Schwab, 27, of Fulton, Illinois, started learning about the brewery industry a few years ago at Great Revivalist Brew Lab, owned by her father Richard, in Geneseo.

“I had no idea what a brewery was,” Schwab said, “let alone what a brewer was.”

According to the Museum of Oxford, evidence from medieval records indicate regulations that appear to treat brewing as a purely female endeavor. The first brewers, historically, were called “alewives” or “brewsters.”

As brewing became more commercial, the industry became dominated by men. Data released in 2019 by the Brewers Association estimates the range of female brewers in the industry to now be 4-7.5%.

“You have to be pretty strong,” Schwab explained. “You have to be able to lift those grain bins, move around the kegs. I think you see more men in that field just for almost maybe the physical aspect of it. It’s a lot more than I anticipated when I first got into it.”

Great Revivalist Brewery, a former church at 238 Fourth Ave. South in Clinton renovated and also owned by Schwab’s father, opened its doors for business April 29, 2023. There, Schwab learned to brew while her sister, Hailee, 21, works in the brewery’s kitchen.

“We’re literally just average people that took on a really cool project,” Schwab said, “because we truly enjoy what we do and what we can give to these people.”

At Great Revivalist Brewery, Schwab said she “really learned everything the wrong, painful way to learn the right way or just from ground up.”

Her mentors, though, have included her father with a master’s degree in business.

“He speaks with his heart, and he has a lot of passion in everything that he does,” she said, “and he’s unapologetically blunt.”

Head brewer Scott Lehnert has spent decades in the industry, having formerly owned Great River Brewery, an establishment that was one of many destroyed after a temporary flood wall broke in 2019, causing historic flooding in downtown Davenport.

After Schwab first learned how to clean everything, she was then taught the process of, she said, “how we do it and why,” followed by the science of recipes.

“It’s a balancing act and is also so undiscovered,” she said. “It’s constant testing.”

As Great Revivalist Brewery nears the second anniversary of the business’s opening, Schwab calls the establishment a small business with big magnitude.

Distributed by 7G Distributing and Stern Beverage Inc, Great Revivalist’s craft brews have become available in over 100 locations throughout Iowa and Illinois, while many of the brewery’s customers come from as far as the Quad Cities or beyond.

In February 2023, Schwab transitioned from brewing to handling the business’s financial books. She has since then taken on a management role as well.

Schwab, mother to a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old, said she continues to learn every day and foresees continuing on in the business where needed.

“I do want to create a foundation,” she said, “and a path that if my children want to follow and be a part of anything, they have different choices.”