Beer is no longer a man's game, as South African Breweries's new Trade Brewer Kate Jones is proving.
Ironically, brewing beer has traditionally been a woman's role. In African culture, it is the women who make the much-loved brew, while in ancient Egypt it was considered the job of the priestesses. But when it came to mass production, it was considered a man's domain.
Jones has been in the industry for 17 years. She was born in the United Kingdom's Burton-on-Trent, which is considered the trade brewing capital of England. "I was bound to go into beer after growing up there," she said with a grin. "It was a way of turning a hobby into a career."
After completing a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biology she took a temporary job that set her on the road she still is on today.
She first started as a "girlie" technician, but soon learned everything there was to know about beer, from the selection of the raw ingredients and brewing and fermenting to production, packaging and marketing.
Jones then sat her brewing exams for an internationally recognised brewing qualification.
She has been a regional production manager, a quality control manager, scientific assistant and a brewer, one of the few women to achieve this feat worldwide. Jones moved to South Africa last May and joined SAB as a Trade Brewer after being made redundant in the UK.
"I realised I had a choice: stay in the UK and change jobs, or stay with beer and leave the UK," she said. "It wasn't hard to choose."
Jones is now in the process of applying to become a South African citizen. She calls herself an ambassador of beer, and one of her duties includes educating the public on the beer culture which, while strong, is still somewhat of a "glug-glug" culture.
"There are as many flavours and aromas in a beer as in a fine wine," she said.
Jones's other duties include technical research and recommendations, trade audits of beer, equipment and practises, as well as training of staff and consumers on how best to use beer. She is also an international beer judge, having judged at the Brewery Industry International Awards held in the UK.
For her, there is no such thing as an average day. On Monday, Jones spent half the morning in a quality meeting with management, followed by two hours of administration.
Her afternoon was taken up with training a group of South Coast barmen in how draft beer is produced and how to pour the perfect beer, complete with the right amount of head and the correct "lacing." Lacing is the remnant of foam that clings to the side of the glass after the first sip is taken.
Her evening was spent at the Beer Connoisseurs' Club, giving a two-hour lecture on Beer Culture. This is one woman who knows her beer.
