So it was nice to see so many female customers gathering in my pub to celebrate Women’s Day.

But that’s not unusual. Indeed, there is an ever increasing number of female drinkers interested in good beer. You can see this for yourself in many pubs all over the country. Just drop into any good beer bar, on any night of the week, and count the percentage of females. Quite often, there are more ladies enjoying good beer than men. I know, because when I’m not working behind the bar, I’m one of them.

So, with this is mind, why do some Polish and international breweries still persist in marketing certain beers especially for women? Why should a coffee or fruit flavoured beer be deemed ’suitable’ for the female palate.

There was even a beer called ’women’s beer’ once, presumably because it had the lowest alcohol content in the brewery’s range. How sexist. Let’s hope it was just a gimmick.

So ladies - don’t fall for such marketing - the female palate is just, if not more, capable of appreciating the same variety of aromas and flavours as the opposite sex. We don’t need special recipes or menus when it comes to food, so why do breweries think we have a different palate when it comes to beer? Such advertising not only alienates female drinkers, but also turns away male customers. I mean, what sort of Polish man would ever stand at the bar and say in front of his friends.. "I’ll have a women’s beer, please"?

So let’s celebrate ’Women’s Day’, and let’s get enthused about beer. But breweries... please stop marketing women’s beer. We know what we like! Go to the good beer pubs and see for yourself.

So off my soapbox for this week, and moving on...

…winter again? Seriously? Things were looking up… with bike trips on the cards, but I ended up on a trip navigating snowdrifts on the way to the bus stop.

Fortunately I’ve been making good on my resolution to get fitter. Following my friend’s advice I went to that spinning class, and actually really liked it a lot! Now all I have to do is get myself a special rig to wear. I recommend it to anyone and can’t wait till the spring to finally jump on my bike.

On a different (and slightly boastful) note, the other day I single-handedly cooked an exquisite stroganoff – if you don’t know what it is, look it up! Yummy!

And recently we had another group of customers (male and female) who knew their beers. It was nice to talk to people sharing my passion… once again! My faith in mankind has been restored, at least until I see another ’women’s beer’.