Cold Water Brewery staff creates special brew for International Women's Day

Its an annual tradition at Cold Water Brewery, creating a special brew made by the female staff on International Women's Day.

The business, created and owned by long time South Lake Tahoe local Debbie Brown, had a day long event for the female staff, starting out with breakfast and ending hours later with the brew "Hey Girl Hey Double IPA" fermenting.

As members of the Pink Boot Society, the Cold Water Brewery used a hop blend put together by the group which was created to assist, inspire and encourage women beer industry professionals to advance their careers through education.

Under the guidance of brewmaster Ryan Parker, the women at Cold Water starting milling the 700 pounds of grain early Thursday morning. They then put it into mash with water, which brings the sugar out of the grain. It then sat for an hour when they shoveled out the mash and transferred into the kettle where it boiled. After cooling, the mixture was moved into the six barrel fermenters. Normally the hops are added in at this step, but they tried adding the hops into the mash to see if it changes the result. With the heavy amount of grain used in the beer they expect a dense beer, something everyone has to wait about 17 days to try out.

During the day a Carson Valley farmer came by to pick up the used grain to feed his animals, something he and another farmer do often so there is no waste in the process. Employee Brigid Campbell also took some of the used grain to take home, dry out and bake bread with.

Last year's Pink Boot brew was a Colonial Style Ale called "Bearded Lady." They followed the colonist's recipes and imported the grain from England.

"It's incredible to work for the woman who owns this brewery in what is normally a man's business," said Manager Jacquie Dunlop. "She runs this business with heart and passions. We're all lucky to have her."