Last updated 17:40, Monday, 06 October 2008

Beer... man’s best friend... is facing a mid-life crisis and going in search of its feminine side. Sarah Newstead discovers why it’s now fine to fancy a pint and meets the Cumbria woman taking the man’s world of brewing by storm

Sarah Newstead enjoys a pint

• Slideshow: taste those beers!

Beer belly, beer breath, beer monster. Not phrases typically destined to catch the feminine imagination. Only 12 per cent of women in the UK drink beer. Is it the taste that keeps women wedded to their dry white wines?

Does a pint glass prove to be an unwieldy evening accessory?

Or is it more likely that beer has traditionally been marketed as a bloke’s beverage with women playing bit parts as busty barmaids?

In a bid to get more women quaffing something tall, dark and hoppy, brewing giant Coors has launched a working group called project Eve.

Its mission is to develop a beer, packaging and a marketing plan, aimed at girls.

But Ray Jackson, regional director at Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), believes plenty of Cumbrian women already enjoy a pint or two.

“There’s more and more women taking up drinking real ale. There is a difference between men and women’s tastes, but brewers are going forward with new ales that appeal to everyone.

“There’s a lot of rural pubs closing down now and your image of an old gent at the bar smoking a pipe and drinking mild is changing.”

Fiona Deal, owner of Geltsdale Brewery, keeps flower patterned wellies and has a decorative toilet seat in her Brampton-based brewery.

There’s nothing brawny-armed about her and not the slightest hint of a beery bulge at her waistline. Neither does she greet me sporting flaxen pigtails with a brimming flaggon of ale in each hand.

Yet Fiona, 44, holds her own in a the male dominated brewing world with Geltsdale beers in demand across the county and beyond. To talk about making beers just for women doesn’t make much sense to Fiona – her real ales have already reached a female market without the need for fruity flavours or hunks in trunks.

“I do get a lot of women coming in here regularly to buy beer, and they’re not buying for their male partners. Its image is starting to change – now we get really nice bottles of beer and it’s all taking on a gourmet food and drink image rather than being simply a blokey thing.”

While strawberry, cherry and low carb beers have made their way into the market angling to tempt the female consumer with a lighter taste, Fiona keeps things more traditional.

“Some of the women like the milds and the brown ales – the more sugary ones. But it is not about women and men, it is about good beer.”

Interest in the brewing process is also high among ladies. Fiona has entertained women’s groups at Geltsdale giving the local Women’s Institute the grand tour, demonstrating the brewing process and having “a bit of a giggle”.

Apparently women brewed beer in ancient Egypt and were rolling out the barrels as prolific beer producers in Europe in the 1700s.

“People say it’s an odd thing for a woman to do. Most people don’t even know that it’s a woman who makes the beer. My son was in here the other day and someone popped in – they directed all the questions at him. And I get bizarre looks rolling up in the van and hauling casks.

“CAMRA have been really supportive. Two years ago I started from nothing and now I have seven beers. They couldn’t really complain!”

“I’ve not done a lot of marketing, the beers market themselves and I’m working at capacity.”

Fiona, a former geologist who also worked in the Heritage industry, fell in love with the craft after indulging in a spot of home brewing.

Now Geltsdale Brewery has become her second home.

“I have to make time not to be here!” The brewery is now part of family life with the five fermenters named after her five children. “My kids like being able to come in, and the older ones like coming down and getting some beer if they’re going to a party. Plus, if I need to pop out and get the shopping or some school uniform I can.”

Fiona drinks hers in a half-pint glass at the end of a long day alongside some quality chocolate.

It goes to show, in Cumbria at least, women and beer are already a winning combination.