Fall Beer Tour: Women Brewing Under the Radar…
Do Girls Just Want to Have Fun? Well, yes. But these ladies are also dead serious about their beer. Gisela and Monika Meinel-Hansen (Gisi und Moni) are the thirteenth generation of brewers in their family. They are genetically hardwired to brew beer, and the heavy weight of tradition bears down on them, but that hasn’t stopped them and two other lady brewers in the region from making waves with a new line of beer for women.
Back when Sigi Friedmann stepped into her father’s shoes and took over the 140-year-old family brewery, things were different.
and won a loyal following with her Festbier, an uncharacteristic Pils, a Landbier and “Sigi’s Lager,” landing a European Beer Star Award in the process.
Sigi and her daughter Barbara, who will take over the reins in the future, keep up with the times and have modernized, but they’re “Slow Brewers” at heart. Their beer is rooted in the region and they don’t cut corners. They still use malt and hops from small growers in the area although these cost more. They also insist on open fermentation, which corporate brewers abandoned years ago because it’s more labor-intensive. Brewing is a a labor of love for the Friedmann ladies. Back to the main Beer Tour page.