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StuffMadeinMA.com • 2 0 1 9 • S T U F F 17 " T here are just so many of us now, it's a challenge for brewers to make their beers different." - Brienne Allen are satisfied with their job in the field. Here are three women in Massachusetts who came to the field in different ways and are now in various stages of career growth. Brienne Allen, craft brewing Salem resident Brienne Allen is the production manager of Notch Brewing, in Salem. Raised in Upton, she explored many interests and potential careers before entering the competitive field of brew- ing beer. Allen was originally on a pre-med track; she spent a year studying healthcare at Emmanuel College in Cambridge, eventually deciding it wasn't for her. Then, it was art. She enrolled in Montserrat College of Art in Beverly. In this roundabout way, she learned some of the things she liked to do are required in the manufacturing field. "I thought it was photography I was into, but I liked the sculpture and design aspect and building things," Allen said. As part of her art classes, she took woodworking and welding, which resonated. During the time she was enrolled, craft brewing began gaining traction as an industry, which interested her. As it worked out, she waited to attend brew school until after she earned her bachelor's degree in fine art from Montserrat and was glad she did. Getting basic aspects also applying to manufactur- ing under her belt in a thorough, more formal way has served her well in terms of practical applica- tion. "The brewing program is extremely technical, and you wouldn't be able to utilize the information and explain why you are doing what you are doing," without conceptual understanding of processes like heat transfers, Allen said, which concern successful temperature consistency during fermentation. At Notch for two years now, she has worked her way up to production manager, but started out cleaning kegs, working in packaging and bottling before getting into the brewing and cellaring pro- cesses, which she refers to as the most important parts of brewing. "It all has to do with the fermentation aspects of beer – making sure it's all sterile and sanitary, or it will go bad and spoil," Allen said. Allen believes there are as many women involved in brewing as men — more, in fact. They just may not be as visible. From her vantage point, anyone can come to the field with little or no experience. The challenge is to get your beers noticed out in the marketplace, Allen said. "There are just so many of us now, it's a challenge for brewers to make their beers different," she said. (She also said she enjoys drinking wine.) Andrea Patisteas, medical devices Andrea Patisteas, senior executive vice president of Stoughton medical-device maker Primo Medical Continued on page 18 $124,090 Average annual pay of Boston metro area computer hardware engineers, the highest- paying engineering job in the region 12.6 million Number of U.S. manufacturing workers, the highest level of total employment in the industry since 2008 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics P H O T O / M I C H A E L PA P E T T I