The Lager Queen of Minnesota

Invented by women and considered women’s work for thousands of years, brewing beer only became a male-dominated industry after industrialization. With the invention of large fermentation vessels, factory bottling equipment, and a more substantial infrastructure for distribution, beer brewing evolved from a domestic chore to a lucrative industry. An increase in German immigration, particularly those who settled in the American Midwest, increased the demand for beer in the US in the early 20th century. However, American prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s, followed by World War II in the 1940s, stalled the development of the modern American beer industry. Only a handful of breweries like Anheuser-Busch, Yuengling, Coors, and Miller dominated American brewing from the 1970s through the 1990s.

During this time, women were mostly absent from the major breweries. Helen’s character highlights this gender disparity when she researches beer brewing at Macalester: “But when the books had photographs [...] she saw a lot of people who looked like her grandpa, and a lot who looked like Orval Blotz, but no one who looked like her” (40). Ahead of her time, Helen fulfills the vital role of overcoming barriers and making sacrifices to make her mark on the brewing industry.