​From 8 a.m. until the afternoon of March 8, women gathered at Bold Republic Brewery to make a special craft beer.
 
“It’s pretty awesome that we get to make the Pink Boots Society® brew on International Women’s Day,” said Bold Republic Brewery owner Adriane Hodges.
 
Adriane is one of the few women brewers in the industry. She opened Bold Republic Brewery with her husband, Patrick Hodges, in 2018. Since then, they’ve relocated a small brewery from Belton to the blossoming west side of Temple, where they continue to expand.
 
“We’re putting in a cool storage, which will really help us increase production,” Adriane said.
 
Adriane is a self-described beer nerd. She can speak endlessly about everything beer, from brewing it to its history. She is passionate about being a woman in the industry and is building a network of women brewers in the area.
 
The Pink Boots Society® brewing event is evidence of that. The educational event was attended by women from breweries throughout the area, including Nolan Creek Brewery (Belton), Phantom Warrior Brewing Co. (Killeen), and Barrow Brewing Company (Salado) – all there to make their contribution to the 2023 brew aptly named “Women’s Work.”

​Adriane explains, “The beer brewing industry was completely dominated by women until the 1500s.”
 
And she is correct. A Smithsonian Magazine article from 2021, “Why Did Women Stop Dominating the Beer Industry?,” asserts that strict gender norms brought about by the start of the Reformation and greed pushed women out of the industry.
 
Ale, and later, beer, was a mainstay in European homes as a source of nutrients from as early as the Stone Age. As such, brewing beer was as regular a household task for women as rearing children. Seeing an opportunity to earn an income, widows and unmarried women began selling the beverage, becoming alewives and the originators of the brewing industry.
 
“That’s kind of where the origin of witches with pointy hats and brooms came from,” she continued. “Men saw how lucrative the business was and began pushing the women out by accusing them of witchcraft —which was dangerous for women at the time.”
 
Now the industry is experiencing a resurgence of women. Although the movement is slow. Few, if any, major beer companies have a female brewmaster. And beer is often branded as a drink for men.
 
In fact, a research study by Stanford University found that of 1,993 breweries they could find information about, only 40 were exclusively founded by women. And of 1,717 breweries they researched, only 76 (four percent) had a female brewmaster or headbrewer.
 
Despite the statistics, women like Adriane continue to serve as passionate advocates for beer and beer brewing. According to Craft Beer & Brewing, women bring unique skills to brewing beer, such as having superior senses of taste and smell along with a stronger ability to remember and recount sensory experiences.
 
It is with these skills that this group of women created the Women’s Work brew —from hops to keg.
 
“We made an India Pale Lager or IPL,” Adriane said as she described the beer.
 
“India Pale Lager is a type of beer fermented with lager yeast instead of ale yeast. This crisp classic style serves as a showcase for the hops, with the malt letting them shine,” She explained. “We used the 6th annual Pink Boots Society® Hop Blend from Yakima Chief Hops.  It was a blend of Loral, Ekuanot, and HBC 586 experimental hops.”
 
The Pink Boots Society® is a group of women and non-binary individuals in the craft drink industry. They advocate camaraderie amongst one another and share knowledge through their own seminar programs. The group is committed to helping one another advance in the industry and does so by raising money for educational scholarships.

Adriane is an ideal ambassador for the organization. She openly shared details of her operation and future plans for the business with the women who gathered for the event. She encouraged everyone to participate in the brewing process and, during downtimes (beer making requires patience and waiting), they swapped stories about their first craft beer experience, entertained themselves with axe throwing (courtesy of Black Axe Co), and of course, enjoyed what Bold Republic has on tap and in the kitchen.
 
Starting March 31, guests can enjoy a free sample flight of beers from the brewery by purchasing a ticket for the Spirit of Santa Fe Trail.  Bold Republic Brewery is one of 15 venues featured on the self-guided tour of the growing Central Texas craft beverage industry, where ticketholders can enjoy exclusive offers from the participating locations through April 9.
 
Visit templechamber.com/spiritofsantafe for details and to purchase tickets.

The Temple Chamber of Commerce has extended its annual self-guided tour of Temple and surrounding wineries and breweries from one weekend to nine days. The 2023 Spirit of Santa Fe Trail runs from Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 9 this year and will feature 13 participating locations.
 
“One weekend proved too short for guests to truly experience how much the Central Texas craft beverage industry has grown,” said the Temple Chamber of Commerce President Rod Henry. “Plus, this year features more venues to visit, including a new distillery in Little-River Academy, and we want guests to have a chance to see them all.”
 
The event showcases Central Texas's mark in the adult beverage space and introduces the community to new businesses and new products from old favorites.
 
For example, Walker Honey Farm, known since 1930 for producing various honey products, began delivering a bee-to-bottle experience in 2011 by introducing honey wine and mead made in-house at Dancing Bee Winery.
 
“It is our desire that Walker Honey Farm preserve and grow its presence as a valued member of the farm community responding to the evolving needs of the communities in which we live and work,” the Walker family explains on their website. “Honey Wine is a logical and intuitive expansion of our offerings from the hive.”
 
A newcomer to the trail this year, Wilson Valley Mercantile is the only seed, grain, field, and farm-to-glass distillery in Texas –one of few in the United States.
 
“It’s about more than showing people there’s more to do in Temple,” said Bobbie Jo Young, Director of Membership Development for the Chamber. “It’s about living up to our mission to preserve, protect, and promote business in this city. The tour is one of the many ways we serve our members.” The Spirit of Santa Fe Trail is one of seven signature initiatives the Temple Chamber of Commerce presents annually. Members can leverage each initiative as a partnership and marketing opportunity to engage and develop lasting relationships with the community.
 
“The Business Link Lunch and Business After Hours are great for meeting other business owners and people you can do business with,” said Katrina Owens, the Chamber’s Director of Signature Initiatives. “Those happen every month during the work week and tend to be shorter opportunities to interact.” She continued, “The annual events allow more time to interact more festively. People love doing business with those they enjoy, and the signature events set the tone for enjoyment.”

One benefit of a week-long event is guests don’t have to pack multiple locations into one weekend. Participating venues for the Spirit of Santa Fe Trail will operate during their regular business hours, which means guests can visit any place during featured events such as trivia night and musical BINGO. Nearly every spot on the list has something to keep guests entertained. Another benefit of a week-long tour: Safety.
 
With good planning, guests will have plenty of time to visit each venue rather than try to fit them all into one booze-filled weekend. Organizers of the Spirit of Santa Fe Trail ask that guests drink responsibly, avoid drinking and driving, and have a designated driver.
 
Trail tickets are $25 and are valid for one exclusive offer at each participating location over the Trail dates. Guests can purchase tickets online at centraltexastickets.com or pick up a punch card from participating wineries, breweries, distilleries, or the Chamber with proof of ticket purchase.
 
Visit the Spirit of Santa Fe Trail event page, templechamber.com/spiritofsantafe, for a complete list of participating venues and their hours of operation.

The Spirit of Santa Fe Trail is made possible by generous sponsors: City of Temple, Emerson Construction, Polar Texas Bottling, Ludwick Montgomery & Stapp, McLane Company, Perry Office Products, and First United Bank & Trust.

​Over the last four and a half years, Temple has experienced nothing short of a renaissance with the seemingly constant addition of new businesses, which brings new jobs to the city. Salute to Business, the annual event hosted by the Temple Chamber of Commerce brought together more than 500 members of Temple’s business community to acknowledge and celebrate the continued transformation resulting from the growth of these companies.
 
Originally scheduled for Jan. 31, the Chamber’s signature event was postponed to Feb. 7 out of concern for public safety in the face of the winter storm that visited the area last week.
 
“We’ve never experienced this with Salute to Business,” said Chamber President Rod Henry. “The Chamber team dedicates months to planning what we consider the largest of our signature initiatives. Moving it unexpectedly involved the help, cooperation, and grace of vendors, sponsors, attendees, and community leaders.” He continued, ”We would like to extend a special thanks to Let Us Do The Cooking who prepared and delivered the original unused groceries to The Salvation Army of Bell County.
 
Despite the last-minute change and rainy weather, Salute to Business 2023 was well-attended and went as planned by kicking off with Taste of Temple, a showcase of local eateries. Guests were treated to samples of featured dishes from Bliss Candy, Bold Republic Brewery, H-E-B Temple #182, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Temple-Belton, Mo's Rail Yard Saloon & Grill, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and Wings Pizza 'N Things.
 
The evening continued with Katie Comer, Head of Community Development, North America of Meta, who presented Temple ISD with a $75,000 grant on behalf of the company. Temple is the new home of a data center for the social technology company behind platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The grant represents a strategic partnership with Temple ISD to support the reengineering of STEM Programs.
 
Keynote speaker Shannon Brown, the recently retired Senior Vice President of Eastern Division U.S. Operations, and Chief HR/Diversity Officer of FedEx Express delivered a message highlighting the importance of a skilled and diverse workforce created through mutually beneficial relationships between local businesses and schools. Brown spoke of his rise within the ranks of the FedEx organization and attributed it to his willingness to change and adapt, a nod to transformation, the theme of this year’s event.
 
“There are two ways most people experience change,” said Brown. “The easy way or the painful way. And unfortunately, most people take the painful route,” he said.
 
Brown acknowledged the Chamber’s role in supporting the local business climate, contributing to the growth of local businesses. Following the work of the Chamber’s Community Partner, the Temple Economic Development Corporation, the city was selected as the site of the newly constructed FedEx facility, which is expected to open in 2023 bringing new job opportunities to Temple. Brown emphasized the importance of providing residents with opportunities to earn wages that afford them the ability to participate in and sustain the health of the local economy.
 
President of Cadence Bank Robert Jones, who serves as Chair of the Chamber Board of Directors, presented Gayle Kiger of KCEN Channel 6 with a soaring eagle statue and a print of the Santa Fe Depot –tokens of appreciation for his leadership and service as Chair of the Chamber Board of Directors in 2022.
 
The Chamber also recognized major sponsors for Salute to Business including Platinum Sponsors City of Temple; Central National Bank, McLane Group; Cefco; Fikes Companies; Wilsonart; Ludwick, Montgomery & Stapp. P.C.; Meta; and Emerson Construction; as well as Diamond Sponsors Panda Power Funds; KCEN Channel 6; and Extraco Banks.
 
Events such as Salute to Business are made possible with the help of The Ambassadors of the Temple Chamber, a volunteer council of Chamber members who assisted with setup, guest check-in, and clean-up among other duties.
 
“Chamber Ambassadors are such an essential part of everything the Chamber does,” said Bobbie Jo King, Director of Membership Development for the Temple Chamber of Commerce. “We appreciate the time, dedication, and energy they bring to Chamber events big and small.”
 
Salute to Business is held on the fourth Tuesday of each January. For details on how to participate in Salute to Business 2024, please contact the Temple Chamber of Commerce at 254-773-2105.