SIBA has today announced the 20 breweries from across the UK which will feature 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 which will cement its place as the UK’s biggest craft brewing event. For the first time ever the 2016 event will feature 20 different brewery bars run by the breweries themselves and featuring two independent craft keg beers, plus an array of bottles and cans of various strengths, styles, colours and flavours.

Demand was so high amongst SIBA’s 850 brewery members that a lottery-style draw was introduced to select the breweries which would be given a place at the UK’s biggest beer industry trade show and beer festival.

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 public ‘Festival of Beer’ 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 is 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.”

The 20 Breweries Selected for Bars at BeerX 2016 are:

Alphabet Brewing (Manchester)
Arran Brewery (Isle of Arran, Scotland)
Bespoke Brewery (Gloucestershire)
Box Social Brewing (Newcastle)
Bradford Brewery (Bradford)
Bude Brewery (Cornwall)
Cathedral Heights (Lincoln)
Davenports (Birmingham)
Dawkins Ales (Bath)
Drink Up Brewery (Bolton)
Five Points Brewing (London)
Fyne Ales (Loch Fyne, Scotland)
Leeds Brewery (Leeds)
Little Beer Co (Guildford)
One Mile End Brewery (London)
Ran Ales (Stoke-on-Trent)
Sonnet 43 (Durham)
Thornbridge (Bakewell, Derbyshire)
Tweed Brewing Co (Manchester)
Williams Bros Brewing (Alloa, Scotland)