SIBA Wales & West Region

Includes:
Wales
Eire
Gloucestershire
Herefordshire
Northern Ireland
Shropshire
Worcestershire

SIBA Wales & West Beer Competition

Representatives to SIBA Wales and West

Jim Kenyon – Hereford Brewery
Jim was born in hereford. He joined the army at sixteen and served all around the world for 14 years with Airborne Forces. After a parachute accident he left the army and decided to buy a pub, The Victory. At the same time he built and opened a brewery “The Spinning Dog” initially with a four barrell brew length at the back of the pub. Four years later the demand outstipped the four barrell plant so an eleven barrell brewery was installed.
Jim’s interests are rugby, shooting and scuba diving. He is married to Helen and has three children ages range from twenty to eighteen months old.
Jim has been a SIBA Council member for the past year and a SIBA member for the last eight years. He is passionate about defending the progressive beer duty and promotes the ethos of breweries working together for the common good.

Norman Pearce - Corvedale Brewery

Buster Grant – Brecon Brewing
Having always enjoyed a decent beer, getting involved in the trade was probably inevitable… I first got involved with CAMRA in 1992 whilst I was working in the iconic White Horse in Parsons Green, London. I was seconded to the GBBF to help on a brewery bar, which was an extraordinary experience to say the least. Having missed 93′s GBBF – it was a little far to commute from South Africa…- I’ve been involved every year since then – surely a sign of madness…
Speaking of signs of madness, having left Newcastle Uni with a degree in Archaeology (a future in ruins, etc), I ended up, via a South Africa Gold Mining company, back in London doing a couple of weeks Sound Engineering for a friend. This predictably turned into several years work, doing all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, mostly on the conference side, some of which I can even talk about… With the Millennium looming, I decided it was time think seriously about the future, so ended up back at University, doing an MSc in Brewing and Distilling – at least this way the visits to the Pub were coursework rather than just being a wastrel…)
Having completed the MSc, I moved to Henley to work for Brakspear’s, and when that fine brewery sadly closed, an opportunity arose at a new brewery in Brecon, so off to Wales I went…
In 2007, I started working towards forming a brewing trade association in Wales, and in 2008 the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, (which I still Chair), was created.
In 2011, the opportunity arose to start a new brewery, as all attempts to work with the existing company had floundered, so Brecon Brewing was born.
As well as an obvious passion for beer, I still find a little time to play with Land Rovers, and occasionally manage to get out and race…

News articles from SIBA Wales and West Region: