Meet the ladies representing Grand Fir Brewing at this year’s SheBrew Festival

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, February 27, 2025

Whitney Burnside and Lily Hulsman both started homebrewing before they could legally drink their product.

Burnside, owner and brewmaster of Grand Fir Brewing, and Hulsman, a brewer there, are rearing up to present two beers at the 10th annual SheBrew Festival, a celebration of women in the craft beer and cider industry, happening in Portland on Saturday, March 8, at The Leftbank Annex, 101 N. Weidler St.

“I always enjoy going to the homebrewers portion because that’s where I got my start,” Burnside said. “When you home brew, there is the utmost attention to detail and love. They put their heart and souls into those.” 

Two sessions, noon-3 p.m., and 4-7 p.m., offer attendees the chance to explore 40 brewers and 10 homebrewers from around the Pacific Northwest, with all proceeds going to the Human Rights Campaign to fight for equality.

This event is open to all ages. Only guests 21 and older will be permitted to consume alcohol.

Now let’s meet the ladies of Grand Fir Brewing: 

Whitney Burnside, owner and brewmaster

Burnside started Grand Fir Brewing with her husband, Doug Adams, in November 2022. 

She graduated in 2008 with a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University of Rhode Island and fell in love with fermentation. 

The Herbfarm, a farm-to-table restaurant in wine-centric Woodinville, Washington, was a first experience of falling in love with fermenting, making artisan cheeses.

“It was very much in the same vein,” Burnside said. “It combines a lot of the things that interest me.”

It led her to homebrewing and bread making, and her desire to make beer her career exploded. From cooking to liquid baking to chemistry and engineering, brewing scratched all the right itches. 

Ironically, Burnside said she wasn’t much of a beer drinker when her journey started.

In 2009, Burnside went door-to-door hunting to work for free at any brewery in Seattle; she didn’t succeed. 

It wasn’t until she made it to Laurelwood Brewing Co. in Portland that she landed a gig making beer for free. 

Burnside climbed the ropes and worked at some of the PNW’s best breweries: first at Upright Brewing in Portland, then at Elysian Brewing in Seattle, then becoming the head brewer at Pelican Brewing Co. in Pacific City, and in 2015 she opened the Pearl District location of 10 Barrel Brewing Co. as brewmaster.

For nearly eight years she led as brewmaster at 10 Barrel Brewing, crafting numerous award-winning beers, before opening her own shop. 

Her style overtime has refined, she said, it started highly creative and experimental, but now she has perfected more traditional styles. 

An example of this: Burnside no longer creates sours or hazys. 

This isn’t her first SheBrew event, and Burnside said she’s looking forward to returning. 

“I think woman approach beer brewing differently, in a lot of different ways, both our technique and ideas, and our palates and taste are different,” she said. “It’s really a fun way to see that.” 

Lily Hulsman, brewer

Hulsman took up homebrewing with her aunt during the pandemic. 

“It was just something fun I was doing,” she said. 

Her aunt started it and invited 20-year-old Hulsman over to join, though their first brew was a flop. 

“Oh my god, I hate this,” Hulsman said, reminiscing on her first sip of their beer. 

Studying environmental science at Linfield University, Hulsman enrolled in a chemistry of beer course and felt it wasn’t like anything out of the ordinary.

Hulsman graduated, and as many have dealt with, was on the hunt for a job. A local brewery, ForeLand Beer, posted a listing for a brewer position with no experience required. 

She landed the gig four years ago and has been in the industry since. 

“My favorite part about brewing is the process of seeing something change,” Hulsman said.

Hulsman worked at ForeLand Beer, 10 Barrel Brewing Co. and now Grand Fir Brewing. 

Looking forward to the SheBrew Festival, Hulsman said she feels it’s an incredible opportunity to celebrate brewers, cider makers and more. 

The two brews from Grand Fir Brewing for this year’s SheBrew Festival:

• Honky Tonk Nighthawk is a West Coast Pilsner named after the song by Colter Wall. 
• Dark Heart is an export stout aged in Westward Single Malt barrels with Montmorency cherries and coconut.

For more information and to find tickets, visit shebrew.beer.