women in beer
applications are now open for the women in beer mentorship programme.
The Women In Beer mentorship program is open to anyone who identifies as a woman and is based in the UK, from all sectors of the industry (hospitality, brewing, marketing, chemistry, etc.). Whether you’re starting a career or a project in beer, the mentorship gives you the chance to be paired with experienced women of the beer industry who will be able to give you skills, advice, and access to a wider network.
The mentors for the programme range across all areas and are a collection of fantastic, inspiring human beings. Jenn Merrick (Brewery manager at Big Smoke), Jaega Wise (Head Brewer at Wild Cards Brewery), Annabel Smith (Beer Sommelier and Head of Training at Cask Marque), Rachel Auty (Head of Marketing at Brew York and Director at Women On Tap CIC), Charlotte Cook (Head Brewer at Coalition and Beer Writer), Kate Hyde (Head Brewer at Hand Brew Co.), Robyn Bell (Cellar manager at Cloudwater Brew Co.), Natalya Watson (Beer Sommelier and Advanced Cicerone®, Founder of Virtual Beer School, podcast host and author), Jules Gray (Owner of Hop Hideout beer shop, founder of Indie Beer Feast, beer writer and judge), Emma Inch (Multi-award-winning freelance writer and audio-maker. Outgoing Chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers), Anna Warneke (Commissioning brewer and project manager at SSV), Daisy Turnell (Marketing and Social media Freelancer), and Edina Balint (Quality manager at Vocation Brew).
All applications are to be made on Women in Beer website https://www.womeninbeer.co.uk/mentorship. With the first mentorship sessions for the successful applicants starting in September 2023.
The program is a pilot that will run for a year with the results being presented at the next WiB Festival in October 2024.
The mentorship programme comes at an important time, with women in hospitality taking up significantly less space in leaderships roles compared to their male counterparts, and even less than that in the beer brewing community. The aim for Women in Beer is to make the landscape a more diverse, tolerant and fair one for women and they quote “the scheme will be a gamer changer”.
They’ve already gathered some incredible support and for everyone who would like to show their support further, a Patreon has also been opened with tiers starting as little as £4.5 per month https://patreon.com/WomenInBeerProjects.