Women On Tap CIC has announced the launch of Beer Unlocked, an expanded bursary scheme designed to remove financial barriers preventing women from accessing opportunities across the beer industry.
Building on the success of a pilot scheme, which demonstrated that 67% of recipients would not have attended brew day events at all without financial support, it demonstrates Women On Tap’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Beer Unlocked offers financial grants to women seeking to access a wide range of opportunities across the beer and brewing sector — from International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) events to learning, development, and networking experiences.
The scheme is built on proven principles of trust, dignity, and accessibility, with an application process that is intentionally simple and non-intrusive, requiring only essential information and no detailed financial disclosure.
The key features are:
- Broad eligibility: Opportunities across 2026-27 are identified through partnership with leading industry organisations
- Self-directed access: Women can also apply for opportunities they identify themselves, with clear eligibility guidance provided
- Trust-based approach: Streamlined application designed to support rather than gatekeep
- Sustainability: The aim is the scheme will relaunch each June with sufficient support, with allocated ringfenced funds for IWCBD annually.
The pilot scheme revealed strong, transformative outcomes:
- 84% of respondents said the bursary was a key enabling factor, with 67% confirming they would not have attended an IWCBD brew day at all without support
- 100% of participants reported high-value impact on their skills development, career progression, networking, and sense of belonging within the beer community
- 100% of respondents rated bursary schemes as important.
The lead partner for the scheme is Real Drinks, whose commercial manager and ESG lead, Josie Burton, said: “As a business, inclusion is not simply an aspiration – it is embedded in our culture and leadership, with women representing across director-level, heads of department, commercial, finance and supply chain functions, retail operations, and administrative support.
“Beer Unlocked is an important initiative because it directly addresses barriers that too often prevent talented women from accessing opportunities to grow, connect, and thrive within the industry. We believe that widening access strengthens the future of brewing, and we are delighted to work alongside Women On Tap CIC and industry partners to help build a more inclusive and representative beer community for everyone.”
Sponsors are Heineken, Queer Brewing, Lallemand, Charles Faram, CAMRA, Kegstar, and We Are Beer.
The beer and brewing sector faces a significant diversity challenge. Despite women making up nearly half the UK population, they remain under-represented across brewing, hospitality, and related industries. The recent SIBA Independent Beer Report 2026 revealed that only 7% of brewers are women; women that do work in beer tend to be found in the back office or taproom — not the brewery; while men make up 79% of brewery ownership.
Financial barriers — travel costs, childcare, lost income — disproportionately exclude women from the learning, networking, and career development opportunities that build industry careers. Beer Unlocked is designed to directly address these structural inequities. By removing financial barriers at scale, the scheme creates genuine pathways for women to enter and progress within the industry in a viable way.
With the right support, Beer Unlocked will grow into a sustainable, sector-wide initiative. The vision is ambitious and includes:
- Establishing an annual programme running each June;
- Supporting women to access diverse opportunities across 2026-27 and beyond;
- Creating a visible, consistent pathway into the beer industry; and
- Demonstrating that relatively modest investments unlock disproportionately large impact.
Applications for Beer Unlocked open on 15th June. Women can apply for grants to access opportunities identified by Women On Tap CIC, or for self-identified opportunities meeting eligibility criteria. Find out more here.
