The Alberta Craft Brewing Convention is aimed at helping brewers make their environments more inclusive and diverse. 

This year’s Alberta Craft Brewing Convention took place in Red Deer with keynote speakers focusing on a central theme: the lack of diversity in the industry.

The lack of diversity in the industry became a central theme last year when Brienne Allan, a U.S. brewer with the Instagram handle @ratmagnet, asked her followers in the industry “do you get sexist comments on the job?”

Hundreds responded, sharing stories of sexual harassment and discrimination. What followed was a global conversation about the discrimination and harassment of women, BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ individuals face while working in the craft beer industry.

Crystal Mulik, a diversity and engagement consultant with the Gateway Association, says there needs to be a further commitment to diversity in the beer industry. (Submitted by Crystal Mulik)

“The first step for inclusion is education. Think about why it is predominantly white men in this industry? Are women being taught about beer? Are they given the opportunities to learn about the industry, to learn about beer, to kind of expand upon their interests of beer?” Mulik said.

“A big part of this is gender equity but also for queer people, people on the disability spectrum, so that comes with its own intersectionality and implications,” Owczarek explained.

“People need to be able to see their stories in the things that they are consuming and right now we’re just not seeing people’s stories,” Owczarek said.