Photo | Courtesy of Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co.
Meredith McNamara, brewer at Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co.
March 10, 2020
Q&A: Worcester’s only woman brewer says bro-topia stigma is overstated
Photo | Courtesy of Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co.
Meredith McNamara, brewer at Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co.
Meredith McNamara is a brewer at Worcester manufacturer Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co., and – as far as she knows – the only woman in the city working in that capacity. She talked with WBJ about being a woman in brewing and what are the best beers you’ll find in Worcester, and all over the world.
How did you first get into brewing?
I had a quarter-life crisis about a year after graduating from Westfield State University and learned I didn’t want to work in an office counting down the days to retirement. My office job was great, but I wanted something where I could stand and be active for most of the day while still being able to use critical thinking as well as creativity.
My then boyfriend (now husband) and I were getting into craft beer, and after a few flights at Fort Hill Brewing I said to him, “This is what I want to do!” I started homebrewing, realized I had no idea what I was doing, so started looking for professional brewing schools. I had a very supportive boss at the time, Michelle Russo, who encouraged her employees to follow their passions, but I don’t think she expected her executive assistant to quit and become a professional brewer.
Where did you study?
I found The Siebel Institute of Technology/World Brewing Academy’s master brewer program, which sent me to Chicago and Munich to learn advanced brewing theory and practical applications. It was all Greek to me at that point. I was in class with some brilliant industry folks and learned as much from them as I did from the program. I was sitting next to guys who have won Great American Beer Festival gold medals, so I knew I found the right place to learn. After 20 weeks of intensive learning, I was ready for my first brewery position.
Two weeks after getting home from Munich, I moved to Charleston, S.C., where I started work at Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. The brewery was in the process of opening its production facility, so I was learning with two of the greatest brewers I’ve met to date, Cameron Read and Clint Vick. Siebel was great, but those guys taught me everything I know about working in a brewery. They showed me basic cellaring duties, I cleaned my fair share of kegs, and I eventually graduated to brewing as well as managing the canning line on rotating days. I was also lucky enough to work in both the clean and sour barrel rooms and help them start up their lab program. I had a very well-rounded tenure at EOBC, but the most important skill I picked up was how to efficiently do everything.
What is it like being Worcester’s only woman brewer?
There are a lot of strong women in Worcester’s brewing industry: for example Dani Babineau is the CEO at Redemption Rock Brewing Co., Katrina Shabo is the director of marketing at Wormtown Brewery, and our own Sarah Collins is the taproom manager at Greater Good. They all kick ass at what they do and having women in their roles is so crucial for industry representation.
What is distinctive about being Worcester’s only woman brewer is my day-to-day is on the production floor working side by side with a team of dudes. I’m on my feet all day, bringing at least ten 50-pound bags up the brew deck stairs, digging out the mash tun sometimes twice a day, and I get sweaty. Very sweaty. It’s a very physical job, and the guys don’t make any excuses for me. They expect me to do all the things they do, except for dryhopping, but that’s because I always drop my gaskets. With our open production space, taproom customers get to see a woman working in the brewery, which puts it into the public eye that being a brewer isn’t just a man’s job. I also do a lot of higher-level production duties such as calculating hop contracts, crafting the production schedule, and creating new recipes.
I’m lucky to work with a team that doesn’t disregard me due to my gender. Most of the time they don’t care about me being a woman; I’m mostly just a coworker to them. They respect my opinions and hear me out when I disagree with theirs. Who I am biologically should not interfere with who I am professionally, and I’m glad the guys I work with see that.
Representation of women in the industry is important across all the departments. We need our woman sales reps, general managers, cellarwomen, business development managers, etc. With an increasing number of female beer drinkers, it’s important for women to be seen and heard at all levels of the industry so the female consumers know their opinions are being considered. At the end of the day though, my back is a little sorer than one of a non-brewing woman in the industry.
Do you feel like a pioneer in an industry still leaning heavily male?
I don’t know if I would call myself a pioneer yet, I’m still early in my career. Pioneers are the women brewing while 8 months pregnant, fighting for legislature supporting the craft beer community, opening their own breweries, or generally pushing the envelope. I stick to Beer Judge Certification Program style guidelines, so I’m not quite pushing envelopes when it comes to recipe development.
For now, I am a leader in a brewery but not quite the industry. I have to break my boots in a little more before I can consider myself a pioneer.
How did you end up at Greater Good?
My husband and I decided we couldn’t do another Charleston summer (and we wanted to be closer to family), so we opted to move back closer to home. He already had a job lined up through his same company, but I had to search for something new.
Greater Good had a job posting for a cellarperson, so I applied and interviewed shortly after moving home. I was between accepting at GG and another local brewery, but I really vibed with this team and loved Founder and President Paul Wengender’s vision, so I declined the other guys. GG is all about taking beer to the next level, to evolve into something, well, greater. We’re inspired to push ourselves to the next level. We won’t settle for Pulp Daddy’s Most Tasty IPA in Massachusetts win from Mass. Brew Bros. last year. That was great, but we’re going to continue to improve our recipes and strive for the next accolade.
That’s a team I want to be a part of.
What is your favorite part of the brewing process?
From a practical standpoint, it’s definitely lautering. I just need to watch sight glasses and adjust the pump for 90 minutes, so it allows me time to get work done on my computer. That’s normally when I answer my emails and update the production schedule.
The most fun part of brewing is when we get to be more creative. Whether it’s solving a production problem or making a new recipe, using the creative side of my brain is when I really love being a brewer. The physical aspect is also fun because at the end of a busy week I like to prove to myself I am still capable of carrying a bag of sugar up the brew deck stairs and add it to the kettle.
What is your favorite Greater Good beer?
Right now, it’s Good Night Moon. It’s dark beer season, and this bold, creamy porter is really hitting the spot. Pulp Daddy is what really sold me to GG, though, because it’s so well balanced between hops, malt, juiciness, haze, and the citrus-y aromas.
What is your favorite non-Greater Good brewery? Favorite non-Greater Good beer?
Is it biased if I say Soul Purpose? I’m digging their (our) 2D Wave Pilsner. (Editor’s note: Soul Purpose is the sister brand of Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co.)
Honestly though, locally I’m a huge fan of Hudson’s Medusa Brewing Co. and its Magnum Opus Maibock. Medusa has a great taproom vibe as well as fantastic beer.
My favorite beer ever though is Vitus from German brewery Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan. There's a good reason why it wins international beer competitions every year. Unfortunately, I can’t find it as fresh here as I could in Freising, Bavaria, so I haven’t had it in far too long. Besides, there’s no better place to drink it than its 1,000-year-old brewery.
What would you recommend to women looking to get into the industry?
Don’t let the bro-topia stigma turn you away. For the most part, I have not encountered men in this industry who aren’t accepting of women joining in. Most of them only care about your work ethic: If you show up and work as hard or harder than them, they’re going to welcome you with open arms. They might know more about football than you, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be excluded from conversations not related to work either.
Stand your ground when you know more on a subject than one of the guys, but also don’t be too stubborn when someone suggests differently. You might have to fight a little harder to prove you know what you’re talking about, but it’s rare that someone will completely disregard what you have to say. At the same time, if you do need to fight harder to get a message across, it probably isn’t because you’re a woman, but because some guys are too stubborn to accept the opinions of others.
Anything else to add?
If you haven’t visited the GG taproom, it’s a must-see when you’re in the Worcester area. Any given Saturday, you’ll find license plates in our parking lot from all over New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. We have a great vibe for people of all ages, free arcade games, the kitchen crushing it with new food items, and we’re dog friendly.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Editor Brad Kane.
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Anonymous
March 10, 2020
Can’t wait to stop by GG next time I'm in Worcester to enjoy Good Night Moon. Cheers!
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