In the 19th century, thousands of young women traveled to Wisconsin’s hop fields to work the annual harvest, helping fuel the rise of America’s brewing industry. Yet their stories and contributions remain largely overlooked.
Join historian and author Jennifer Jordan for the launch of her newest book, Beer Ghosts: In Search of Lost Hops and the Women Who Grew Them, which brings these women and their remarkable histories to life, revealing their contributions to the rise of legendary breweries like Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz.
In conversation with Beer Culture Center founder and Executive Director Liz Garibay, Jennifer will explore the women's labor, lives, and camaraderie, and the lasting mark they left on American beer.
We’ll bring the spirit of those harvest days to Dovetail with hop picker plates inspired by the hearty communal dinners that fueled long days of picking, and live fiddling -- the soundtrack to evenings when the women kicked up their heels and danced after a day in the fields. Naturally, beer drinking will also be involved.
Each Ticket Includes:
.5L of a Dovetail Beer.
A sample of Beer Ghosts Cream Ale, brewed by Water Street Brewery and Old World Wisconsin.
A Hop Pickers Plate by Beard & Belly (note: this plate is created using research from the book and is meat and cheese heavy).
Live fiddling from Brandi Berry of the Old Town School of Folk Music.
A donation to the Beer Culture Center!
We're proud to partner with Dovetail Brewery, University of Chicago Press, The Book Cellar, Beard & Belly, Old World Wisconsin, and Water Street Brewery for this special celebration of women's history, beer, and community.
This event is presented as part of FoBABE, Dovetail's annual celebration of women in beer during Festival of Barrel Aged Beer (FoBAB) weekend.