MPs celebrate 125 years of brewing excellence at the House of Commons

Andrew Griffiths, MP for Burton on Trent and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, hosted a reception for some of the UK’s top brewers at the House of Commons on Wednesday 7th September to mark the 125th Anniversary of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.

The Institute was formed in London in 1886 and now has a membership of over 4000 brewing and distilling professionals worldwide. Sixteen of the Beer Group’s past and present “Brewers of the Year” attended the event with their local MPs and the Chief Executives of their respective brewing companies.

Toasting the Institute, Andrew said ”It is an enormous pleasure to welcome some of the country’s most respected brewers to Parliament. Beer is not only our national drink; it is also a vital plank of the UK economy, sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs from farm to pub.”

The IBD’s Executive Director, Simon Jackson responded: “Brewing is part art and part science. Top brewers combine enormous technical knowledge with that special flair needed to produce beers that truly delight drinkers. The Pantheon of brewers assembled here today has not only been responsible for creating some of the country’s finest beers, they have also been enormously generous in passing on their knowledge to future generations. Such education is essential if we are to remain as one of the world’s great brewing nations”.