Lady & The Pint

Jane Kershaw, originally from Great Budworth, will soon be one the UK’s few female master brewers- here she explains why beer is in her blood

- Angela Epstein

It’s 6am on a sharp, late summer morning, and Jane Kershaw is already contemplating her first beer of the day. And if that seems a little early to be considering a drop of the hard stuff, try starting your day deliberating over thousands of pints of it.

With giant dipstick in hand, this slight figure in polo shirt and baggy over trousers is in her usual position, surveying what appears to be a giant vat of porridge.

In the warm, hop-heavy air of the brew house this awardwinning brewer is overseeing the contents of a huge fermenting barrel, which will produce about a third of the 155,000 pints of beer made by the iconic Joseph Holt Brewery every day.

As the great great great granddaughter of the Manchester brewerỳ s eponymous founder, Cheshire-born Jane is the sixth generation of the family to join the workforce.

While beer clearly runs in her blood, Jane greets each day with the enthusiasm of an ingénue.

‘It's hard to really explain the magic involved in making beer, says Jane, 33, who was raised in Great Budworth and recently crowned Brewer of the Year by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD).

‘When the coppers are boiling at 101 degrees and you inhale that sweet smell of malt and hops, itÌ€ s like nothing else.’

Yet even in an age of post millennial equality, there is something slightly incongruous about watching Jane go about her business. Isn’t brewing beer associated with men rather than women?

Certainly it’s not the first time Jane has weathered such a reaction.