International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) will be back for 2026, organisers Women On Tap CIC have confirmed.
Funding and partnerships are in place which are set to increase the campaign’s impact and legacy.
The global campaign brings together beer and International Women’s Day by inspiring and supporting communities to gather at local breweries to brew beer together, network, learn, and celebrate women.
The beer industry remains stubbornly male-dominated, say Women in Tap, with women still making up just 30% of the overall UK workforce — a figure unchanged since 2022.
Only 4% of those women are now in brewing roles, a sharp drop from 11% in 2019. Women now represent just 8% of all brewers, down from 9% last year, and their presence in management has slipped from 25% to 23%. Meanwhile, women remain heavily over-represented in administrative roles, comprising 78% of that segment.
IWCBD aims to drive change by boosting representation, promoting the growth of support networks, and inspiring breweries to reflect on workplace inclusion.
First launched in 2014 by Sophie de Ronde of Burnt Mill Brewery, the global brewing celebration ran for 10 years before taking a break in 2024.
Later that year, Women On Tap CIC — the social enterprise championing gender equality in the beer industry — announced it would be picking up the reins. IWCBD made its welcome return this year. There were 61 brew days, 837 participants, 66 beers, and an incredible £26,921 raised for 44 women’s causes around the world.
The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) will be headline partner for IWCBD for another year. WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) will once again be the education partner.
For 2026, WSET are expanding their support by increasing donated places on the exclusive IWCBD online Level 1 Award in Beer from 18 to 30. These places will be equally available to participants across all regions.
A new bursary scheme will be offered, supplying direct financial support to those who are required to cover their own travel costs, and who would find this a barrier to participation in the campaign. And Simpsons Malt have also signed up as a main sponsor.
“It’s been an honour to take ownership of this legendary campaign this year,” said Women On Tap founder, Rachel Auty, who will lead the campaign again for 2026. “We’ve already started to positively evolve it with excellent results, and there’s more to come.
“For 2026, we’re actively looking to grow participation, particularly internationally; we’ve engaged a range of new industry supporters, and we’re introducing a bursary scheme to actively remove some cost barriers.
“We want to increase the impact of the campaign across all metrics for 2026, and we’re incredibly grateful to SIBA, WSET, and all our other supporters for enabling us to do this.”
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