BeerX to feature brewery bars for first time in 2016
SIBA, The Society of Independent Brewers, will be inviting member breweries to host brewery bars for the first time ever at their National trade show and beer festival next year.
BeerX, which takes place from the 16th to the 19th of March 2016 in Sheffield, has gone from strength to strength in recent years with big plans for expansion in the future – The 2016 event will feature 20 different brewery bars run by the breweries themselves and featuring two independent craft keg beers plus bottles and cans.
Nick Stafford, SIBA’s Commercial Director, says the move is a way to help breweries engage directly with their customers,
“BeerX’s Festival of Beer is all about showcasing the very best in British brewing across cask, keg, bottle and can, and with the addition of our new Brewers Village and brewery bars we are allowing beer drinkers to speak to and have beers poured by the brewers themselves. We think this is a great way to get people engaged with beer and also allows our members to get direct feedback at the point of sale.”
The addition of the new bar space will more than double the size of the festival with hundreds of beers being showcased, many of which are being judged in SIBA’s National Beer competition, held at BeerX. However the brewery bars won’t be limited to serving beers from the competition,
“The great thing about the brewery bars will be they allow brewers to choose the beers they are most proud of, whether that is a beer taking part in the SIBA competitions or a one off brew they believe to be really special and worth showcasing. We expect the addition of the brewery bars to really expand the range and variety of beer styles and flavours on offer at BeerX and be a big hit with drinkers and delegates alike.”
With just 20 spaces available and SIBA’s membership now running to over 830 breweries, competition for a brewery bar space is expected to be hotly contested – and it is for this reason that SIBA are asking brewers to register their interest as soon as possible before a random lottery style draw will be made on the 6th of January, to select the breweries being invited to attend.
Note to breweries:
Full terms and conditions are available to SIBA Members via the Toolbox: http://toolbox.siba.co.uk/filingcabinet.asp?t=BeerX%202016 – Please note this requites you to login, so if you are redirected to the Toolbox homepage after logging in simply click ‘Filing Cabinet’ on the right hand side, then select ‘BeerX 2016’ from the left navigation of the Filing Cabinet.
To register your interest please email jenna.barningham@siba.co.uk
