Julie Lavoie
The Beauty Behind the Brews: a story of overcoming issues of height, gender, and a devastating injury -- all with her signature smile.
The boilers let out a sudden hiss of air. Hot water churns to a bubbling froth. Rows of shining chrome fermentation tanks stand at attention like metal soldiers.
In the midst of it all, ready to command the mechanical army to brew, stands five-foot-four Julie Lavoie, 32, ready to conquer another day of brewing at Driftwood Brewery.
Her hair is a dazzling combination of purple and blue (for now at least), and her personality is as bubbly as her wort on brew day but, as loud as her hair is, she is modest about her accomplishments in the industry. Not only is she one of only a handful of female brewers in British Columbia, she has been a quiet advocate for the beer industry in Victoria for the past six years. From co-founding Victoria Beer Week, to being the previous communications officer and director-at-large for CAMRA -- she is the beauty behind the brews.
Even now, it’s hard for her to pinpoint when her love for brewing and beer took over.
“Maybe it was doing homebrew with my Dad?” says Lavoie. “I mean non-alcoholic like root beer and cream soda of course,” she adds with a laugh.
Like many brewers before her, Lavoie was first introduced to the world of barley, hops, yeast and water by becoming involved with home brewing.
“I remember coming in and being blown away by how generous the community was and how passionate they were about brewing ”
Julie Lavoie
“I remember coming in and being blown away by how generous the community was and how passionate they were about brewing,” says Lavoie. “It was so inspiring, I just dove right in and researched everything I could about beer and home brewing.”
From there she imbibed all the knowledge she could, gaining her level-one cicerone, beer’s answer to sommelier certification, to hosting homebrew nights at her house, but she longed to be more involved.
“I spent two years doing homecare, which was taxing because a lot of the people I worked with died,” says Lavoie, pausing to collect herself while fiddling with her necklace that, of course, features a hop. “Beer is something that is physically active. It’s something that’s alive and changing, and it’s not going to die on you.”
In June 2013, she saw her opportunity to start on the path to becoming a commercial brewer through a job posting at Driftwood Brewery. Making the jump to a career “was never really a decision,” she says. “I just started to become so involved in the industry as an outsider, that I felt like there was no other place for me.“
Lavoie started off pouring growlers, then designing beer labels, and within one year of starting at Driftwood became their first and only female brewer in June 2014.
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 Beer SamplesDescribe your image. |  Julie-KJames-4Describe your image. |
 Hops2 |  Rocky Stream |
“She’s a hard worker alright; you have to be to work on the production floor of a brewery” says Jason Meyer, Driftwood’s Brewmaster and CEO. “Her upbeat, positive attitude certainly enhances the vibe on the production floor.”
However, being a woman in the industry, especially one of such small stature, has not been all sunshine and lagers. Lavoie takes every challenge in stride with a combination of tenacity and a sense of humour.
“This is my stool!” Lavoie proudly announces while showing off a pieced together wooden pallet. “Gary -- who does some of the construction around here -- made me a little stool out of scraps of wood that he found because I'm far too short to put in bags of grain from my height.”
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"I went into shock immediately."
Then suddenly, only four months after achieving her goal, a cool October morning in 2014 threatened to change her life forever. While most beer drinkers were sleeping with dreams of beer in their heads, Julie was hours into a brew of Fat Tug. “We started the brew day at 6 a.m.,” says Lavoie. “Around 10 a.m., I had just pitched yeast into the fermenter and was about to cool into, and it was time to add Irish moss to my second brew of the day which was boiling away in the kettle.”
The 34-hectolitre kettle was boiling at 212 degrees. “When I opened the kettle, the wort was boiling so rapidly that it actually bucked the man-way [the door to the kettle] open and boiling beer splashed all down the left side of my body.“ says Lavoie. “I went into shock immediately.”
“My concern was the beer and I scrambled to get the latch back on the man-way”
While scalding wort belched out onto her body Lavoie’s first thought was of the beer. “My concern was the beer and I scrambled to get the latch back on the man-way”
“It was terrifying,” recalls Lavoie “I kept trying to push the kettle shut but I just wasn’t tall enough to be a match with the pressure from the bubbling wort.” After securing the man-way, Lavoie says, “[she] did not realize the severity of the burn."
When it was over, Lavoie had second-degree burns on her chest, and third degree burns up her left arm.
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Initial burn and healing process photos courtesy of Julie Lavoie.
"Some nights I would just fall asleep in tears, wondering if I could cut it"
Even though the accident was a fluke, Driftwood has since replaced both their kettles with larger sizes to reduce the risk of boil overs. They have also invested in glass man-ways so brewers can see inside before they open the doors.
After the accident Lavoie wasn’t sure she would come back to brewing. “There would be nights when I would lay awake and stress about it, going over procedures and recipes,” she says. “Some nights I would just fall asleep in tears, wondering if I could cut it. But I did, and I'm crazy empowered by that.“
(on left Lavoie shows off the new glass man-way; right the old style doors)
When she came back to work in January 2015 the community that helped her fall in love with brewing was there to help her fall in love again. “The guys were really patient and understanding and they let me shadow their brews,” says Lavoie. “And Claire Wilson, who owns, runs and brews at Dogwood Brewing Company in Vancouver, told me to be calm and careful. That became my mantra.“
Now, just past the one-year anniversary of the accident Lavoie celebrates her return to brewing surrounded by friends and coworkers as they raise a glass of Fat Tug to her “hoppy ending.”
"Women were the first brewers and it was that way traditionally for a long time!"
Her advice for other women looking to get into the industry? “It's not easy! It will be an ongoing challenge.“ However, Lavoie is quick to remind us, “Women were the first brewers and it was that way traditionally for a very long time!“
She also says that while females are gradually becoming more recognized in the industry there is still a lot of work to do.
“I still go to events and people will start explaining one of my beers to me,” Lavoie laughs. “I have to be like ‘Yeah, I know. I’ve had it a few times.’”
