After internships at the Austin American-Statesman, The Texas Tribune and once leading the news section of Hilltop Views, St. Edward’s University alumnus Ari Auber wanted to be a news reporter.

But that all changed three-and-a-half years ago when she scored a job as a features reporter at the Austin American-Statesman during her final semester at SEU.

“When the job at the Statesman opened up it was in Life and Arts and I was like, ‘Well, I’ll take it. If I want to move into news later on I can,’” Auber said. “But I fell in love with features reporting.”

In the same month that Auber started working at the Statesman, her and a few of her colleagues at Hilltop Views decided to start Bitch Beer, an all female blog that focuses on local beer in Austin.

“We had visited a local brewery in town and noticed that we were the only girls there, who weren’t there with boyfriends or male friends, that was actually pretty horrible,” Auber said. “Women should be into craft beer. It’s for everyone.”

A few pints later, Auber and her friends bought the Bitch Beer domain and started the blog.

“The term ‘bitch beer’ is a term for the sugary light lager that women apparently like to drink,” Auber said. “We decided to turn the term on its head and basically take it back.”

Beer firsts

Auber’s fascination with beer was initially ruined during the first time she ever drank beer — Bud Light Lime to be specific. After a while, Auber decided to give beer another chance during a Hilltop Views happy hour at Opal Divine’s, and ordered a (512) Pecan Porter.

“That changed my life,” Auber said.

The start of Auber’s beer writing began at Bitch Beer with the May 24, 2012 beer of the week: Magic Hat No. 9.

“Hailing all the way from a microbrewery in Vermont, Magic Hat No. 9 is a ‘not quite pale ale’ with apricot extract. Because apricot is one of my favorite fruits that I don’t eat all that often, mixing its flavor into beer is a genius idea,” writes Auber in her review of the beer.

Beer tips

“If you have a beer that you don’t think you like and you don’t know that there are so many other beers out there, yeah you might be turned off,” Auber said. “Hopefully we can bring them back in.”

So if your first experience with beer was like Auber’s and it completely turned you off of beer, Ari has a few tips for you.

“Just see what you like,” she said. “There’s so many different styles out there.”

So if you try a dark, malty beer and don’t like it, Auber says to try a lighter style, like a pilsner or a pale ale.

“I think just [be] open to trying any style,” she said. “Once you find the one you like, just cultivate more of the same style.”