Bathtub Row hosts beer release event in support of Pink Boots Society

Members of the Bathtub Row staff with head brewer David Seymour, left.

To celebrate the contributions of women in the brewing industry, Los Alamos’s Bathtub Row Brewing is having a special beer release event today (Monday) at 6:30 p.m. The beer is Pretty in Pink Pale (made with hibiscus and raspberry), a special recipe devised by the female employees of Bathtub Row. In addition to celebrating Women’s Day, all proceeds from the sales of the beer will benefit the New Mexico chapter of the Pink Boots Society, which advances the cause of women in the brewing industry.

Here are the details for the event, provided by David Seymour, the head brewer at Bathtub Row:

What: Pink Boots Collaboration Brewday Release Party
When: Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Details: Welcoming Pretty in Pink Pale at Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op in Los Alamos — please wear some pink to show your support
Beer description: Brewed by the women of Bathtub Row Brewing to celebrate International Women’s Day in early March, our collaborative recipe (6.1% ABV, 41 IBU) is a dry-hopped American pale ale with a twist as it was fermented with lager yeast. The 2022 Pink Boots Hop Blend contains Idaho Gem, Experimental HBC630, Talus, Triumph, and Loral, with bold floral and berry fruit notes. Then we boosted it with six pounds of actual hibiscus flowers and 42 pounds of raspberry puree. Proceeds benefit the New Mexico chapter of the Pink Boots Society to advance women in the brewing industry.

I conducted the following interview by email with Michelle Frybarger, the team captain for the event. Emily Blumenthal also provided several photos and a video from the brew day, which you can find below the interview.

A few shots of the new Pretty in Pink Pale Ale. (Photos courtesy of Michelle Frybarger.)

Dark Side Brew Crew: Tell us about yourself. What is your relationship with Bathtub Row and the Pink Boots Society?

Michelle Frybarger: I was born in Las Cruces and raised in Los Alamos. I went to grad school in South Dakota. When I graduated in 2020, I moved back to Los Alamos. My sister had worked at Bathtub for years and I always loved the atmosphere. In 2021, I started bartending at Bathtub. The Tub had a very education-forward approach when it came to brewing and bartenders. I was able to help with our Campfire S’mores Stout for my first ever experience with brewing. That was the first time I really got to see how much effort went into brewing a beer. A while after meeting our new brewer (David) and getting to learn little things here and there, he asked if we would have any desire to brew a Pink Boots beer. After getting all the information on Pink Boots, the answer was an obvious yes. From there, David asked if I would want to take the lead on it and see if we had any interest from the ladies. The opportunity to brew a beer with all of the ladies in the bar really excited all of us and we sort of ran with it. It is for a really great cause and such a fun way to get women interested in the brewing process, whether that be for a career or just for a new hobby.

DSBC: Who selected the recipe for the collaboration? It sounds tasty.

MF: Our Pink Boots beer recipe was crafted 100 percent by the ladies of Bathtub Row brewing. We started by deciding what style of beer we thought would showcase the Pink Boots hop blend the best. We decided on an American pale ale. The Pink Boots Hop Blend had a lot of awesome floral and fruity notes, (and) based on that the ladies threw out some ideas including hibiscus and raspberry purée. Initially, we took a vote to decide which one we would prefer; it was a pretty big split between the two so we decided to go ahead with both! David helped us by asking questions to help determine characteristics of our beer. Questions about color, ABV, IBU’s, yeast, etc. We all wanted to experiment with this beer, and I am extremely excited for it. We invited all of the ladies of Bathtub Row to participate in the collaboration. Many of the girls at the tub have other jobs so some helped with the recipe, but could not attend on brew day or could only brew part of the day. The ladies who participated in brew day included Emily Mockler-Wood, Stephanie Krantz, Edyth Seymour, Samantha McRae, Frances Anchondo, and myself. Carmen Kramer and Kayci Miller helped with other parts of the brewing process that didn’t take place on our official brew day including helping with the recipe and transferring our final product. Of course, David Seymour (our head brewer), who helped us with every step of the brewing process and was a wealth of knowledge for all of us learning to brew beer. And, our managers Rob Hipwood and Doug Osborn who provided all the ladies with pink tub shirts and constant support to get everybody excited about this special collaboration!r the release of the final product!

DSBC: Anything that you would like to tell the readers about the event and society?

MF: From Pink Boots website: “Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day® (CBD) is an international celebration of women in the alcoholic and fermentable beverage industry. Each year, teams brew beer in participation of Collaboration Brew Day to help raise funds for Pink Boots scholarships that support our mission to assist, inspire, and encourage the professional development and education of women in our industry. Collaboration Brew Day is a movement that recognizes the impact women have on our industry.” Yakima Chief Hops donates $3 per pound of the hop blend to Pink Boots Society. This year more than 550 teams participated in Collaboration Brew Day. If any women have any interest in joining the Pink Boots Society, you can email membership@pinkbootssociety.org or go to pinkbootssociety.org for more information.

All photos and video courtesy of Emily Blumenthal.