Stouts and porters are surging in popularity across the UK – both at home and in bars and pubs – driven by the assurance of quality and more experimental drinking habits. How is this thirst for black beer creating fresh opportunities for breweries and drinks manufacturers?
Glynn Davis is a business writer specialising in the retail and food and drink sectors. He is also the editor and founder of Retail Insider as well as Beer Insider. Key areas covered are trends, innovation, and technology. He also co-owns and is involved with running a brewery in North London.
Jeff Evans is a freelance journalist, author, and beer expert with more than 30 years of experience writing and talking about beer and pop culture. Evans is also the chairman of the International Beer Challenge.
Annabel Smith is an award-winning beer sommelier, educator, writer, and broadcaster. She runs BeerBelle, a company specialising in training trade and consumers about the beer category and is the head of training at The Cask Marque Trust. She is the founder of Dea Latis, an organisation that researches women’s attitudes and behaviours towards beer. She is a former winner of the Imbibe Educator of the Year and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group for services to the beer industry.
Dr. Jacopo Mazzeo is a freelance wine and drinks journalist and consultant.
He regularly contributes to leading trade and consumer publications including Wine Enthusiast, Whisky Magazine, Decanter, Meininger, Club Oenologique, Harper's, Pix Wine, and Good Beer Hunting. He consults on consumer trends and marketing strategy and offers copywriting services to drinks firms and agencies. Jacopo is a former sommelier, he judges international wine, beer, and spirits competitions, and sat twice on the board of directors of the British Guild of Beer Writers. Before he embraced full-time journalism, he studied musicology at the University of Bologna and took a PhD at the University of Southampton.