NEWS

Gipsy Hill Brewing Company has invested into one of its longest-standing customers with a brand new tank beer installation at Westow House, strengthening both businesses’ position in the local area. A mere stone’s throw away from each other, Westow House in Crystal Palace was one of the first venues to make Gipsy Hill’s Hepcat IPA a permanent feature on tap. After years of working together, Gipsy Hill has now invested further into the venue, adding a tank beer installation th

As Wells & Co celebrates 150 years of brewing and pub heritage, the company is proud to announce the launch of Double Star Bedford Bitter — a new permanent cask ale that kicks off its anniversary celebrations and marks a defining moment in its brewing story. Double Star Bedford Bitter is a classic 3.4% bitter cask ale, carefully crafted to meet the tastes of today’s drinkers while honouring Wells & Co’s long history of cask brewing. Balanced, sessionable, and proudly traditi

London February 2026 : The Brand Ambassador Academy (BAA)  has officially launched in the UK, introducing an industry-first professional development program series designed to create the next generation of commercially trained drinks industry leaders. Built for bartenders, brand ambassadors, sales teams, trade marketers and future brand directors, The BAA delivers a structured pathway that has never existed at this scale within the sector, combining commercial rigour with mod

Over the last month the team at Lost and Grounded Brewers been working on the evolution of our mega-cult favourite Running with Sceptres. There’s been no beer that has evolved more in its time than “Sceptres”, originally launched as an amber, malt-driven Vienna-style Lager that was dryhopped with Mosaic and Chinook, and described as Special Lager Beer. Fast forward a few years and the brewing team have continually refined the beer, gradually reducing the colour and malt heavi

In 2025, after twenty years of brewing, Thornbridge enjoyed its most successful year for cask beer production to date.  The forefront of this success was Jaipur, which has firmly established itself as one of the country’s leading modern cask beers. Last year more than 3.5 million pints of Jaipur were brewed for cask. According to the latest data from CGA, this achievement places the flagship IPA as the ninth best-selling cask beer in Britain, a significant accomplishment. The

Premium supermarket chain Waitrose have thrown their weight behind a campaign to promote beer from genuine independent breweries, with a new ‘Indie Beer’ section on Waitrose.com and planned in-store promotions.   Beers from independent breweries now appear in a new Indie Beer section  of the Waitrose online store, reserved exclusively for beers from genuine independent breweries and excluding craft beers produced or owned by Global beer companies. The move coincides with the

Pioneering tours operator Beer Tours UK is offering a new Golf-with-Beer experience for the North-West of England and North Wales, following a successful trial in 2025.  The highly experienced Chester based operator has introduced golfing opportunities to add to its well-established tour itineraries across Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire. Derbyshire, and North Wales. The summer of 2025 saw the inaugural Golf-with-Beer Tour successfully run for Canadian guests. Beer Tours UK

Guild members, please see the Membership Area of the website for a 15% discount code. I am pleased to share the dates for the masterclass sessions that we have on offer to support you and your team this spring. All masterclasses count towards CPD for your CV.   Last chance to book this week: Feature writing masterclass  - 3 February. Three key takeaways from this course include learning how to distinguish features from news, generating feature ideas and getting to know your m

The following received from John Reynolds: I’m sorry to report that Elisabeth Baker, a former member of the Guild, former secretary of SIBA and editor of The Grist and my beloved wife of 25 years, has died, peacefully in her sleep in Peterborough Hospital. Funeral details to follow. John Reynolds

The Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) has today urged the Scottish Government to ensure that the Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government’s recent announcement of additional business rates support for pubs in England are passed on fully  to Scotland’s pub sector. The SBPA emphasises that pubs in Scotland are facing sustained cost pressures and that directing this funding to the sector –consistent with its intended purpose – would provide vital, targeted reli

St Austell Brewery is proud to announce Children’s Hospice South West as its Charity of the Year. The company - which is marking its 175 th  anniversary this year - has committed to raising vital funds over the next two years for the only children’s hospice charity in its region.   For more than 30 years, Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) has supported babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, providing specialist care and compassionate, professional

© Bart Van der Perre On 23 February 2026, it’s happening again! BEER EXPERIENCE  returns to Antwerp. Belgium — a country where beer is not a product but cultural heritage is getting ready for a new edition of this distinctive, content-driven event.   BEER EXPERIENCE rethinks the classic trade fair and firmly chooses experience, knowledge and connection. No soulless halls, but an inspiring setting at  Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck . Beer breathes from every brick here. And you fee

From extreme weather to increasing temperatures, climate change poses a significant threat to UK hop farming, an industry vital to British brewing. Asahi UK is partnering with researchers, industry and farmers on a new initiative to forge a path towards more sustainable hop farming, supporting its resilience for the future. Asahi UK For hundreds of years, hop farming has been a critical part of Britain’s brewing industry – where the hops themselves play the most significant p

The Brewers’ Research and Education Fund (BREF) 2026/2027 is now open for applications, with the Advisory Committee once again on the lookout for the brightest and best ideas to benefit the brewing and pub industry.  For over a decade, the BREF has supported ideas that seek to improve and support the UK brewing industry. This has included awards for projects focusing on climate risk and resilience, hop diversification, benefits of moderate beer consumption and educational act

A brewery in Northumberland have taken home a haul of Golds in the North East's most prestigious beer competition, the Indie Beer Awards, held at the Brew York Beer Hall in York.   Twice Brewed were named Champions in three keg beer style categories and then the 'best of the best' in the Overall Champions judging, taking the Gold medal haul for the brewery to an impressive four.    Matthew Brown, Head Brewer at Twice Brewed, accepted the awards and had this to say on their wi

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has awarded Billingham Catholic Club   in Billingham the Club of the Year 2025 title.   Run in partnership with Club Mirror , the award recognises the best social clubs in the UK. Clubs are judged on their atmosphere, welcoming surroundings and, most importantly, the quality of their cask beer and real cider and perry.   The former Roman Catholic school has featured in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide  for almost two decades, which is an incredible ac

Forty-six years after she took the keys to The Bull in Wargrave, near Maidenhead, landlady Jayne Worrall has become pub operator Brakspear’s longest-serving licensee. And despite the many challenges facing the industry, she has no imminent plans to call time. Jayne is in her third ‘life’ at The Bull, having started at the pub in January 1980 after an eight-year career as cabin crew with BOAC (later British Airways). In 1884 she moved to another Brakspear pub, The Rising Sun i

Partnership to pilot in 900 Greene King sport pubs across Britain Training provided for more than 16,000 Greene King team members Education and reporting tools for fans will help raise awareness Research shows eight in 10 people think pubs should be inclusive   Kick It Out and Guinness 0.0 are launching a groundbreaking partnership in their mission to make every fan feel they belong in football.   The collaboration between football’s leading anti-discrimination charity and th

How to address drug abuse in the night-time economy, respond to knife attacks, and the future of digital ID are among the major themes at this year’s National Pubwatch Conference. The 22nd annual event will take place at the Hilton Liverpool City Centre on  24 February 2026 , bringing together leading voices from policing and the licensed trade to share expertise and best practice on the challenges facing the sector. National Pubwatch is a voluntary organisation, which suppor

Joule’s Brewery has announced a recruitment open day for the Red Lion in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, as plans continue for the redevelopment of the historic pub. The open day will take place on Tuesday 11 February 2026, from 10am to 6pm , and will be hosted at Waterside Tap, Gas Street Basin, B1 2JT, while the Red Lion itself is under development. The event offers an opportunity for those interested in working with Joule’s to find out more about the Red Lion project, meet