Cheers! Bodmin brewer Sarah plans to cook up a storm
In the male dominated world of beer, Sarah Hjalmarsson is something of a rarity – a female brewer.
The 27-year-old has just joined the blossoming Harbour Brewing Company in Bodmin where she aims to make a splash.
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Sarah Hjalmarsson, 27, originally from Sweden, has joined the Harbour Brewing Company in Bodmin Picture: Emily Whitfield-Wicks
Originally from Sweden, she was tempted to train to become a brewer because it seemed like a "cool" profession.
She said that female brewers did seem to be few and far between.
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"There's not that many of us about," she said.
"People are surprised when I tell them what I do for a living, but I have always had positive reactions, there has never been anything negative."
Her road to being the latest recruit at Harbour started three years ago when she met a man who told her he had trained to be a brewer.
"I thought that sounded really cool and interesting.
"I really wanted to learn how to do it myself and I thought it would be useful, especially in Sweden where the taxes on alcohol are very high but you are allowed to brew your own beer.
"I love beer. It's been around for ages and it is full of culture.
"So I thought about the training and then I just went for it."
Harbour's isn't her first professional brewing post, as Sarah worked in the Krönleins Brewery in her home town after some work experience in Stockholm's Monk's Brewery.
She said before coming to Bodmin she was mainly concerned in the manufacture of large scale lager-type beers and was looking forward to working on craft ales and perhaps putting together her own signature brew.
"I'm looking forward to making some new recipes," she said. "I'm a great fan of wheat beers and of Belgian beers flavoured with fruit.
"I'm excited to be part of Harbour Brewing."
The growing company was launched in 2012 on a farm site a couple of miles outside of Bodmin, in Cornwall, operating on ten-barrel, American-designed plant.
It was born after business partners Eddie Lofthouse and brewer Rhys Powell hatched a plan to open a new brewery after meeting in a pub in Padstow.
Eddie said that their new brewer was a welcome addition.
"It's wonderful that Sarah has been able to join us, bringing her wide-ranging experience to the brewery," he said. "We're looking forward to working with her and developing some new beers."
The brewery is about to go international as Eddie is travelling with a British trade delegation to the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington this month.
A chocolate beer infused very subtly with chilli and ginger will be making its way to the Great Australasian Beer SpecTapUlar in Melbourne, and there will also be Harbour beer appearing in Sweden this spring.
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