| Fem Ale |
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Romans named beer cerevisia, from Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem containing the oldest beer recipe honours Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing. Hieroglyphs on the walls of Egyptian tombs depict ancient beer goddesses Bast, Sekhmet, Hathor and Tenenit, honoured by drunk worshippers. In ancient Peruvia, only women of high rank were permitted to brew chicha, a potent beer-like beverage of which 475 gallons a week was made from corn and spicy berries. In Europe, beer brewing was always a female activity because it was an offshoot of cooking and, in particular, bread-making. Then, working from family farms or estates, female brewers used ale as a fundraiser for churches and monasteries. Before the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism, English women enjoyed rough and ready equality with men and controlled most of the brewing trade - production, distribution, retail, ownership and management of pubs, even selling behind bars. These brewsters or ‘ale wives' also hawked ale in the street, sold ale from their homes, and carried ale on their backs from brewhouse to client. Only when the production of ale and beer became profitable and prestigious did men get impassioned and do what had always been women's work. Yet today, despite women having spending power far beyond men, beer remains very much a man's world. But is it? Madonna this year admitted that she loved English bitter. Gourmets, creatives, celebrities and media gatekeepers are increasingly beer-savvy. And more beer companies in Australia and overseas are pitching fair and square at the fem-ale market. And why not? Women drinkers are more discerning beer drinkers than men anyway. Not only are they scientifically proven to have a better sensory perception for tasting beer, they demand more flavour, complexity, fruitiness, style and character in their beers. Sure, fewer calories and lower carbs amp the sale but wheat beers, lambics, hefe-weizens and light ales feature heavily on female radars.
In England last year, concerned that 36 per cent of women in pubs were drinking wine, with just 14 per cent preferring beer, the British Beer & Pub Association sponsored fashion shows via a A$2.4million marketing spend. Its ‘Beautiful Beer' campaign aimed to replace traditional pints and halves with female-friendly thirds in sophisticated stemmed tulip glasses, to shatter the macho image of beer. In New Zealand this summer, they went a step further. Wellington's Shed 22 brewery in Taranaki successfully lured women away from wine, alcopops and other fruit-focused drinks with Sassy Red, Wicked Blonde, Sultry Dark and Demonic Ruby - stylish tap brews with sumptuous bodies encased in sensuous and distinctive rib-necked bottles. In Germany, where 75 per cent of men are regular beer drinkers, compared with 29 per cent of women, they're tapping the female market with ‘health beers' sold through pharmacies, with colourful claims. According to its maker, Karlsberg (no relation to Carlsberg), Karla, a honey-coloured beer in a curvy transparent bottle, brings "peace, balance, calmness and equilibrium" thanks to a mix of hops, herbs and one per cent alcohol content. Meanwhile, its sister brand Karla Well-Be is an offspring of the functional foods/nutraceuticals trend, boasting folic acid, lecithin soya extract and vitamins which claim to "add to the body's well-being". Even Weihanstephan in Bavaria, the world's oldest brewery and AIBA Grand Champion, isn't above bizarre pitches to the fairer sex. Its frauenbier (ladies' beer) Xan is said to help stop cancer due to its high content of xanthohumol, an anti-oxidant whose anti-inflammatory properties also relieve heart problems, osteoporosis and even malaria. Content Bilk, from Abashiri Beer in Japan, is another weird beer designed to appeal to female taste buds. Made with one-third milk and boasting a fruity, low-malt taste, the idea for the milk beer is said to have come from local dairy farmers, who thought that the product would be an ideal way to use surplus milk while capturing a growing market. Over in the US, the percentage of female beer drinkers is believed to be as high as 40 per cent. With Budweiser's Bud Ultra the clear leader in a rapidly expanding low-carb market, the already female-skewed Michelob Ultra Pilsner recently uncoiled three new femme-fuelled fruit varieties: Lime Cactus, Tuscan Orange Grapefruit, and Pomegranate Raspberry - all, of course, claiming to be made from "natural flavours". Meanwhile here in Australia, according to Beverage Brand Tracking studies acquired by Beer & Brewer, the most popular brands with Aussie females are Crown Lager, Corona, Victoria Bitter, Cascade Premium Light, Hahn Premium Light, Boags Premium, Heineken, Carlton Draught, Stella Artois, Hahn Premium and Pure Blonde. More interestingly, Roy Morgan data released in February had Fosters' low-carb Pure Blonde (of which 30 per cent of sales are to women) as growing at a staggering 165 per cent this past year, making it by far the fastest growing packaged beer brand by volume in the country. This in a market where regular beer sales are flat and premium beer growth is climbing at just 12 per cent.
Low-carb beers aren't new: CUB's Diamond Draft, Carlton LJ (low-joule), Hahn Long Brew and Toohey's Maxim have all come and gone. But the success of Pure Blonde is about marketing as much as the market. Most ads for Australian mainstream brands are boorish, testosterone-loaded exploitations of the female form. For women - already burdened with the mistaken perception that beer is unhealthy, fattening, and unsophisticated - they're poison. But Pure Blonde hyped itself as a beer for "young, unisex, health-conscious people who want to look good", according to Chief Brewer Bill Taylor, and reaped dividends. Not that you'll hear the major breweries admit that any of their beers are pitched directly at females, presumably for fear they would scare off their male drinkers. Understandable, given that the last Aussie beer to unleash a fem-ale was when Alan Bond rejigged an existing mid-strength brand as Swan Gold in the late 1980s, only to see women reject it en masse. The lesson? Don't patronise women with ‘chick beers' when all they want is to drink on an equal footing with men. |
A man's drink? Think again. Beer is the most feminine of elixirs, a gift from a goddess, brewed by females and perfected via a woman's touch, says Angus Fontaine.
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