Walk into a store and pick up a bottle of Bud Light.
From fermentation to taste-testing, the beer in that bottle has gone through a series of data analysis tests, with each batch of beer passing the strict quality standards of Anheuser-Busch’s brewmaster.
And she’s a woman.
Jennifer Logan has been the brewmaster for Anheuser-Busch in James City County for about two years now, and has found success in a historically male-dominated field.
“I don’t want to be a great female at my job, I just want to be great,” Logan said. “Whether it’s male or female, I just want to be the best.”
Tissues or beer
Logan’s determined nature has taken her from Atlanta, Georgia, to Los Angeles, California, to Williamsburg as she has climbed the ranks at Anheuser-Busch.
Her first love was always math and science; she studied engineering at Georgia Tech, also known as Georgia Institute of Technology.
At the time, only 20 percent of people in the engineering program were women, Logan said. Working in engineering helped her become comfortable in situations where she found herself the minority — and she even learned to enjoy it. Quickly she learned that she wanted to be a leader, which meant distinguishing herself by her work ethic, not her gender.
When she was about to graduate from college, Logan went to a career fair where she had to decide what path she would take with her engineering degree.
“I was walking around and saw that my choices were oil, diapers, or Kleenexes,” Logan said. “And then I found beer, and I knew I wanted that opportunity.”
Earning respect
Logan started with the company in Los Angeles where she worked in the operations department. At the age of 23, she found herself to be a young female in a field dominated by older men.
While Logan’s experience was intimidating at first, she found that her age and gender made her older, male co-workers challenge her to know the material even more.
And Logan took that challenge head-on.
“It’s all about earning respect,” Logan said. “No matter if you’re male or female, if you show that you want to learn, people will respect you and your work.”
Logan took the opportunities to learn and eventually moved into Anheuser-Busch’s Global Brewmaster’s Academy, taking a year and half to pass courses that taught her about beer production and quality.
In 2014, Logan’s studies paid off and she became the assistant brewmaster, and then head brewmaster in 2016. Now, Logan leads a team of almost 30 employees and manages a budget of approximately $55 million each year to make sure every bottle that leaves the brewery is up to quality standards.
Logan has found that the beer industry has more women in it than ever before, and Anheuser-Busch now has a specific program, Women in Beer, that helps support women in the industry. She is a part of a mentor program where she meets with another female co-worker to discuss work, issues and support.
After 11 years with the company, Logan said she has never let her gender hold her back. For her, the experience climbing through the ranks at Anheuser-Busch taught her how to overcome challenges and brought her into a field she discovered she loves.
“I tell people, ‘You’ll never have a better title,’” Logan said. “Every other job, whether it’s a promotion or not, will never sound as awesome as saying ‘I’m a brewmaster.’”
