How women drinkers could save the male-centric beer industry

Boldly displayed in the craft-beer section of a supermarket in New York City are four-packs of brightly coloured cans with geometric patterns, inviting consumers to experience the fruit-forward beers within them. If their aesthetic comes off as "feminine", especially amid the masculine marketing of the cans beside them, that's the point.

The company behind the drinks in this pastel-and-jewel-toned packaging is Talea Beer Co, a woman-owned Brooklyn-based brewery, founded in 2019 by LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson, both 37.

"Our hypothesis when founding Talea was that women like us were not being considered as customers by the existing craft beer breweries," write Darland and Hankinson, pictured at top,  in an email to the BBC. "We aim to make craft beer more inclusive, whether you are a woman, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a minority or just new to craft beer."

Women have always consumed beer, but they've often been an afterthought in the alcohol landscape – if not entirely alienated by sexist marketing tropes. For years, major beer brands and craft breweries alike have targeted men as their primary demographic. But where UK-based brewers have made more moves to pivot from sexist marketing, US brands are playing catch up.

One of the most breakthrough adverts was a 2019 television spot featuring a young woman kicking off her shoes, grabbing an ice-cold Coors Light, flopping onto the couch and deftly unhooking her bra with one hand to unwind for the day. Now, major brands like Miller Lite and Corona are taking similar approaches to centre women in their advertising – and in the case of brands like Talea, brewing with a range of drinkers at the forefront from day dot. 

As women begin to outnumber men as alcohol consumers, the beer world is counting on them to imbibe – and beginning to accommodate them as a major market, once pushed aside in a male-dominated industry.

An 'economic imperative'

Kate Bernot, a beverage-alcohol reporter who has written extensively on demographic shifts for Good Beer Hunting's Sightlines, calls inclusive marketing an "economic imperative". She says, "The cool cultural norms today are not heteronormative, gendered cultural norms anymore. I think women – and many men – are thrilled to see a smarter, fresher take. It requires companies to work a little harder."

Bernot notes a big reason for this shift is a growing number of women leaders calling the shots in the historically male beer-company boardrooms. Maggie Timoney, chief executive officer at Heineken USA, climbed the ranks within the company to take the top spot in 2021; at Molson Coors, Michelle St Jacques has led as chief commercial officer since March. Bernot also cites women's increased purchasing power, with US women projected to own three-quarters of the nation's discretionary spending by 2028.

All these factors are propelling the beer industry well past the sexist culture of the 90s and early 2000s. "Craft brewers – especially in the early phases of the craft beer movement in America – had this very rebellious attitude," says Bernot. This mindset led to what Bernot calls a "very aggressive kind of marketing" – for example, Stone Brewing's Arrogant Bastard Ale, a so-called celebration of "liquid arrogance" with a tagline that proclaims: 'You're not worthy.'

While Stone Brewing's tongue-in-cheek marketing isn't inherently sexist – indeed, it might appeal to some women who wish to challenge the stereotypical male consumer lens – Bernot argues that brutish marketing might dissuade potential consumers who already feel excluded from the industry.

"That attitude is very off-putting for women – it's kind of off-putting for everyone," she says. "You're literally being told, 'This isn't for you'.''

Not only have existing companies gotten wise to shifting their messaging, but new entrants are also finding a commercial opportunity in going after women drinkers and other historically forgotten consumers as their primary markets.

One way to do this is not only to tweak packaging and beer names to avoid alienation, but also brewing with a wider variety of palettes in mind. Talea offers a range of complex brews, several of which feature lighter backbones or fruit notes sometimes absent from many brewers' dark or heavy, high ABV selections.

"We looked at rating data from [ratings website] BeerAdvocate and found that the majority of the top 10 beers for users who identified as female were sour beers versus high-ABV IPAs and stouts that rated highest for men," says Hankinson. "That inspired our portfolio of fruit-forward beers that are low in bitterness … Our vision is that women are introduced to craft beer through flavour profiles they know and love – and then they trust us and hopefully try beers beyond our sours."

It's working: today, Darland and Hankinson estimate that about 70% of their taproom customers are women.

The founders are quick to caveat, however, that their beers are not the "diet" drinks that make up much of the women-focused alcohol market. "Women don't want to be pandered to," say the founders. "Many potential investors asked us about calorie counts or whether we would be the [low-calorie alcohol company] 'Skinnygirl' of beer. Female consumers aren't as simple as wanting diet drinks… our guests are investing in an experience."

Averie Swanson, who founded Keeping Together, a US-based small-batch brewing project in Santa Fe, New Mexico, agrees. As one of just a few US-based women certified as a Master Cicerone, a top beer-industry certification standard, Swanson focuses on brews with a "softer touch", with names like Creatures of Infinite Contradiction and Dreaming of a Common Language. 

Undulant & Impermanent, one of Swanson's brews, features notes of spiced granola, caramel red apple, Chinese five spice and marigold flowers. While not necessarily marketed towards women drinkers, she says the beer encourages curiosity and conversation – a departure from the tastes and positioning common in the beer industry. 

"I want to encourage people to hold space for one another – to engage with one another," says Swanson. That approach extends to Keeping Together's physical brewery and taproom space, which she hopes to open in 2024. Swanson hired an architect who specialises in creating inclusive spaces to consult on everything from the gender-neutral bathroom stalls, to the wheelchair-accessible seating. The space will also feature rows of mirrors to allow customers to "see themselves" as people who belong in the space.

'Women have the money and power to choose what they want'

Projects like these aren't simply centring traditionally excluded groups to create an inclusive drinking experience. They're also making smart business moves.

"If you take women's preferences into consideration as a beer company, you will also attract male consumers who just don't like the existing products," says Bernot. "You will also speak to people who weren't being served by [your previous marketing.]" 

Swanson agrees, noting industry inclusion isn't necessarily about gender essentialism; rather, it's the natural answer to changing cultural tides.

"People collectively are just being more cognisant of what they're putting out into the world, and how they're representing themselves and their brands," she says. "I think it's a product of there being more women and more people of colour [in the industry] – more disenfranchised groups becoming a bit more present and a bit more represented."

Ultimately, women like beer – and they have the money to spend with brands that take notice.

"Women are making money, going to college and having really high-level professional jobs that afford them a good income and a lot of power," says Bernot. "They're empowered to go out and impact the world of alcohol brands, because they have the power and the desire to find products that are meaningful to them. Women have the money and power to choose what they want." 

-bbc