International Women’s Day was March 8th and breweries either brewed or packaged their Pink Boots beers. We’ve got an area rundown, but first, what is a Pink Boots beer? It’s a beer brewed with local chapters of the Pink Boots Society, an international organization that empowers women in the beer industry. These beers often use a blend of hops selected specifically for the annual brew day, and for the fifth straight year it comes from Yakima Chief Hops. Area Pink Boots participants are creating beers with “Idaho Gem™, HBC 630, Talus™, Triumph and Loral®. The expected brewing values are 12.5% alpha, with expected aromas of citrus, sweet aromatics and berry.” Or, in layperson’s terms, look for a lot of hazy IPAs.
At Right Proper Shaw, the DC chapter of the Pink Boots Society used 22 pounds of this hop blend for a 10 barrel batch of beer, which will be fermented with Kveik yeast from Virginia’s Jasper Labs. Look for it on tap, and maybe in 16 ounce cans, at the end of March.
Fresh off their third anniversary, Silver Branch canned their Pink Boots beer on the 8th, a double IPA using the Yakima Chief hop blend. It’s for sale at the brewery and should hit distribution next week. Want tasting notes? You got ’em! “2022 Pink Boots hop blend and the Omega Cosmic Punch yeast makes for a fruity flavor bomb! Complex flavors, and aromas of citrus, passion fruit, and guava dominate, with a floral and piney-resin flavor lingering in the finish.”
Streetcar 82 also packaged their beer, a double dry hopped hazy IPA with hopping rates at 6 pounds per barrel. They used Patent’s New England IPA yeast strain, and tossed white wheat and oats into the grain bill. Bottles are available at the brewery, and it may be on tap at the Hyattsville location of Pizzeria Paradiso, too. Our very own Brandy Nicole Holder was there to document the packaging and then had a conversation with the women of Streetcar 82. Watch the video below!
Up in Olney, Lone Oak brewed a farmhouse ale for Pink Boots, and we’re sure there are others in the area. Watch this space, and our social media feeds, for more details, and listen to our interview with Silver Branch’s Erin Karla Young from last year.
