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Your Chicago: Women Who Love Craft Beer

(CBS) -- In the past decade, Chicago has become a serious destination for craft beer.  And more women than ever are taking an interest in becoming experts – in more ways than one.

CBS 2's Kate Sullivan reports.

The Local Option is a local watering hole in Lincoln Park, a place where women are meeting and drinking with a decidedly serious agenda: to talk about beer, really good beer.

Lorna Juett founded a Chicago beer group for women.

"My goal is to make sure that women have the vocabulary to express themselves and find out what styles of beer they like," she explains.

Beer lover Annaliess Dohe says she likes stouts and other dark beers.

Their group is called Barley's Angels. And, beyond the meetings, classes and tastings, there is a sincere interest in learning more.

Member Dana Sterbens is a lifelong wine drinker who turned to beer just a year ago.

"My husband started to get really interested in craft beer. It's fun to do something as a couple, and so I started to drink beer and I started to really enjoy it," she says.

In Naperville, some women are taking it a step further.

Eileen Uchima and her daughter, Heather, are deep into the beer-making process, or home-brewing, which requires five hours of prep work and then a four- to six-week wait for the finished product. They've been experimenting with different ingredients and spices.

Juett's advice for women who want to become more familiar with craft beers is this: "Talk to people about what you like, research breweries, just have fun with it. It is about fun."

Next week is Chicago Craft Beer Week. Bars and pubs across the city are taking part.

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