The Lager Queen of Minnesota

From an early age, Helen views the beer industry as uninviting for women, an institution she must sneak into. Helen “heard of teenage boys whose dads offered them a beer after a day of hunting, fishing, or hard work, but she’d never heard of a teenage girl being offered a beer by anyone except a boy trying to get her drunk” (27). Helen understands the danger associated with beer and partying, the cautionary tales her close friends and family warn her of. However, Helen is unwilling to conform to the expectations placed on her by the women in her community, and she does not allow herself to be excluded by other beer drinkers. She recognizes her capabilities as intelligent and creative while feeling dismayed at the thought of becoming a farmer’s wife. Her determination leads her to break into the brewing industry at her husband Orval’s family’s company, Blotz Brewing.

Helen’s presence as the CEO of a corporate brewery creates opportunities for other women to follow in her footsteps. Helen ensures that other women are onboarded at Blotz under her supervision: “Helen also made a point of hiring women for any damn brewery job they were qualified to do, from production to accounting to driving one of their big red Kenworths, and tried to promote them from within” (154). Unfortunately for Helen, she must prioritize success over craft, ultimately brewing a bland, light beer she dislikes, solely because it will sell well. Surrounded by men, Helen struggles to build friendships in her position at Blotz, leaving her alienated and without family or community support. Helen allows Orval and other company leaders to serve as the public face of Blotz Brewing, knowing her primarily male customers want to feel a sense of belonging within a masculine club. While still quietly making advances for women, Helen rarely receives credit for her talent and work. Helen’s sacrifices afford other female brewers opportunities they otherwise would not have, but they come at a steep personal cost to herself.

By the time Diana, Edith, and The Grandmas pursue brewing as a profession, brewers from various backgrounds flood the craft beer industry. Diana and the Grandmas benefit from the openings Helen helped create for women in the industry, most directly through Agatha, who got her break in the industry when Helen hired her at Blotz. But while Helen’s gender was a liability in her company, The Grandmas leverage their experience with stereotypically feminine activities like baking to create innovative new beers. They make beers inspired by pies: “Diana certainly wasn’t crazy about Betsy’s strawberry gose, but Edith figured you never know about these things” (291). The diverse flavor profiles created by the women do not align with established beer varieties, alluring customers (often female) who would otherwise not show interest in drinking beer. Responding to criticism about her beer recipe, Edith points out, “Well, I guess most of us are making a beer we’d actually like to drink ourselves” (306). The Grandmas completely disregard traditional brewing styles and recipes, not caring at all about what is expected of them as brewers. They reinvent beer specific to their preferences, evolving their product and expanding their target consumer base.

Diana and The Grandmas plan for further gender inclusivity in the beer industry. Edith recognizes how photographs of female brewers are hard to come by, and she thinks, “Maybe someday someone would come in and take a picture of Betsy up there, standing over the boil like a master chef about to make soup for a thousand children” (301). Edith establishes the importance of representation to create a more inclusive environment with her desire to see The Grandmas in books about beer. Even though Edith spends most of her life putting aside her own needs to support her husband and family, as women are traditionally expected to do, she changes to accept publicity for her success. Her combination of self-confidence and community orientation enables her to support women in her industry in a way that Helen could not in earlier decades.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota explores how legacy manifests in many forms. Of all the legacies the novel portrays, financial legacies are the most fleeting and harmful. Helen and Edith’s father’s desire to build a legacy for his family comes with expectations and stipulations. Even though he cannot possibly know what will happen with the money from his estate, Mr. Calder theorizes: “Helen was going to create and contribute, not just take and spend. That, to him, meant that his legacy and family had not just a chance to survive, but a chance to grow. A chance to develop wealth, which he’d never been able to do” (139). Mr. Calder is not incorrect in believing in Helen’s talent and ability to create a successful brewery. However, he and Helen both underestimate the value of strong family relationships over wealth. Their father’s decision to protect his legacy by leaving his money only to Helen winds up driving a wedge between the sisters. The brewery Helen used her father’s money to launch has to be sold off, leaving both Helen and Mr. Calder with no legacy at all, despite their efforts to secure one.

By contrast, Diana builds Artemis Brewery on interpersonal rather than financial legacies. Whereas Helen used her father’s inheritance and her husband’s family’s facilities to build her brewery, Diana draws on the human capital she has accrued in the form of her relationships with Frank, her grandmother, and her grandmother’s friends. Frank’s legacy as a brewer lives on in Diana; every time she makes a decision, she thinks about what he has taught her and what he would advise. When her health prevents her from working, her family and friends step in, leading to The Grandmas’ developing their own legacy as unique and original craft brewers. Edith reflects, “It was a lot of work for everyone involved, and there was certainly no promise that it would continue to be successful, but she could’ve said the same things about the farm” (318). As a financial legacy, Artemis Brewery may be precarious, but as a personal legacy, it will live on.

Diana also transforms the generational expectations of legacy. Unlike Mr. Calder, Andy and Diana quickly establish that no expectation will be placed on their daughter to maintain their business or financial legacy after them. They prioritize her aspirations, demonstrating a more modern way of raising daughters. Their legacy to their daughter is the community they have built. Andy snaps a picture of Frances and Edith together, saying, “Great-grandma and great-granddaughter. I don’t have one yet” (318). Edith’s honorable actions, sacrifices, hard work, and self-actualization as she brews her Rhubarb-Pie-in-a-Bottle Beer will continue to influence her granddaughter and great-granddaughter, creating a lasting legacy more valuable to them than any monetary amount. Finally, Artemis Brewery provides both the impetus and the setting for Edith and Helen to heal the rift that their father’s legacy created between them decades earlier.