Seems like being a man is necessary, but not sufficient to be a part of mentrificafion. Just like gentrification doesn’t imply that all the gentry are involved in it.

But mostly it’s a pun.

I would also be willing to believe that the, for lack of a better term, dick-measuring, isn't something that men inherently do more; we're just primed to see it that way due to sexist stereotypes. And/or they get away with it more easily 'cuz hegemony.

Evidences:

At quilting shows, numeric boasting is also common - number of hours, number of pieces, number of spools of thread, I've even seen a count of the number of broken quilting needles.

Carbon fiber knitting needles are a thing. I own some. The packaging talks about how carbon fiber is also used in aerospace. (In case, I dunno, you need to get those puppies moving through the air really fast, maybe?)

My grandmother's approach to baking Christmas cookies.

(That said, MENTRIFICATION is a hilarious term, I chuckled out loud, and I will be using it in the future, with only moderate fear that doing so will emasculate me or invert the patriarchy, and minor hope that people who like to complain about political correctness will be offended on political grounds.)

The point is that this is a general trend in culture not specifically brewing. That’s why they ended with the example of knitting, they even included the parenthetical disclaimer that it’s not always men.

Mentrification is just a clever play on words.

The actual observation definitely rings true for me. I remember as a middle schooler not wanting to admit i was learning guitar until i was ’good enough’.

I think this is definitely tied to identity. Something that you can work at and see demonstrable progress is comforting in a way, but i can see how it easily leads to passion as competition.