Pour of a New Era
Beers with Sports-y Tap Handles
Craft Beer & Women’s Sports Collide.
By Suzanne Schalow
My dreams have finally come true. Not only are bars & restaurants that largely show women’s sports popping up around the country, but most of them have champion-level beer lists. Is this a coincidence, or is there something else at play for these new businesses? As a beer lover, I needed to find out.
I always seek out places with better beer lists, as an important criterion for watching a sporting event or grabbing a bite, but I’m not sure that has ever been the norm. And, even in today’s electric beer world, with better beer having a three-decade-long party, there are still many local eating and drinking establishments that fail to support their local breweries and beverage producers. Take my word for it or have a look around next time you are out for dinner. My early assessment: women’s sports bars and restaurants are pouring more than just high demand sports on television.
In April 2022, Jenny Nguyen was unlocking the doors to a place soon to be known as The Sports Bra, the first of its kind - a bar that showed only women’s sports. At the time, the attention she had garnered was largely from her local community of friends, colleagues, and family members; you know, the ones that push us to follow our dreams. Chef, basketball junkie, and lover of women's sports, Nguyen was simply tired of not having a place ‘out’ to watch her favorite teams. I got it. If we were lucky, we could sweet-talk a bartender into changing a channel here and there, but that was never a guarantee. And when the notable men’s sporting events were on, the requests would likely go unheard.
Her place was pointed out to me in 2023, sometime after Caitlin Clark hit that shot that put the Iowa Hawkeyes on top in a buzzer-beater win against the Michigan State Spartans. Who? Exactly. Most had never heard her name, but all of a sudden, many of us found ourselves right in the middle of a craze for women’s college basketball, which trickled into women’s professional basketball, as the aforementioned phenom would be entering the WNBA draft soon thereafter. From that time forward, the viewership for all women’s sports was on the craziest rise we’ve ever seen. A reality that we had dreamed of years before.
I grew up watching women athletes during the winter and summer Olympics, tennis phenom Martina Navratilova, and the NCAA women’s tournament, which I remember being the only steadfast opportunity to watch women’s college basketball throughout their winter season. Women’s professional soccer eventually saw some television time, but not consistently until the mid-90s. Those of us who followed the athletes and loved to have a beer with friends over a game likely had the same thought Nguyen did, but at the time, there weren't enough women’s sports being televised on national television to support a business like The Sports Bra or the handful of other similar businesses that now exist around the country. Given their growing popularity, my guess is that this phenomenon is only on the rise. Women’s sports are finally having their day and moment on TV, with ratings through the roof. Along with them are restaurants & bars that are generally led by women and show, mostly, women’s sports. Not including The Sports Bra, I talked with a few of these spots around the country.
There was something more that caught my attention about these women’s sports sanctuaries - most have extremely well-curated beer lists, an absolute dream for beer nerds like myself. Most selections are an excellent representation of local producers, not simply chalked full of IPAs and mass-produced lagers, but other styles, with ciders, non-alcoholic beverages, and RTDs sprinkled in, including some THC & CBD bevvies. Many of the locations also have thoughtful cocktails, with spirits from local, women-owned producers - a nod to women in the greater drinks space.
On a recent visit to Title 9, Pittsburgh, PA, I chatted with Sherree Goldstein about their beginnings, her favorite sports, teams, and why she supports and sells only local beverages, most of which are beer. While Title 9 doesn’t have beer on draft (yet), they have just under three dozen cans to offer, with five N/A’s, and a half dozen ‘beyond beer’ choices, like cider, ginger beer, and vodka-based RTDs. While we chatted about their clientele and the eight TVs scattered around the two rooms, I enjoyed an East End Hefeweizen and Sherree, an Athletic Upside Dawn - while not local, and no longer small, they revolutionized non-alcoholic beer from the US, and Sherree is sober.
Goldstein, a long-time restaurateur, has owned and been operating the Square Cafe, next door to Title 9, for nearly 30 years. A breakfast and lunch spot, they started serving beers for brunch just a few years ago. She began thinking about converting the place next door into a women’s sports-first bar & cafe, with a beverage list that drove home their long-time ethos and vibe, so she quietly applied for and was awarded a liquor license. When asked directly about Title 9’s beer list, Goldstein said, “We’re about family and sustainability: financial, health, and environment; packing our list with local beers was never in question. We built this beer menu the same way we built our food menu at the Square. When possible and viable, we always source locally first!”
And when I asked Goldstein about being sober and now running a sports-y business, with alcohol consumption being part of the culture, she didn’t flinch. She claims to be no beer geek, so she largely relies on staff and local producers to keep her informed, serving the best and freshest offerings. They use a geographical mentality of: Pittsburgh first, Pennsylvania second, and beyond, when needed and necessary, like in the case of the Athletic N/A’s; although she buzzed with excitement about local Two Frays producing creative N/A’s that would be in rotation soon. Title 9, 5997 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, has eight TVs, shows Steelers games, and is open Thursday - Sunday.
I talked with Heather Roberts at Whiskey Girl Tavern, Chicago, IL, about their beer list, even though their core is whiskey and cocktails. They opened only a handful of months after the first of its kind. She and her wife (and Co-Owner), Christina, both women’s sports lovers, had been thinking about opening a place like this for years. Spending lots of time at a pub in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chi-Town, with a vibe they appreciated, including a talented bartender (Meredith Barry); she would go on to help them open Whiskey Girl Tavern, developing cocktails and hammering out their other beverages, including beer.
The Roberts traveled for work and shared a love for beer and whiskey, having had those experiences with both in various times and places around the world. All of that was just enough to give them the spark they needed to take the plunge, despite lacking any prior experience in restaurants or bars. But that didn’t deter the pair, as Roberts proudly pointed out that Whiskey Girl has enjoyed success from day one, putting their years of experience managing and running other endeavors to the test. And doing it well! With a philosophy similar to Goldstein’s in Pittsburgh, they work hard to source products from local producers, and their beer list is no exception. Roberts was happy to share that they are fans of all kinds of sports, especially the NFL. She added that Whiskey Girl has always shown men’s sports and will continue to do so, as the goal is to create a space for all sports enthusiasts.Whiskey Girl Tavern, 6318 N Clark St, Chicago, has 15 TVs, with three different audio zones, and is closed on Tuesdays.
1972 Pub, Austin, TX, has 10 beers on tap, including one local cider from Austin Ciderworks. Their list features local beers such as Native Pilsner and Stash IPA from Independence Brewing Co., Austin Beerworks Peacemaker Ale, and a Hazy IPA from Pinthouse Brewing called Electric Jellyfish. Owned by Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis, longtime Austin residents, in a conversation via email, the pair let me know that while they were modeled after the other women’s sports-first bars that had opened before them, they took their time to get this right for them & Austin - they are passionate about all aspects of their business and what it represents for women’s sports, and underserved and underrepresented communities, especially in Austin.
Their beer, cocktail, and other beverage menus give a nod to women brewers, producers, and business owners. Additionally, Hallum mentioned that all their cocktails were “named after famous Texas women in sports. The one exception is Billie Jean King; she is an icon and also won ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ in Texas, so we felt she should have her own [cocktail]!” Named after the year the famous Title IX was signed into legislation, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in sports, 1972 Pub, 2530 Guadalupe St, Austin, is open Wednesday - Sunday.
A Bar of Their Own, Minneapolis, MN, has had my attention since they opened in March 2024. They have an impressive 18 tap spread, featuring two wines, a cider, an N/A Juicy IPA, and a hard seltzer, with the majority of their remaining thirteen beers representing Minnesota. They even have a House Pale Ale, rightly named, A Beer of Their Own, collaboratively brewed with Duluth’s Bent Paddle Brewing. An impressive number of drafts are highlighted as being “women/non-binary/trans owned or led”. This designation is peppered throughout their drinks menu. I hope to catch a game on one of their twelve TVs soon. A Bar of Their Own, 2207 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis, is open Wednesday - Sunday.
Just over 75 years ago, women were primarily focused on running their households and raising families, while also increasingly entering the workforce and managing businesses as societal roles began to shift, particularly in the World War II and post-war era, when many men had been pulled away from their traditional roles. Yes, women were working, brewing, and even playing sports. It took more than 25 years for a large majority of the population to think it was a good idea to include and protect women in sports. Then, it took nearly the same amount of time for women’s sports to garner the attention of the major media networks. The reasons why are a topic to be discussed at a later time.
A lot has changed since the 1970s, including the rise and popularity of female athletes, women’s sports, and excellent beer, much of it now being brewed by women. Since 2022, it’s been a joy to watch bars, pubs, cafes, and restaurants owned by women, primarily showing women’s sports, pop up around the country. At the time of this writing, there are another dozen and a half in planning. For a beer lover, it’s a bonus that the majority of them go the extra mile for good beer, highlighting a plethora of the very best local products, with a nod to the variation of styles that exist in today’s beer landscape. It’s not really that hard to do, but it takes time and some amount of passion for the beer. The list of places that don’t do it well is a lot longer than those that do. But finally, we’re pouring a new era of both craft beer and women’s sports, all in one glass.
Other notable women’s sports bars around the country pouring good beer: Chapstick 32706, Nashville, TN; Rough & Tumble, Seattle, WA; Set The Bar, Omaha, NE; Side Peace Sports Bar, Houston, TX; The 99ers Sports Bar, Denver, CO; The Dub, Kansas City, MO: The W Sports Bar, Cleveland, OH; Title 9 Sports Grill, Phoenix, AZ; and Watch Me! Sports Bar, Long Beach, CA
A veteran of the beer retail & restaurant industries, an Advanced Cicerone®, International Beer Judge, and Belgian Beer Knight, I work in alcohol compliance for Park Street and travel the world with my partner, in search of excellent beer.