Give women what they want

I came over all nostalgic last week when I chanced upon an obituary in The Guardian of a journalist called Anne Scott-James, who has died at the remarkable age of 96.

She was a famous writer for national newspapers and magazines, and worked at a time when it was not easy to be a woman in the rough, smoky, boozy world of newspapers.

The photo that accompanied the obituary proved the point. It was taken in a pub in 1941 when she worked for the magazine Picture Post. She's wearing a pin-striped suit and shirt and collar, she's smoking a cigarette and — the thing that really caught my attention — drinking a glass of beer.

I'm a decade or two short of my 90s and worked on national newspapers at a different time to Anne Scott-James. But even in my days in Fleet Street, women journalists would stand their round in the pub and match the blokes pint for pint.

Times have changed. Back in the 1940s and 50s, wine was drunk only by the seriously rich. Today it's rare to see women drinking beer and many women would look at the image of Anne Scott-James with a beer in her hand in total disbelief.

The pendulum is starting to swing back. Last December, at the BBC Food Show in Birmingham, my annual beer talks and tastings were not only better attended than in previous years, but the audiences were split fairly evenly between men and women. It was noticeable that the women drinkers were not only keen but also extremely well informed.

That was an encouraging development. But in general not many women drink beer these days. As — to state the blindingly obvious — they make up half the adult population, there's an urgent need to get them into pubs, drinking the juice of the barley and the hop. A few more women beer drinkers would do a lot to stem the decline of the beer market.

I turned for advice on the subject to Melissa Cole, fellow beer writer and a tireless campaigner to get more women to drink the liquid she loves. She created a lot of media interest at last year's Great British Beer Festival by organising women-only tours of the festival, with frequent fuel stops to sample the wares on offer.

"For a start," she says, "you mustn't patronise women. Don't ask them if they fancy a fruit beer or something not too hoppy. Women have the power and knowledge to make decisions for themselves."

She bridles with anger at big brewers who produce clear beers or flavoured beers aimed at women. "Don't set the agenda for women," Melissa declares. "Women are more decisive than men about what they like — and that includes beer and pubs.

"If a group of men say let's meet in a particular pub, they'll all go to it, even if some of the men don't actually like that pub. But women would make their views known and refuse to drink in a pub they don't like. They want pubs they enjoy and, most important, feel safe in."

What women want​

I took a deep breath and asked nervously: "But what do you say to women who tell you they don't like beer?"

"It's simple," she says. "If they say they don't like beer, it's because they're drinking the wrong sort. If they've tried national lagers and smooth-flow ales that taste of nothing but corn and sulphur, of course they'll say they don't like beer.

"But there are fabulous beers available. Think of Worthington White Shield or Blue Moon spiced wheat beer — full of fantastic aromas and flavours. I've given women porters and stouts and they've gone like a bomb.

"It's a scientific fact that women have more refined taste buds than men. They can detect hop, fruit and malt flavours more acutely than men. I've given tastings with beers from the Thornbridge craft brewery in Derbyshire, packed with amazing hop flavours, and women have loved them."

Presentation is the key, Melissa feels. "Brewers are not doing enough with their glassware. Too many beer glasses are boring. A good glass tells you you're drinking a quality product — and women are far more receptive to an attractive glass than men."

The British brewing industry and pub trade have a lot to learn from Belgium, she feels, where every beer has a special glass, some of which just say, like Alice in Wonderland, "Drink me!"

Melissa's point about pub design is worth bearing in mind. Men tend to take for granted boozers with windows you can't see through. Women find them intimidating. They want to be able to see in and see out and, as she says, feel safe.

So here's a challenge. Brighten up pubs. Serve beer in attractive glasses. Give free tasters before expecting women drinkers to order a pint or half pint, and give us as much information as possible about the malts and hops used in particular brands.

Melissa will back at the Great British festival in August and I plan to watch her at work. I told her I'll be in a blonde wig and a Maidenform bra and she offered to lend me a pair of fishnet stockings for the occasion. I think I've been accepted.