Fast-forwarding from pre-history and into the archaeological record, paint a little Bob-Ross picture with me: brewing was considered kitchen (read: women’s) work until very recently. Because of its close affiliation to standing over a hot stove, and doing some often-boring measuring, heating, stirring and testing, it was part of the banal chores, such as baking bread or sweeping - and not considered a working man’s task. While it is noted that women are often portrayed in historical depictions as making beer, such as in ancient Egyptian or Mayan civilizations, it’s been relatively more recently that we’ve gotten the short end of the mashing paddle. When we start to focus on Western and then Global North culture, especially Europe during the Middle Ages (let’s say around 1400-1700 CE), we see something quite sinister occur when it comes to pushing women out of the brewing world by deviantizing the feminine overall …