Week in pictures: 18-24 May

This week saw the Drinks Business Awards 2024 and the London Wine Fair, Jessica Mason with Dea Latis, Douglas Blyde with Never Say Die and Joe Wicks at Hog’s Back Brewery.

The Drinks Business Awards 2024

On Tuesday at the London Wine Fair, the Drinks Business Awards 2024 were announced. Find out all of the winners of the awards here.

Dea Latis

Yesterday, Dea Latis co-founder and beer sommelier Annabel Smith delivered a report that looked at how woman’s relationship with beer has evolved. The report, titled The Gender Pint Gap: Revisited uncovered how the beer industry has taken backward steps in terms of gender equality and showed fewer women than five years ago would choose to buy beer, work in beer or consider it as a drink marketed to them.

Dea Latis set out a manifesto for how the beer industry can adapt to become more inclusive and change. Jessica Mason attended with db was the media partner for the event. The guidance and more information on the situation and the ways the sector can tackle the barriers women face when considering beer can be found here and here.

Never Say Die Rye Whiskey

To Origin City, Smithfields, where drinks consultant, Ruchira Neotia unveiled her “Black Stallion” cocktail starring Never Say Die Rye, which now features on the nose-to-tail restaurant’s cocktail menu. “Black Stallion is my ode to Never Say Die Rye,” she said of the drink, realised in tandem with house mixologist, Giacomo Falcicchio. “Built on the spicy, smooth charm of the Rye, combined with the minty herbal depth of Cynar, elevated by a few drops of Chartreuse Elixir, chocolate bitters and a final kiss of a Maraschino cherry,” she added. “A winning combination that embodies the sleek, muscular and powerful beauty of a Black Stallion, captured running in slow motion to the finish line. a homage to the eponymous horse-that-lived…”

London Wine Fair

A number of events took place at the London Wine Fair this week, including the Judgement of London event, and also the DB Awards and the ‘Stop the Press’ event, featuring db editor-in-chief Patrick Schmitt MW.

The drinks business and Global Masters stand included many of our Masters and Gold winning spirits and wines with members of the trade able to sample the bottles from the db and Spirits Business teams.

Hog’s Back Brewery

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) arrived in style at Hogs Back Brewery last Sunday.

The Tongham-based brewery was the last stop on the group’s Surrey Hills ride, with 742 riders – making it the UK’s second-biggest DGR event – who have so far raised an impressive £48,000 for prostate cancer and men’s mental health charities.

Among the riders were celebrity bikers Charlie Boorman and Joe Wicks, who led the lengthy procession on the final leg of the ride through Farnham and into the brewery, as crowds of enthusiasts and onlookers lined the streets. The ride started in Guildford, taking a 28-mile route through the Surrey Hills.