The event, held at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane on 26 and 27 February will see established UK breweries such as Beavertown, Thornbridge, and Harviestoun, alongside international breweries such as Little Bichos, Lagunitas, Mikkheller, and Bronx Brewery.
Independent family brewer’s Elgoods and Adnams will also feature alongside relative newcomers such as Bad Seed and Mondo as the festival aims to enable customers to talk directly to the people behind the brands.
New for this year is a cider zone called ‘Lost In Cyder Space’, which will be partnered with Sheppy’s cider, who are choosing the event to kick off their bi-centennial celebrations as well as a new cider launch.
Cider
The room has been included to reflect the growing cider market, and includes Caple Rd, the first cider producer to go to a can format, Hogan’s who have been assisting breweries Oakham Ales and Tiny Rebel with their forays into cider.
European cider is also making an appearance with Italian producer Angioletti who are launching a blueberry rose infused varietal at the show.
Other firsts for the show include a whisky and rum partnership with Auchentoshan and Don Papa, the rebirth of Mead as a category, Hawkes ginger beer and Harry Brompton’s Ice Tea. A wine bar will also be present for those who prefer the grape to the grain.
Talks
Industry talks this year will cover a range of topics including revered beer writer Des De Moor, who will be talking about his new book ‘London’s Best Pubs’ and fellow authors the Two Thirsty Gardeners, who will be in attendance with Melissa Cole and Williams Bros chief, Scott Williams, delivering a workshop on home brewing and garden produce.
Founder and director of the event Daniel Rowntree said: “With the beer industry evolving at such a fast pace, we felt this year we would up our game too. We have maximised the space within the Truman brewery and extended the stand allocation to 150 producers including 30 cider stands.
“We could have sold these stands twice over without any extra effort, so it shows just how far the industry has come from our 45 stands in 2013. We are also increasing the marketing spend, up rating the production and fitting more consumers into less sessions (2000, across three sessions), as well as welcoming James Lavelle and Rob da Bank as headliners. CBR16 will be amazing.”