The Pink Boots Society is proud to announce Kyrié Benson of John Haas inc. from Selah, Washington as the Cicerone® Beer Savvy National scholarship Recipient. As well as Caitlin Hill from Hop Culture Farms and Brewing Co. in Colchester, CT as the Connecticut chapter scholarship recipient.

Kyrié is a production coordinator at John I Haas. This means she is one of the amazing people making sure the breweries get their hops, one of the four essential brewing ingredients. Whether it is putting together packing lists, answering phone calls, greeting people or setting up safety protocols, she will get it done.  Before Kyrié moved to the behind the scenes she worked at the beer shoppe in Yakima helping to connect people with great beer. Yakima Valley is a huge location for hops and often has travels coming into the area.   

Kyrié has been all over the world for beer festivals, from multiple locations across America, to parts of New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. She hosts The Hoppy Wanderer podcast about her journeys and can be found on Spotify and Castbox. 

Caitlin Hill of Hop Culture Farms and Brewing Co in Colchester, CT was chosen by the Connecticut selection committee for this scholarship because she shows a true interest in learning more about the best practices for pouring and serving beer as a front of house employee. In addition, she has a strong desire to increase her knowledge of beer styles not only to better herself, but to share her knowledge with the customers that visit the brewery every week. 

Prior to working at Hop Culture, Caitlin worked for Narragansett Brewing as a promotional rep in the state of CT, pouring at various beer festivals and hosting tastings at bars and package stores across the state. Before working in the industry, Caitlin volunteered for the CT chapter of Girls Pint Out as chapter leader, planning and executing monthly events to educate women who loved beer just as much as she did!

Caitlin currently works as a beertender at Hop Culture Farms and Brewing Co in Colchester, CT where she works behind the bar, serving patrons and educating guests not only on the beer, but also on hop farming and the different varieties that are grown on the land. In addition to working at Hop Culture, Caitlin also serves at the current Brew Day Liaison for the CT Pink Boots Chapter.

The Cicerone BeerSavvy® Course is a comprehensive self-paced online beer training course designed to enhance knowledge of brewing techniques, beer styles, understanding flavors and off-flavors, food pairings and the language to clearly discuss beer. The course is beneficial for many people who work in the beer industry including those who are educating others about beer.

In addition to attending the course, each of the ladies will each receive a pair of pink steel-toe rubber boots when they fulfill the Pay It Forward requirement associated with the scholarship.