A female pub manager from Twickenham has celebrated the growing presence of women in breweries ahead of Wetherspoon’s 12-day beer festival.
The nationwide festival, between Wednesday 5 March – Sunday 16 March, will bring 30 new beers to Wetherspoon pubs, including five international beers which were all brewed by women.
The selection will range from Italian chocolate porters to fruity, sunshine-yellow pale ales from Australia.
There will also be beers from Canada, New Zealand and the US, and several new brews created exclusively for the festival.
Maja Lubkowska, pub manager for The William Webb Ellis, hailed the five all-female brewed beers.
She said: “It’s brilliant! Fantastic! It’s no longer how it used to be, it’s not only a boys club anymore.”
Lubkowska, 47, has run the pub for 19 years and seen the industry change dramatically.
At the start of her career, she was the only female pub manager in the area, but now, she says the ratio of male to female pub managers in Twickenham is about 50:50.
The best thing about the festival, according to Lubkowska, will be the variety of beers.
Former bar manager Anna McAlinden, 23, is excited to taste some new flavours.
“I’d definitely try that bad boy,” she said, pointing to the Italian Birra Perugia with notes of cocoa, coffee and liquorice.
She also said the Harviestoun Vienna, by Scottish brewer Amy Cockburn, would be a hit.
She added: “I wouldn’t normally go for an ale, but it’s the biscuity caramel notes that’s really selling it for me.”
One of the new festival ales is a dark porter called Boudicca, a rich and spicy beer which pays tribute to the legendary warrior queen.
Another is a zesty grapefruit brew named after the ancient Greek Queen of the Underworld, Persephone.
The indecisive can buy three different one-third pint tasters for the price of a pint.
Though craft beer remains a male-dominated industry, change may be a-brewing.
Statistics from the Society of Independent Brewers Association (SIBA) show that the number of women brewers is rising, doubling from 5% in 2023 to nearly one in ten in 2024.
Women on Tap is one initiative challenging stereotypes and welcoming women into beer.
In 2024, the social enterprise collaborated with SIBA to launch a new award for ‘Diversity Champion of the Year’.
The SIBA Business Awards 2025 will be the first to include the award.
In the meantime, why not sample some pints and support female-run breweries during Wetherspoon’s beer festival. Cheers to change!
Feature image: JD Wetherspoons Press Office with permission
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