HER Stories: Ophelia Flores brews up community by mixing passions for beer, art, outreach

This story first appeared in HER Stories 2025, an annual special section that features Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

The world of craft beer has exploded in the last decade, but the industry has largely been populated by men. Ophelia Flores may not be the first woman to brew, but she is determined to make sure she is not the last.

Knowing she was passionate about beer, Flores’ husband, Andrew Olson, brought her to Big Grove Brewery during one of their first dates in 2018. Soon after, she made connections with the brewery and got her foot in the door.

Flores has worked her way up the ranks at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City. When she started with the brewery in 2018, she was interested in any type of work it offered just so she could be around the business.

“I will sweep the floor,” she said. “I will do whatever you need.”

Flores did not need to sweep the floor. Instead, she started as a hostess, then worked as a server and a bartender while still earning her bachelor’s degree in studio arts.

“She is maybe the only employee that’s done everything quite literally,” said Andrew Joynt, director of brewing at Big Grove Brewery. “It’s been fun because she brings a ton of passion to everything she does.”

As she put on more hats, she craved more knowledge about the process of producing the beer that would ultimately pour from the tap and fill the shelves.

“The whole time I kept learning about beer, and I kept bothering the brewers,” Flores said. “I’d ask them all these questions, because on the side I was teaching myself all about beer.”

Ophelia Flores is covered in beer puree on her first day brewing at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City. (Photo by Turk Elliot)

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Brewer Ophelia Flores uses her artistic skills to make instructional diagrams for brewing equipment at Big Grove Brewing in Iowa City. (Photo by Ophelia Flores)

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Brewer Ophelia Flores uses her artistic skills to make instructional diagrams for brewing equipment at Big Grove Brewing in Iowa City. (Photo by Ophelia Flores)

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When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Big Grove needed help in the brewery. Flores was called to wash kegs. She was eager to get started, despite the messy job ahead, and urged that she would be in to do it the next day.

The keg washing experience resulted in Flores being covered in beer puree on one occasion, but it did not satisfy her thirst for more.

Now she brews beer full time at Big Grove Brewery’s Gilbert Street location. She is the only woman brewing for the business. She has held down production on Gilbert Street by herself since the main production moved to another site at 3825 Liberty Dr. last year.

“Really the Iowa City location has done a big transition,” Flores said. “Things like the Oktoberfest and Wade Wisely, any semi-annual release that is a larger quantity still is produced at the Gilbert location. So we’ve kind of transitioned from being a full 20 people at Gilbert to now it’s just me.”

It’s more than brewing beer for Flore: it’s about bringing people together in a way that only beer can.

In September, Flores hosted Ophelia’s Beer School: Beer 101 class at Big Grove Brewery. The class is described as a crash course in learning about beer. She also teaches staff members about brewing and regularly gives tours.

The communal aspect of beer is what drove Flores to stay brewing at the Gilbert Street location, rather than moving to the production facility.

“I’m an extremely extroverted person. I very much enjoy talking to people,” Flores said. “I just felt that I would do more service at the taproom location because not having that connection to the community and people would not really be what I want to do as I grow in the industry. Because a big part of what I like to do is tell people about beer.”

In March, Flores received the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling scholarship. The scholarships are awarded to recognize Black, Indigenous and other people from various racial backgrounds in the industry and give them opportunities to learn and grow in their careers.

Flores is using her scholarship to attend the American Brewers Guild Intensive Brewing Science and Engineering Program. She will complete the 28-week program in November, making her an accredited brewmaster.

“There are a lot of engineering components to it,” she said. “Because a lot of brewers who are coming into the industry who are taking this are coming from essentially no brewing experience. So they want to get you caught up. It’s been very helpful to also do my work. Now I can learn on my own the ‘why’ of what we do.”

Flores said she feels fortunate about the experience she has had coming up in the brewing business at Big Grove Brewery. The company has encouraged her to grow and pursue the opportunities before her. But she recognizes that her success story is an uncommon one in the industry.

“Iowa has so few women who are even just a part of the industry,” she said.

The Pink Boots society, a nonprofit organization that encourages women and nonbinary people in the industry, has members around the globe. Flores is among the members of the Iowa chapter of the organization.

“Of the women who are a part of Pink Boots, I believe last time there were maybe eight production brewers,” she said. “Of those brewers there were definitely less than five who were of many different ethnic backgrounds. That’s something that also drives me in a passionate way because there are very few women and also extremely few women of color doing what we do.”

The many skills that go into brewing make it a viable career that Flores hopes to see more women and women of color get into. When she gives tours, she makes it a point to connect, especially with younger guests, and showcase the career paths that are possible.

“There’s a lot there where people who maybe have some bars to entry in other places can have a space where they can really grow and develop,” Flores said. “I hope it changes.”