You should wanna Drink Like A Girl!
Geneva festival aims to expand craft beer's reach, make it more inclusive
Note: This newsletter is supported by Donnelly’s Public House, a wonderful canal-side establishment in the village of Fairport.
Kelly Guilfoyle wants everyone to enjoy craft beer. Everyone.
To do that, she’s welcoming everyone into the fold. Guilfoyle wants to move beyond the bearded male stereotype that seemingly dominates craft beer. Because she thinks there is room for everyone.
Plus, it’s way more fun when way more people are enjoying beer. Through her event planning and advocacy business Drink Like A Girl, Guilfoyle, a 25-year veteran of the service industry, organizes fun runs, beer festivals, and other events centered around empowering women.
Her next event, the Geneva 5K/1K Lake Fest, which takes place on Saturday, July 31 on Seneca, Lake, combines a number of different elements designed to heighten appreciation for craft beer, remove some of the traditional barriers for entry. and ultimately work to diversify the entire industry.
“My mother is an immigrant from Brazil, my daughter is multiracial, many of my friends aren’t Caucasian, so being in an industry that doesn’t have diversity, it’s not gonna happen,” Guilfoyle said. “We’re gonna bring everyone in. We’re gonna empower women. We’re also gonna diversify this world.”
Full circle
When Guilfoyle, a Geneva native, returned to the Finger Lakes about six years ago from New York City, she thought it would only be for a summer. A friend asked her to come back to help launch a new brewery and she thought it sounded like a fun chance to experience something new.
But then her daughter fell in love with the area and convinced Guilfoyle to stick around. At the brewery, she worked as head bartender and then on-premise sales representative. Coming from someone who spent decades as a bartender and was most familiar with the craft cocktail movement, Guilfoyle discovered the endless possibilities and flavor profiles in beer. Simply put, she was hooked.
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(If you want an incredible story, ask Guilfoyle about her experience at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and her relationship with Jay-Z.)
“My daughter loved it up here,” Guilfoyle said. “All her family is here. So I figured, why not give it a shot. So craft beer was something new and I never realized how in-depth it could be. And I really do love the community we have up here.”
Everyone is invited
She launched Drink Like a Girl right before the pandemic halted the world in early 2020. Looking to host a series of in-person events, she had to pivot quickly. That meant virtual events and seeking out partnerships to get her message out.
And as restrictions began to ease, she could finally host in-person events. There was the first Geneva Lake Fest last year, a smaller women-focused event in Auburn, and then a unique fest on the Pont du Rennes pedestrian bridge overlooking High Falls in downtown Rochester. But she’s most excited to host another event in her hometown.
Beer should be fun. And for it to be the most fun, it needs to be inclusive, Guilfoyle said.
“I found a lot of sexism in the industry,” she said. “I had other reps, men, who told me I sold a lot of beer because of my assets, to put it neatly and nicely. Drink Like a Girl became a take-back for me, for women.”
This is where I interjected and told Guilfoyle that she shouldn’t have to sugarcoat her experience. I think real change happens when people are forthright and honest, when difficult conversations are started.
“I was like, ‘What the fuck is wrong with these guys?’ Lemme un-sugarcoat it there,” she said. “I could never understand how men could think these women weren’t out there busting their asses and doing even more work than them to get a seat at the table. Them calling me out and saying I’m getting these meetings or selling this beer because of my assets, but there are smart, brilliant women out there. It is a male-dominated world. I want to change that.”
But the vision extends beyond getting more women involved.
“It’s also about inclusion and diversity,” she added. “Having different ethnicities, Black and brown people, I want them to feel like this is a place they are welcomed.”
She’s focused on outreach and education to reach more and more people.
Event details
The Lake Fest is all about options. It kicks off with a 5K and is followed by a 1K walk (with four beer stops along the route). And it ends with a festival featuring 25 breweries, food trucks, and live music.
Attendees can attend one, two or all of the events. More details are available on the Drink Like a Girl website.
Other Half, Thin Man, Strangebird, Tin Barn, Ardennes, and Frequentem are among the upstate breweries slated to pour. Guilfoyle is really excited about two Ohio breweries, both new to this area, who will be pouring — Missing Mountain and Masthead.
Long read of the week
Everyone knows the iconic slogan, “Hi Neighbor! Have a ‘Gansett.” And you might not realize it, but Narragansett ranks as the 30th largest craft brewery in America. (And much of that volume comes through a contract agreement with Genesee.)
I really enjoyed this look at the ‘Gansett revival from Matt Osgood from Good Beer Hunting. It tracks the brewery’s rebirth and resurgence. Beyond one line, “Instead, Narragansett’s Lager is brewed in western New York, where the recipe is tightly guarded,” there is no reference to Genny’s role in this push. (And contractually, there probably can’t be any public declaration of the partnership.)
The profile highlights the beer’s ubiquity in New England and shows how it has reborn under new leadership. Worth a read here.
News and notes
Love hip hop and hazy IPAs? Who doesn’t. If you’re a regular in the space, I know you like both. Livonia’s Rising Storm (which is planning to open a second space in Penfield later this year — more details soon) is hosting its next edition of OPP (Other People’s Pints) from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 16 on its sprawling Livingston County property. It’s a great opportunity to check out some breweries not often on draft in our area, including Beer Tree from the Binghamton area (I’ll have more on them in a future newsletter), Corning’s Liquid Shoes, and Syracuse’s Buried Acorn.
Title sponsor: Donnelly’s Public House
This work is made possible through support from Donnelly’s Public House, 1 Water St. in Fairport. So make sure to get out to Fairport and support one of the best establishments in our area.
I remain open to sponsorships, sponsored content, and advertisements, especially if it’ll keep the newsletter free for readers. And if you have information about upcoming releases, events, or happenings, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information, feel free to drop me a line at clevelandprost@gmail.com.
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We went to the DLAG beer fest at High Falls in May and it was one of the nicest smaller beer feats I’ve been too. Wasn’t crazy busy, had GREAT beers from local places and a few new ones we’ve never seen. Would love to go to another.