumnavigating the globe. She has been an inspiration to me since early childhood. As I little girl I can remember thinking if she could do it so could I (everything from flying planes to carving my own path in a world of preconceived notions). In my mind Amelia stands as a model of courage, resourcefulness, and progressiveness that I would toast too any day.

..................

Join us for a new feature on Atlanta women each month throughout 2014. Not in Atlanta, but still have something of interest to offer our readers? Requests for promotion and individual features are offered on a first come, first serve basis provided there is an opening in our limited schedule and your brand/expertise meets the needs and interests of our readership. Inquiries, interest, and requests for more information should be sent to heybrewtiful{at}gmail[dot}com.