Earlier this week at the Guild AGM, members voted in favour of broadening our remit to support cider.
The change means that cider writers and communicators will be welcomed to join the Guild and take part in its prestigious portfolio of awards for the very first time. The name of the Guild will remain unchanged.
Emma Inch, Chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers who put the resolution forward said: “Over recent years there has been an increase in the profile of British cider and many more people – including some of our individual members – are regularly writing about cider. However, quality cider writing currently has no formal body or guild to support its members, promote excellent writing, or educate, inform and inspire people about cider. The lack of a cider writer’s’ guild means that there is no specialist awards framework for cider writing. Writing about cider is not judged as part of our awards which means a large amount of excellent content goes unrewarded.
“Cider – like beer – is a drink rooted in the traditions and natural resources of this country and – also like beer – it’s intrinsically linked to pubs. Although much has been said about cider being more closely linked to wine, the reality is that it continues to be associated with beer in the minds of consumers and, indeed, many of those writing about it and commissioning writing about it.”
Pivoting a beer-focused organisation to include cider is not without precedent. In 2017 the Beer Academy (part of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling) became the Beer & Cider Academy and now offers equivalent cider courses alongside those focused on beer. CAMRA added cider to its remit as long ago as the 1980s. It now campaigns and educates enthusiastically on behalf of the drink.
The special resolution, which was passed by 79% of the membership, will be met with approval from cider writers up and down the country.
Ciderologist Gabe Cook said: “This decision gives cider a platform that enables it to be known and understood as a quality beverage, replete with a wonderful array of diversity of styles. While beer and cider are, of course, different drinks, there is so much that binds them together: the best of British fermentations, a mainstay of the pub and a focal point for communities in which they are produced.”
For more information, contact secretary@beerguild.co.uk