Every night I read my wife a story.

In honor of the UC Davis Tapping Potential scholarship campaign, we’ve been reading Girly Drinks – A World History of Women and Alcohol, by Mallory O’Meara. Across cultures and throughout history it’s been eye-opening learning about the foundational role women have played in brewing.

Fascinating, tragic and seasonally appropriate things we’ve discovered:

• In medieval Europe, brewing was one of the few industries not dominated by men, and every village had at last one “alewife” who made and sold beer out of her home to support herself and her family
• Alewives each had their own recipe and used different herbs to flavor their ale (horseradish was popular, apparently), and brewed everything in large cauldrons
• When the brew was ready (it took about 24 hours), the alewife would “advertise” by putting her “alestake” out above her door – basically a horizontal stake with a bundle of sticks and twigs on one end that looked a lot like a broom
• Alewives often wore large, sometimes pointed, hats to stand out and promote their product
• Most alewives had a cat or two to keep mice out of their grain

So we’ve got cauldrons, brooms, tall pointy hats and cats… and women who mainly sold their ale on Sundays, which put them in direct competition with religious institutions for the hearts, souls and attendance of the common folk.

According to O’Meara, the witch stereotype we’re all so familiar with today is, in many, many respects, a campaign to re-cast alewives as evil and sinful. This, along with the larger scale commercialization of beer, drove the alewives out of business.

Sorry for the long educational update!

11 Days Left and 60% to Goal

With 11 days left in our campaign, we’re at 60% of our $30,000 goal. This is our big push to the finish line, so please tell your friends, family, followers - anyone who loves beer and diversity - about the UC Davis Tapping Potential Fund. We need their support to help transform lives and increase diversity in the brewing industry we love.

Thanks, as always, for your support!

The UC Davis Tapping Potential Fund crowdfunding campaign is officially up and running. We're trying to raise $30,000 to... Well, to transform lives! Last year, as a beer and diversity-loving community, we came together to raise $16,000 to send the Tapping Potential Fund's first scholarship winner, Mariana da Silva Schneider, to the online UC Davis Master Brewers Program.

And the impact was profound. In her words:

“You’ve changed my life. The goal to change the industry is absolutely amazing, but you’re also changing lives along the way. You are helping build the roads to people’s dreams - in more ways than you can imagine.”

Since she entered the program, Mariana has switched careers. She's starting her own beer brand and is preparing for the next phase of her journey in the brewing industry. Mariana did the work, but through your generosity, you gave her the opportunity.

This year we want to do more.

We want to offer more scholarships, to people at different levels in their careers. When you donate to the UC Davis Tapping Potential Fund you transform lives and, as those leaders advance in their careers, you help them transform the industry we love.

Thanks for the support - If you can donate, please do. If you're on social, we'd love a share so your friends and family can help us make a difference.

Our Second Annual Campaign, Our First Annual Kick-of event

Our friends at Sudwerk (a HUGE supporter of the Tapping Potential Fund, UC Davis and diversity in brewing) hosted us for a kick-off event at their Taproom and Dock Store. Fun was had, beers were drank, and most importantly, dollars were raised for the cause. Thanks, Sudwerk, and everyone who turned out!