I visited the famous British Guild of Beer Writers held in London, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of women there. I came to know that this was the maximum woman turnout ever. This annual program celebrates the people who like writing about beer. So obviously I was interested.

It had 4 judges to select the winners. Since this was the first time I went to one of these functions, I was delighted to be at a place with so many peers, especially women! I always felt that I belong to a rare species of women beer writers. These women came from different places- some worked at breweries, while others were journalists and writers, and they were bound by only one thing- their love for beer, and beer writing.

But of course there were men as well, and unfortunately, only one woman made it to the list of winners- the runner up Isla Whiteworth for her writings on pubs and beer trade. And the beer writer of the year 2010 was Simon Jenkins- congratulations to him.

And then there was the famous Dea Latis, with all its members sitting around the table. It is a group of marketers, writers, publicans, beer tasters, and brewers that join together and like to discuss beer.

You can join them on your Facebook page too. I would love to join their group too. It was great to see so many beer lovers in a single room. And of course, there was nice beer and food. There were 5 courses of Asian fusion meals made by Sriram Aylur, the star chef of Quilon restaurant. And there were different beers to match each course (What else can you expect at a beer writers’ convention)

In the end, it was a nice experience and I got to see many renowned faces in the beer industry. And I got to taste many different types of beers. Of course I learned a lot from this meeting, but most of all, I got to interact with the famous people of the beer world.

This one was a real blast, and I’m looking for the next BGBW meetings to come. I hope I learned enough to someday win an award at one of these ceremonies- or at least get nominated for one.

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