An Interview with Ellen Baylis of The Outhouse Brewery, Wokingham.
Ellen, please talk us through your journey with beer!
I was 5 or 6 when I undertook my first brewery tour. It was at the Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds. I remember the large copper brewing vessels and my father joking about putting me inside one to give it a good clean. I wasn’t impressed by this remark but I soon cheered up once I saw the dray horses.
At 14, I started working in a pub and at 15 (don’t tell anyone), I learned how difficult it can be to pour a ‘decent’ bitter shandy. Back then, I don’t ever remember women ordering pints of beer. It was rare for me to serve a lady beer at all; if I did then it was always a half and, quite often, a shandy.
I was 20 when I had my first ‘beer drinking session’. I’d had the occasional half but never a full pint until 3 friends and I went on a trip to Cardiff to watch the rugby. We drank pints and pints of beer and watched a game that I knew nothing about. I remember ordering the first pint and thinking ‘this isn’t lady like, ladies are not really supposed to drink beer and, if they do, it should be a half.’ At that age, 5 years later, I’d still be taken aback when a lady ordered a pint.
I experienced my first (and probably last) home brewing experience during the original COVID-19 lock down, where I helped Peter (The Outhouse Brewery, Wokingham) brew an Oatmeal Stout. The process felt long and very manual, but I enjoyed learning about the science and stages of the beer making process. I had also started to learn about all the different styles of beer. I started to learn to identify what flavours were produced by which hops, malts and yeast. In 2021, The Outhouse Brewery opened, which furthered my journey with beer. In 2022, I experience my first festival at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival in London and in 2023 the journey continues as I look forward to my first beer festival abroad, in Bruges, taking place in June.
Were you always a beer drinker or is this something that developed over time?
Despite being surrounded by beer from a young age, I didn’t develop a taste for it until I was much older. I didn’t like the bitterness from the styles I had been exposed to. I prefer ‘live’ keg beer over cask because I prefer my beer to be colder than cellar temperature. Arriving late to the party and witnessing the beer making process has allowed me to truly appreciate that the best beer is the beer you like. I still enjoy discovering that new style or flavour profile. My palette is always developing and I am always surprising myself with what I like.
Do you have some preferred beer styles? What are they?
Right now, for me it is the rich, sweet and malty beers that usually hit the spot, although I am learning to love the fruity beers with a low bitterness, too. A white stout always excites me, as does a doppelbock. I definitely prefer something with a very smooth mouthfeel.
Thinking about women in beer, who has inspired you?
Firstly, it has to be all of the female drinkers who unapologetically order a pint. There are plenty of reasons not to order a pint but being a woman is not one of those reasons! Also, the ladies who walk into The Outhouse Brewery and say “I don’t usually drink beer but, whilst I am here I would like to try something…” I am inspired by them feeling it is a safe space to experiment with beer.
Secondly, it is the women who work locally within this industry/supporting this industry. It is inspiring to see Ruth Mitchell as the new Managing Director of Elusive Brewing. Danielle the Brewer and one of the founders of Binary Botanical is a real inspiration too. I love her philosophy on sustainability and use of the hop leaf, usually a waste product, rather than the hop flower itself. It is also inspiring seeing female CAMRA members like Sue Thirlaway take up many roles in campaigning for real ale!
Finally, I also have to give credit to the allies of women in beer. The customers that don’t automatically assume that because you are a female you won’t be able to advise them or converse with them on beer. The employers creating a better, safer working environment for women in beer too. Along with my educator Peter, who has taught me about this whole new world of flavour.
What steps do you think the beer industry should consider to help and encourage more women to join the industry?
Women in beer needs to feel like a normality. Whilst it is difficult to say for sure whether women invented beer, it is known than woman played an important role in the brewing of beer in many ancient cultures. In medieval Europe, women known as alewives were responsible for brewing and selling beer, often operating their own small businesses. However, as brewing became more industrialised, men began to take over the profession and women’s involvement in brewing declined.
For me, the industry should provide a more welcoming and inclusive workplace by providing education and implementing policies and a culture that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion. The industry should also take steps to engage female consumers by creating marketing campaigns that appeal to them. If women in beer feels more normal it will become more normal.
What are some of the challenges you see faced by women working in beer?
Rightly or wrongly, I am going to liken this to the KeyKeg debate, and the challenges I see with live craft beer being recognised as real ale. If people cannot open their mind up to equality or change and are so fixed on how things used to be done that they cannot see an alternative method, which brings with it its own advantages in terms of convenience, consistency and sustainability, then the industry won’t move forward. If one cannot celebrate diversity then a more inclusive and welcoming culture will never be achieved.
When you consider companies with direct competition, The craft brewing industry is by far the most supportive industry I have personally come across. There is a real sense of camaraderie within this part of the industry when it comes to one brewery helping another brewery out. Be it lending equipment or giving advice, there appears to be a genuine community spirit amongst breweries. But when you open this up to the beer industry as a whole and take into consideration the distribution, sale and consumption of beer, unfortunately, I feel we still have a long way to go… The biggest challenge I see faced by women working in beer is people’s attitude towards women working in beer. It is not yet considered a ‘norm’ and until attitudes start to change, there will always be a struggle. People need to no longer be surprised that a woman might actually know something about beer. And I use the word people because some women need to also recognise that this industry isn’t a male exclusive industry. It’s a beer club not a boy’s club.
The Outhouse is undergoing a big expansion, talk us through the coming months!
Correct, we are expanding! We are doubling our size by knocking through to the unit next door, so increasing our indoor seating capacity from 17 to over 40 seats. Only part of the wall is going though in order to keep a 2-room dynamic. We respond to feedback from our customers and a popular comment has been how they enjoy the cosiness of the place, so we don’t want to lose that. We are also increasing our tap count from 8 to 10, which is exciting, to offer more beer styles. There will be increased offerings in other areas, too, including a coffee machine and takeaway cans of our own beers.
What’s your favourite beer, if you had to pick!
This is a really tough question. I was fortunate enough to go on holiday earlier this year and got to try a Mojito Sour; it quickly became a firm holiday favourite. But I do have to admit (and please no one tell Peter, the brewer), it has to be Chocol-oat by The Outhouse Brewery. It is a chocolaty Oatmeal Stout served from a creamer tap which gives it a real smooth mouthfeel.
Published in Mine’s A Pint, issue 59.
Mine's A Pint - Reading & Mid-Berks CAMRA 