Women in Beer Awards honour diverse leaders at Manchester festival
The Women in Beer Awards capped the Women in Beer Festival with a sold-out ceremony at Cloudwater Brewery Taproom in Manchester. The 2026 entrants were judged by an independent panel that included Melissa Cole, Paul Jones, Sophie de Ronde, Vinny Rosario, Helen Anne Smith and Lucy Do. The panel also named Lily Waite-Marsden the Women in Beer Industry Icon, and awarded Ruth Evans MBE a lifetime achievement honour for her leadership of BfBI. Other winners included Red Kellie as Brewer of the Year; Aureja Jupp as Rising Star; Laura Hadland as Communicator of the Year (Elizabeth Townsend highly commended); Gill Sherwin as Entrepreneur of the Year; Alix Blease as Beer Expert of the Year; Natalya Watson as Mentor of the Year; Catherine Webber as Industry Champion of the Year; Nanna Koekoek as Beer Creative of the Year (Kate Stevens highly commended); Maryann O’Connor as Hospitality Leader of the Year; and Women on Tap CIC as Women’s Collective of the Year (No Half Measures highly commended). Source: Beer Today
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