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Celebrate Women in Beer Festival next week

17 October 2024 By Jessica Mason

Women in Beer Festival (WiB Fest), which celebrates the work of leading women from across the beer industry, returns to Edinburgh next week.

WiB Fest 2024, which takes place from 23 October until 27 October, will showcase women brewers from eight different breweries. The event will also include a self-guided WiB pub crawl as well as coincide with the launch of four special collaboration beers brewed by members of WiB.

The festival will kick off with a launch party co-hosted with festival partner Cold Town House. Women brewers from Canterbury’s Hand Brew Co. and Edinburgh’s own Cold Town Beer will be on hand for a ‘Meet the Brewer’ event, as well as launching the first of WiB’s special festival beers, Hawaiian Topic – a coconut porter brewed in house with head brewer Halyey Ransome. The evening will then close with the sounds of Edinburgh-based hip-hop and R&B singer-songwriter Wendy McAuslan.

Cold Town business development director Louise MacLean said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Women in Beer, an organisation dedicated to highlighting the incredible contributions women are making in the beer industry. It’s an honour to showcase the talent, passion, and innovation of these women. We’re especially proud to be hosting the launch party, where we can celebrate their achievements and raise a glass to the future of the industry.”

There are more opportunities to Meet the Brewer on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 October. On Thursday, Nia Rylance from regenerative farming focused Ideal Day Family Brewery (Cornwall) and Elizabeth Townsend from Manx micro-brewery Kerroo Brewing (Isle of Man) will host a tap takeover at the Jolly Judge to highlight heritage and sustainability in craft beer.

Then, on Friday, Emily Hutchinson from Bluestone Brewing (Pembrokeshire) and Lara Lopes from Round Corner Brewing (Melton Mowbray) will take up residence at Dreadnought Leith to showcase their sustainable brews.

Saturday 26 October is set to be WiB’s ‘Big Meet Up’, inviting women who enjoy beer and their allies to share a pint together. The ‘Big Meet Up’ will take place at the Stockbridge Tap and will also launch the remaining three WiB Fest beers – Cult of Arduinna, a mixed fermentation sour from Dundee’s Holy Goat Brewing; No Quarter, a non-alcoholic Pacific pale from Scotland’s only alcohol-free brewery Jump Ship; and Rising Waves, a West Coast DIPA from Round Corner Brewing.

Finally, on 27 October, the festival will come to a close with a ‘Craft & Craft’ event at the False Widow on Constitution Street in Edinburgh co-hosted with local crafting group, Stitches & B***hes. This will also include an Edinburgh beer showcase and ‘Meet the Brewer’ event with Lilith Harrison-Rooke from Newbarns Brewery and Lucy and Lizzie Stevens from Closet Brewing.

In addition, WiB will also be celebrating with an industry event on 25 October alongside Sensory Training which will be hosted by Lallemand Brewing and Crisp Malt. There will also be an industry seminar as part of this with talks and panel discussions from women from across the beer industry.

In addition to the main festival programme, venues across Edinburgh have been asked to join in highlighting the efforts of women in beer by pouring a beer brewed by or from breweries led by women during the festival.

Guests are asked to “take a pilgrimage to the perfect pint with a self-guided pub-crawl around these so-called Chaser Venues” while Beer hall and fermentaria, Lost in Leith will feature a WiB tap takeover pouring beers from Closet Brewing, Double-Barrelled Brewery, Duration, Neptune, plus a range of their in-house Campervan beers.

Real ale pub Cloisters has plans to pour a triptych of female brews from Loch Lomond, Newbarns, and Stewart Brewing and Brewhemia will serve up the world’s only unpasteurised and unfiltered tank lager from Stewart Brewing.

Teuchters Bar & Bunker on William Street will host a tap takeover from Edinburgh’s Newbarns brewery, The Cambridge Bar will serve beers from Stewart Brewing and Loch Lomond Brewery and Lothian Road’s The Red Squirrel will be pouring Stewart’s Holyrood Pale Ale. Additionally, The Joker and the Thief will pour Newbarns, while people visiting Victoria Bar will find taps from Stewart Brewing and Edinburgh’s own Campervan Brewery.

Reflecting on the festival, WiB founder Amélie Tassin said: “Visibility is so important and I believe that the more we shout out about women in the Industry, the more we’ll help redress the gender balance. We want to create role models for women who wouldn’t have thought beer was for them. We do this by bringing our talented guests to our events and seminars and giving women the opportunity to connect. And this year’s addition of Chaser Venues will help us share the word even louder.”

The WiB ‘Big Meet Up’, ‘Meet the Brewer’ events, launch party and ‘Craft & Craft’ afternoon are free to attend and open to all genders. Tickets for the industry event start from £35.

To find out more, a full WiB Fest programme information, tickets to industry events, and a festival map can be found here.

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