Whitney Thompson
The idea for Project Venus started (as most good ideas do) over a beer one night.
After a day of judging at the Great American Beer Festival, Victory’s own Quality Assurance Manager and former brewer Whitney Thompson and Megan Parisi of Cambridge Brewing Co. sat back and relaxed with a couple beers. Their conversation turned to what it was like to be a woman working in an industry where most brewers are men. The two decided it would be fun if they brewed a beer together – just women– and Project Venus was born.
They parted ways that night, but the idea continued to develop over e-mail. They brought in Laura Ulrich of Stone Brewing Company, and the three brainstormed flavors, styles and recipes. Then on a snowy day in January, the ladies gathered at Cambridge Brewing Co. in Massachusetts and brewed.
It wasn’t until after the trio brewed their Belgian Dubbel with oranges and saffron that they realized their beer was historic. It was the first collaboration beer in the country brewed solely by women. Liquid girl power.
Only one keg of that beer made it out of Massachusetts and into Pennsylvania. We will be tapping it right here at the Victory Brewpub on Monday, May 16 at 6 p.m. during our first ever Girls Just Want to Have Suds ladies’ night.
During the course of the evening you’ll get to hear Whitney talk about her brewing experiences, enjoy four different food and beer pairings and get a taste of Project Venus.
Tickets to Girls Just Want to Have Suds are $35, and can be purchased online or at the door.
- K.H.
In terms of historical accuracy you may want to look into Tunbridge Brewing in Vermont in the late 90′s and early 2000′s. They were out of business by 2002 but were women owned and operated. Liz Trott was owner/brewer and Janice Moran handled business. When they expanded male assistants were hired but in the first few years Liz did all the brewing.
New Glarus Brewing & Weyermann Malting also produced an R&D beer last year which has been rereleased this year- http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm?BeerID=91
Not sure if the gals actually brewed it together but that’s the impression…