By Jill Stocks
Some of Horsforth’s most influential women gathered for a brew day at Horsforth Brewery, bringing their ideas and skills together for a brew collaboration for International Women’s Day.
For the second year running the brewery invited a number of local women who play valuable roles in the community and in the brewing industry to take part in the brew day producing a beer to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th.
The group were asked before the event for their input into the style of beer, percentage and name and chose to go for a 6% hazy IPA with the name “Fermentress”, as well as contributing ideas and suggestions about the product artwork.
The beer will be ready for general release for that day and will once again raise funds for local charity Leeds Womens Aid.
The independent Leeds-based charity, which also has a charity retail outlet on New Road Side in Horsforth, provides support for women and children affected by domestic abuse.
Cllr Emmie Bromley (Lab, Horsforth), who was also celebrating her birthday, was one of those present and wanted to thank the organisers.
“Massive thank you to Horsforth Brewery and Mark Costello for organising this brew day for us,” she said.
“It’s a massive celebration of International Women’s Day when local women that mean so much to community work going on are able to come together and I can have a chat with everybody about what’s going on, see what their latest passions and adventures are, and mainly just get to enjoy ourselves and take a little time away from feeling all of the pressures of everyday life.”
Guests enjoyed delicious pizza from Yorkshire Pizza Co for lunch before continuing the brewing.
Ann Jones runs Cards or Die, based in Horsforth but bringing people together through board games events across the city.
Ann said: “It’s nice to get to know lots of people. Some people who were here last year and some different people. And today’s really cool. I’ve really enjoyed learning about different hops and having a go at stirring the beer. It’s good fun.
“I do an event here once a month at the brewery where I bring a load of board games along and I teach them and recommend them to people. It’s always a very good and friendly, lovely night.”
Rachel Sellars and Molly Nixon work for Katie White, MP for Leeds North West.
Constituency Support Officer Rachel was keen to praise the event. She said: “Small businesses and community spirit is absolutely at the heart of Horsforth so it’s really brilliant that the Horsforth Brewery team are bringing our community together for this special brew day for International Women’s Day.
“It’s been a real pleasure to be part of it and we can’t wait to see how the brew turns out ready for the wider community to try. And Katy will certainly be down to try it as well when it’s ready.”
The group were given a choice of hops and, after testing their texture and smell, voted for which ones they would like included in the beer, with the winning hop varieties called Crush and Vic Secret.
Alex Jeffries is head brewer at Horsforth Brewery.
“This is the second year we’ve done our brew day for International Women’s Day and it’s always great to bring so many brilliant women from both the industry that we work in but also our local community together to just have a great day celebrating what everyone does”.
Jenni Kerslake is the Taproom Manager at Horsforth Brewery.
“I honestly think it’s lovely. It’s one of my favourite days of the year. So obviously I am a female in the industry already and we don’t see all that many of us so it’s really nice to bring people together.
“A lot of the people here today aren’t in the industry but are kind of on the sidelines so they work a little bit and it’s great for them to see what actually happens here and how it all works. And it’s lovely that people get the choice to choose the hop and make the beer themselves.”
Helen Hartley is a brand consultant in the Horsforth area, who also enjoyed getting stuck in with the brewing process.
Helen has recently been working with Claire Evans and Kezia Roberts, who were also present at the brew day and notable for their work with Horsforth Community Assets Project and Walk of Art respectively, on branding for a new local charitable organisation which we reported on last month.
Helen gave us an update on the new organisation. “I only work with purpose led brands that want to create social impact or environmental impact that’s positive. And I work with 15 other creatives who work like the A Team and come together on projects and we all have an equitable split in whatever we’re doing and who we’re working for.
“I’ve been working with Claire and Kezia on this Horsforth community hub that’s going to bring everybody together. We’ve been doing the naming. We’ve got a good name and we’ve done the strategy and now it’s time to do the creative and bring it to life.”
Horsforth Brewery Taproom on New Road Side offers a wide range of beers and has a number of events from quiz nights to comedy clubs and film clubs. Their next beer festival, Beasts from the East, will take place over the Easter weekend.
The finished beer will be launched on March 6.
International Women’s Day takes place on Sunday, March 8 and this year marks its 115th year of celebrating women’s achievement and raising awareness about discrimination.
