Who We Are - Merideth's Story

My interest in beer started in the late 1980s when a place called Raleigh’s opened up in Berkeley. I was not yet legal drinking age, but Chris was and together we developed an interest in the specialty beers that Raleigh’s served on tap. At that time, the beer we had at home was Sierra Nevada, back in the day when the yeast settled at the bottom of the bottle. Our taste for craft brews was still growing and we had not yet developed the disdain for mass produced beers. So, a beer from the big guys still made it into our mouth every now and again.

We were living in Rockridge at that time and frequently wandered our neighborhood (we didn’t have a car). Then a wondrous thing happened that would forever change our taste in beer. For months, a sign hung in the window of a not yet opened restaurant saying “Coming soon 30 beers on tap!” There were numerous delays to the opening of Barclay’s and the wait became ever more excruciating. As we would find out later, neighbors were concerned about a pub so close to their houses. In the end, the church across the street was the owner’s best ally. Barclay’s opened in October 1991... 30 craft brews on tap all within walking distance of our apartment!

Before we knew it, I had a job at Barclay’s. My original shift was Sunday afternoons. Not the most lucrative of shifts, but I’m sure Chris would beg to differ, as he was a regular beneficiary of free beer! For a novice craft beer drinker like myself, I soon realized that knowing 30 different rotating beers was a little tough. I wanted to sound knowledgeable and be able to recommend beers when customers asked. Here, I’ll pause for a moment to tell you a little secret. As I was getting more familiar with the beers, I learned a little trick from a waiter-friend of mine. He once told me that he didn’t always remember the wines his fine restaurant served, so his pat answer was “medium body, slightly fruity”. Since I couldn’t remember all the beers at any given time, I would pick a beer for my shift and recommend it all night. I had a good description for it at that moment, even if I didn’t remember it the next shift. So if you ever ask a wait staff what their favorite beer, food, etc. is, you are probably getting the answer of the night, somewhat akin to “medium body, slightly fruity”. Anyway, I decided that the best way to get to know the beers was to actually go to the breweries. So that’s how the beer travel all started.

Being the young things that we were, we didn’t have much money. So the travels started out small. In the early days, both working at Barclay’s and going on our close to home beer excursions, I quickly noticed one thing. . .people did not expect women to know much about beer. In fact, they assumed that as a female, I didn’t know anything about beer. Being young, I could get quite snippy and confrontational about that assumption. Over the years, females have become more and more integrated into the craft brew culture... female brewers, judges, critics, and of course, drinkers. These days, I don’t feel that I have so much to prove, as there are a whole host of women out there with loads of beer and brewing knowledge. I may not know as much as some women, but I can hold my own in discussing beer styles and tastes, and I enjoy talking about our beer travels. So that's my story. And remember, “girls are beergeeks too. . .”

Merideth can be contacted at merideth@thebeergeek.com