Women On Tap Launches Beer Unlocked: Removing Financial Barriers to Opportunity Across the Beer Industry
Newly expanded bursary scheme builds on successful pilot to support women accessing careers, learning, and networking in beer
Women On Tap CIC is proud to announce 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 its 2026 pilot scheme, which demonstrated that 67% of recipients would not have attended brew day events at all without financial support, Beer Unlocked demonstrates Women On Tap's continued commitment to diversity and inclusion.
About Beer Unlocked
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.
Key features of Beer Unlocked:
Broad eligibility: Opportunities across 2026-27 are identified through partnership with leading industry organisations (list coming soon)
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.
Impact
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
Participants described the bursary as "removing a real barrier to entry" and "instrumental in building confidence and industry connections."
One recipient noted: "Attendance would have been financially impossible without support."
Strategic Partnership
Beer Unlocked is delivered through a coalition of industry partners united around the goal of accessible opportunity.
Lead Partner: Real Drinks
Sponsors: Heineken, Queer Brewing, Lallemand, Charles Faram, CAMRA, Kegstar and We Are Beer
This partnership demonstrates the beer industry's commitment to building a more inclusive future.
Josie Burton is Commercial Manager & ESG Lead at Real Drinks Ltd:
“At Real Drinks, we are incredibly proud to be the Lead Partner for Beer Unlocked and to support a programme that is creating meaningful, lasting change across the beer industry. 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.”
This Matters Now
The beer and brewing sector faces a significant diversity challenge. Despite women making up nearly half the UK population, they remain underrepresented 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 directly addresses 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.
What’s Next
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
Demonstrating that relatively modest investments unlock disproportionately large impact
How to Apply
Applications for Beer Unlocked open on 15 June 2026.
Women can apply for grants to access opportunities identified through our partnerships, or for self-identified opportunities meeting eligibility criteria.
This is the easiest way for an organisation to support us - by becoming an industry member. As a thank you, we send you quarterly updates, members get to use our digital member badge to show they support us and our mission to make beer more inclusive for women, and there are other opportunities to have input and access to things like advertising jobs or other opportunities in our newsletters.