My name is Nicki Forster. I am a brewer
here at Rohrbach Brewing Company on
Railroad Street in Rochester, New York. I
got my first job out of grad school at
St. John Fisher College as a residence
director, became an academic adviser,
which I did for 12 years there. So I
found myself actually taking a few
vacation days from my job at Fisher just
on a whim to shadow my buddy Zach, who
was working out at the Buffalo Road
restaurant facility, where we have our
small seven-barrel system. One of the last
days I was at the Buffalo Road facility,
our owner, John Urlaub, was kind enough
to buy Zach and I lunch. He essentially
said,' You know, I know you've got a great
gig going at Fisher. I know you're not
looking to make a move, but we have a
vacancy available and I've heard lots of
good things from Zach.'  Asked if I was
interested in interviewing for the position.
I think one of the great things
is this is a pretty physical occupation,
whether you're a really strong guy or
girl, nobody wants you to overextend
yourself, and you really take safety
first really seriously.
Ideas about
bringing more women in the craft beer
scene I think through marketing toward
women, I think, shifting a little bit
instead of scantily clad, you know, models,
we see craft beer is really for everyone. Not focusing specifically on just the
the white male population, I think, is
going to bring not only women but
minorities within the community as well
to the craft scene, and we certainly want
and need that.
