An Introduction to Braciatrix

A little bit of background about me and the newsletter

This week has been quite a busy one for me in preparation for some exciting announcments next week, so I figured I would take the opportunity to give you all the plan for this newsletter and also tell you a bit about me.

Hello everyone! My name is Christina and I am a professional historian. Beer historian to be exact, interested especially in the hidden histories of women in the brewing trade, as well as the intersections of other historically marginalised groups. I also love folklore so will certainly include quite a bit of that in our story of beer. And I can’t resist a spooky story, so expect ghosts, demons, and all kinds of haunts.

So Braciatrix: The Newsletter was spawned from my blog Braciatrix.com which I have been writing since 2017. That was the year I graduated with my PhD in History from Trinity College in Dublin and decided I wanted to focus on researching and writing about beer. Early on in my PhD, a supervisor told me that I needed to make sure I didn’t put all my eggs into the proverbial basket of academia and get a hobby. Something I could also spend my time on. So I decided to start a group, The Ladies Craft Beer Society of Ireland, as a way to maybe make a few friends. You see I had immigrated to Ireland with only two suitcases in 2011, and the following year, after I completed my one year MPhil programme in medieval history, most of my new friends returned to their respective countries. I figured starting the group might hopefully help me make a friend or two. Now we are well over eleven years down the line and something like 1,400 members. But that is a tangent for another day…

Anyway, returning to my blog. It started when I began my journey researching my forthcoming book on Irish beer history. I wanted a place where I could talk about women’s relationship with the brewing trade - as alewives and brewers - but also as barmaids, maltsters, hop pickers, scientists, and female consumers (to name but a few of the roles they have undertaken over the centuries). Women have played an integral role in the story of beer, and I wanted somewhere where I could explore those links and share what I had been learning about. And so the blog was born. I have been writing there in the years since, posting things like fun beer recipes to try at home and why the alewife-as-witch link is a myth.

Similarly to the blog, this newsletter will feature beer history and folklore posts on a weekly basis straight to your inbox. I am also planning on writing historical beer recipes, showcasing my favourite new reads, and talking a bit about the behind the scenes of being a historian and author. The difference is the posts here will be weekly, with some eventually being written just for paid subscribers. The reason for the paid tier is that I am an independent scholar and so all my research is self-funded. And let me tell you some of those databases can cost a bit to access every month. So paid subscribers will help me fund my work. Eventually, some of the free content I post on here will also make it to my blog, but subscribers will get access well ahead of time. Paid content will remain here only.

Just a bit more about me before I leave so you have some idea of my credentials, in addition to my doctorate in history. In 2024, my book The Devil’s In The Draught Lines: 1000 Years of Women in Britain’s Beer History was published by CAMRA books. It was recently shortlisted for the British Guild of Beer Writers Award for ‘Best Book about Beer or Pubs’ 2024. My forthcoming book about Irish beer history will be announced soon and more details will follow, so watch this space.

My blog itself, Braciatrix, was shortlisted for an Irish Food Writing Award in 2022. A BJCP Beer judge, I am also a resident historian and co-host on the Beer Ladies Podcast which was recently featured in Vinepair and also shortlisted for an Irish Food Writing Award in 2023.

I have written for BEER Magazine, The Medieval Dublin Series, The Journal of Franco-Irish Studies, TheTaste.ie and Beoir Magazine. I sit on the League of Historians at the Beer Culture Center and have spoken about my beer history research at their annual Beer Culture Summit.

In addition, I have been fortunate to present my work around the world at events like Electric Picnic, the International Medieval Congress, the Beverage Research Network Conference, the Women’s International Beer Summit, Indie Beer Feast, Sheffield Beer Week, Friends of Medieval Dublin Lunchtime Lecture Series, the FemAle Beer Festival, Alltech Brews and Food Fair, BrewCon and the Killarney Beer Festival.

Anyway, that is a bit about me and what to expect from the newsletter. Next week we shall return to your regularly scheduled beer history with a post on a cursed ale.