"Me too" moment for breweries: Outpouring of Beer Industry Sexual Abuse Allegations on Instagram

[Demovictory9]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gdYk56hhAyLCW74LInzRdQ6t35wFCUz4INAeBMX8eYI/htmlview

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2021/5/18/beer-industry-allegations-legal-vulnerability

Judgment Day — Outpouring of Beer Industry Sexual Abuse Allegations on Instagram Sparks Questions of Guilt, Innocence, and Legal Vulnerability


A post from Brienne Allan's Instagram account during her time sharing stories of sexual harassment, assault, and more. Courtesy of Brienne Allan.

Update 5/18: Jacob McKean, founder and CEO of San Diego’s Modern Times Beer, has stepped down from his role with the company. The announcement came after allegations against the brewery—and McKean specifically—that were shared to Instagram as part of a large-scale #MeToo outpouring of abuse and misconduct claims within the beer industry. Modern Times was alleged to have fostered a hostile work environment for people of color, and employee Derek Freese was alleged to have grabbed a person’s crotch. Brewbound reported on May 18 that Freese had been terminated. In announcing his departure, McKean wrote, in part: “I am stepping down from my role as CEO, and we will begin a formal search for new company leadership. In order to navigate us out of this extremely difficult moment, we need leadership with the skill and experience to handle it effectively. It's time for a change.”

On the afternoon of May 11, Brienne Allan asked a question via her Instagram Stories: Had other people in the brewing industry experienced sexism? Allan, the production manager at Notch Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts, wasn’t prepared for the number and depth of responses she received, which now total more than 800. Stories of women sharing how they were told they weren’t strong enough to lift kegs quickly turned into allegations of sexual harassment, racism, and sexual assault.

After Allan herself posted a story that read: “Shaun Hill [of Hill Farmstead Brewery] told his brewer he set up the couch in his Airbnb to fuck me on after [beer festival] Pils and Love two years ago,” people began sending her stories that named people in the beer industry and/or the brewery where they work. (Hill gave a lengthy statement to VinePair that reads, in part: “I surely have a different perspective on what has been shared both overtly and anonymously, but what matters is how each person sees it.”) Other brewers and owners, including Søren Wagner of Dry & Bitter in Gørløse, Denmark and Jean Broillet IV of Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, were also named in numerous allegations; Wagner is now on a leave of absence from Dry & Bitter and Broillet has temporarily stepped away from Tired Hands. Someone whose identity GBH could not verify has created a document listing breweries mentioned in Allan’s Instagram Stories.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Modern-Times-staff-refuses-to-pour-beer-as-16186507.php

Original Pattern fires assistant brewer as accusations of misogyny shake Bay Area breweries

It all started with a simple Instagram inquiry. On May 11, Massachusetts brewer Brienne Allen (who goes by the Instagram handle @ratmagnet) proposed a question to her followers in the brewing industry: “What sexist comments have you experienced?”

Unknowingly, she’d opened the floodgates to hundreds of stories. Messages began pouring in, with people recounting everything from sexist comments to harrowing accounts of sexual harassment, racism, and sexual assault. Allen shared every comment anonymously to her Instagram story, with some even naming particular breweries and names of employees. Allen has received more than 800 responses as of Tuesday, Good Beer Hunting reported.


A few Bay Area breweries showed up in the outpouring of allegations, as did Beer Baron, a beer and whisky bar and restaurant with locations in Livermore, Pleasanton, Oakland, and Santa Rosa. Eight different anonymous allegations posted to Allen’s Instagram story involved Beer Baron beer director Corey Bryce Whelchel, covering everything from misogyny to inappropriate remarks.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. An industry full of bro culture is full of harassment? Huh.