Episode #001 | Jaega Wise, Head Brewer at Wild Card Brewery

11/06/18 • 34 min

Today’s guest is the incredible Jaega Wise.

Jagea is head brewer at Wild Card Brewery in Walthamstow, East London, the brewery she’s been a part of since it opened in 2012.

When she’s not in the brewhouse, you can catch Jaega on the telly, as she’s a presenter on Channel 5’s The Wine Show.

She’s also been widely recognized for her work as an equality campaigner for the industry, which has seen her so eloquently address the issue of sexism in the beer industry at conferences and festivals up and down the country.

She’s a recently qualified Beer Sommelier and beer judge, too.

As if all of this doesn’t sound impressive enough, Jaega was recently short-listed for Brewer of the Year by the British Guild of Beer Writers for their Annual Awards and was included in the Evening Standard’s Progress 1,000 – a list of London’s most influential people in 2018.

Jaega and I talk about how her background in engineering led her to her current role as head brewer and how her passion for home brewing still fuels her creativity in the brewhouse today.

We discuss the changes that she’s called for to help bring equality to the beer industry and how Jaega is helping in her own way - by organizing the London chapter of her friend, Sophie de Ronde’s, International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day, each March.

Jaega tells me where she finds her inspiration and what she gets up to in her free time. We also talk about what drives her, when she’s at her happiest, what she loves most about being a part of the beer industry, and a whole lot more.

Here she is...

Today’s guest is the incredible Jaega Wise.

Jagea is head brewer at Wild Card Brewery in Walthamstow, East London, the brewery she’s been a part of since it opened in 2012.

When she’s not in the brewhouse, you can catch Jaega on the telly, as she’s a presenter on Channel 5’s The Wine Show.

She’s a recently qualified Beer Sommelier and beer judge, too.

Jaega and I talk about how her background in engineering led her to her current role as head brewer and how her passion for home brewing still fuels her creativity in the brewhouse today.

Here she is...

Previous Episode

Coming Soon: Beer with Nat

Welcome to Beer with Nat. I’m your host, Natalya Watson, but you can call me Nat – everyone else does!

On every episode, I'll share a beer and a chat with people who do what they love for a living... they work in the beer industry.

From head brewers, to packaging managers, to beer writers, and PRs, they’ve sat down with me to share their stories about what got them into beer, what they do for a living, what they love about the industry, and so much more.

As we’ve all ended up in this industry by pursuing a passion or chasing a dream, you can bet each guest has some pretty incredible stories to tell.

Check back soon for the first episode of Beer with Nat.

Next Episode

Episode #002 | Alix Shaw, Assistant Packaging Manager at The Five Points Brewing Company

Today’s guest is Alix Shaw, Assistant Packaging Manager at The Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney, East London.

Alix is also a co-founder of the Crafty Beer Girls, a community of beer loving ladies who work in the beer industry or just enjoy a good pint. In addition to monthly meet ups at pubs and bars in London, Crafty Beer Girls has an online community that’s grown to nearly 800 women worldwide, since its founding in 2015.

I met Alix through Crafty Beer Girls and was so excited to get her on the podcast because her energy and enthusiasm for all things beer is infectious. Plus, her story of how she got to where she is in the beer world has lessons for us all.

Alix and I talk about how she made her transition from wine to beer, and what she’s learned by saying yes to every opportunity that came her way... namely, discovering her passion for packaging.

Alix tells what she loves most about her role as Assistant Packaging Manager, educates us on what can go wrong when beers aren’t properly packaged, and emphasizes the importance of building a tight-knit team.

We reflect on her personal journey in beer, along with the growth of the Crafty Beer Girls and its impact on the London beer community over the years.

We also talk about what Alix gets up to outside of the beer world, what picks her up after a down day or long shift, and what changes she’s hoping to bring to the beer industry to help create safer and fairer working environments for all.

If you’ve never really paid attention to beer packaging before, prepare for that to change. If anyone can make you passionate about packaging, it’s Alix.

Here she is...