Honolulu Beerworks Hosts the First Like a Girl Street Festival and Debuts a New Pink Boots Beer

Drink like a girl.

Pink Boots Society

Photo: courtesy of Honolulu Beerworks

In celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Honolulu Beerworks will host the Like a Girl Street Festival, a celebration of the 100^th year of women’s right to vote in the United States. Backed by DJs, the festival will have retailers, food vendors, artists and beer; it’s an all-day celebration of women-owned businesses on O‘ahu. Co-sponsored by Young’s Market Co., the free event on Saturday, March 7, runs from noon to 9 p.m. outside the brewery on Cooke Street in Kaka‘ako. VIP tickets ($20) can be purchased online with added benefits including discounts and swag. ⁠Proceeds from the festival will support the Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i, whose mission is “to support innovative, grassroots programs that empower women and girls statewide.”

For beer fans, Honolulu Beerworks will release this year’s Pink Boots Society collaboration beer, the Triple Threat Triple IPA, which was brewed during the first Hawai‘i Craft Beer Week in February. “This year we had the greatest diversity in terms of participants from different companies and all aspects of the brewing industry,” says Roxayne Spruance, director of brewing operations at Honolulu Beerworks. “We had women brewers from small to national level breweries, women from distributors, to beer-tenders to certified beer judges, beer reps from local to national brands, as well as some women business owners who knew very little about beer but were eager to learn. The energy in the brewery was really indescribable and some of the connections made will be everlasting.”

The Pink Boots Society is an advocacy and support group for women in the beer industry. Chrissie Pinney of Hana Koa Brewing recently founded a chapter on O‘ahu. “Any lady that makes at least 25% of their income from anything in the beer industry can join,” she says. “If you work in a taproom, brew in the back, help with marketing for a brewery, or work in a bar that pours beer—you qualify.” Pinney further stresses that the Pink Boots Society provides opportunities and scholarships that are not as easily accessible in Hawai‘i: “Women who are in Pink Boots can apply to educational opportunities such as studying hops in Germany, studying brewing at the Siebel Institute in Chicago, or programs online. This will not only propel women’s job opportunities, but the entire beer industry in Hawai‘i.”

The Triple Threat Triple IPA is one of a few Pink Boots Society collaboration beers that will be available around the state over the next few months. “We have been brewing a charitable beer for the Pink Boots Society International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day for three years now and this year we wanted to do something for the release of the beer on a much bigger scale, and that had a much greater impact on our community rather than being ‘just another beer release,’” Spruance says.

SEE ALSO: Best of the Brews: The Ultimate Kaka‘ako Brewery and Beer Bar Crawl

Waikīkī Brewing Co. and Pink Boots brew day

Photo: courtesy of Waikīkī Brewing Co.

A portion of the proceeds from each beer purchased goes back to the society to aid in educational pursuits. In addition to the Triple Threat IPA releasing on March 7, Honolulu Beerworks also has one of the first year-round collaboration brews to benefit the society, the Pussy Grabs Back Pale Ale, which has been available on tap and in cans for the past three years. Other Pink Boots Society beers releasing soon:

• Kona Brewing Co. in Kailua-Kona hosted the Big Island chapter of the Pink Boots Society, making a hazy IPA, Blame It On the Juice. Release date March 8.
• Hana Koa Brewing Co.’s collaboration hazy IPA will hit taps on March 27.
• Waikīkī Brewing Co. and the Pink Boots Society collab beer will be an India Pale Lager to be released April 3 at both Waikīkī Brewing locations.
• The first week of April, Maui Brewing Co. is releasing a pale ale called FIERCE (short for “Females in Every Role Can Empower”), which will find its way to all four of its taprooms throughout April.

“Pink Boots Society gives women working in a still very male-dominated industry a feeling of belonging,” says Spruance. “It’s a true sisterhood. If you go anywhere in the world and meet a woman in the brewing industry you instantly feel a connection.”

Find out more about the Pink Boot Society at pinkbootssociety.org

Learn more about the Like a Girl Fest at likeagirlfest.com