At the age of seventeen, he got started in the restaurant business as a busboy and worked his way up to become a bartender. After initially focusing on drink mixology, his attention shifted to spirits specialising in Single Malt Whisky. Then beer caught his eye and he had the fortune of having a managing role in the opening of Håndverkerstuene, one of the great beer and food restaurants in Norway, part of the young but growing Norwegian craft beer scene.

Bruce Ash has risen through the ranks at Norfolk's biggest brewer Woodforde's Norfolk Ales to Brewery Manager. He has covered and enjoyed all aspects of his career at the brewery and over that time has brewed more beer than any other brewer at Woodforde's. Bruce has collected numerous awards from CAMRA, SIBA and the much coveted International Brewing Awards over that time.

Bruce has seen the brewery grow from a 13 brl plant at a former premises to 30 and 60 brl brewhouses running alonside each other in the idylic village of Woodbastwick.
Bruce is actively involved in local beer festivals and highlights taking Woodforde's flagship brew Wherry to Glastonbury for over 150,000 festival goers to enjoy as a personal favourite.

He now plans to host more food and beer matching events after successfully rolling out an initial menu as part of his portfolio to become a Beer Sommelier.

Sophie has been a journalist for more than a decade and a beer enthusiast for nearly a quarter of a century. She started writing about beer a few years ago and since then her work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Times, The Publican's Morning Advertiser and CAMRA's BEER magazine. She also works with breweries to raise their profile through PR and social media. In addition to her freelance journalism she writes a beer blog called A FemAle View. She believes that beer is The Best Drink in the World and hopes her Beer Academy Sommelier accreditation will enable her to work with pubs, restaurants and other licensed premises to offer more people the chance to enjoy it; see how well it goes with food and raise its reputation beyond the status of wine's poor relation. Follow Sophie on Twitter @SophWrites

Originally hailing from the Deep South in the US Derek Bates is a chef in London and aspiring start up brewer. His love of beer sparked aged 19 while cooking in a brewpub in his hometown, Bates used his nights off at the pub training with the brewery's owner for knowledge and free beer. Over the next few years Bates traveled the south training in upscale kitchens and took a year as a lead brewer at Thomas Creek in Greenville S.C. A chance meeting with his now wife (a Londoner) at a Charleston wedding led Bates to the UK where he became the original cook for the MEATwagon and later creative chef for their subsequent restaurants MEATliquor and MEATmarket. Bates is now pursuing his love of teaching, operating classes in all things brewing, butchery and cooking and looking for a permanent space to expand his hectolitre brewing system and classes.

A lifetime spent working in the marketing of beer and pubs for two major Regional Brewers led Marc to realise a passion for beer. He began life working for Morland of Abingdon, now long gone of course; they created the famous Old Speckled Hen, a beer for which Marc has fond memories.

Marc is equally proud to work for one of the South West's much loved and respected Brewers in St Austell Brewery and also have been a part of another huge success story in Tribute.

As part of his role for both companies is the weekly Taste Panel, so Marc has plenty of practical experience in describing beer and identifying off flavours. He has also undertaken regular tutored tastings at Food & Drink Festivals and can be seen at various Beer Festivals in the South West promoting and enthusing about the St Austell brands.

Follow Marc on twitter @Beermarketeer

Carolina, is a Swede working for Norwegian fine wine importer Strøm AS; a subsidiary company of the Scandinavian market leader Altia. Carolina qualified as a wine sommelier with Norsk Sommelier Utdannelse back in 2010 and has now brought her passion for wine and food pairing to the Norwegian beer market. Given the challenge of launching Strøm's craft beer portfolio in 2012 and not just happy with 'fish and chips and lager' Carolina is determined to bridge the gap that exists between beer and wine. ' The wine people are far ahead and we need to demand just as high level of knowledge and insight when it comes to working our beer and food pairings.' she says and given that Carolina has successfully completed both wine and beer sommelier education places her in a unique position of insight to both categories. She has launched her 'gastro' oriented approach to the beer market in Norway with the successful establishment of Gotland's Bryggeri (Sweden) and Coisbo (Denmark) as the new beers of choice among the culinary fraternity in Oslo. Motivated by the response to this approach so far she is actively seeking out the best culinary beers the world has to offer!

Ric set up the successful beer programme at Atlanta neighbourhood restaurant Muss & Turners. This included tastings, education and beer dinners. From many visits to the UK, he developed a passion for the pubs and real ale that the country is famous for. Ric embarked on a marketing management programme at Napier University, earning a degree in 2011. Along the way he worked in some of the best real ale pubs, gaining experience in sourcing, selling, cellaring and pairing real ale with food and whisky. Ric now lives in London and works for the Pubs of Distinction group, owners of the Dean Swift and Old Red Cow. His duties include designing and delivering beer events and other non-traditional revenue streams.

Ashley has worked for Fullers since 1987 where he worked within the brew house, in fermentation and maturation. After 5 years in brewing Ashley moved to Trade Quality where he could use his skills to help improve quality beyond the brewery gate. Working within the tied estate Ashley helps drive standards and promote cask ale, along with supporting our ever growing free trade base. To enhance his role further Ashley wanted to develop his skills with regards to tasting and quality to a greater depth so looked to become a Beer Sommelier. This added knowledge of beer styles has already been put to good use as part of Fullers pre-opening training at their recent managed accounts.

James Clarke was born in 1971, and from a very early age was enjoying the magical sights and smells of the wonderful Victorian brewery. Fifth generation of the founder, James joined the Hook Norton Brewery in 1991 as Second Brewer, progressing to Head Brewer in 1999 and Managing Director in 2004. James is an avid beer lover and advocate, travelling on business or even the very occasional holiday, he loves nothing more than tasting new beers and matching them with local cuisine. He has greatly expanded the Hook Norton beer portfolio, adding beers ranging from Stouts to IPA's, and much in between. His pride and passion for all things beer is second to none, and he is delighted with his Sommelier Accreditation.

Marverine is a journalist, broadcaster and unashamed beer lover. As a former presenter on Sky News, she's a news and current affairs geek with over 20 years experience in the media industry. Her passion for beer runs just as deep-rooted: Marverine is the first ever woman to win a GOLD British Guild of Beer Writers Award for her self-produced feature for BBC Inside Out about the importance of female customers to the beer & pub industry. She's also conducted TV beer tastings on some of Britain's top daytime TV shows like ITV1's This Morning & The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Live With Gabby on Five and The Great British Food Revival on BBC2. Marverine throws occasional beer & food appreciation evenings for women and she captures all her beer-loving activities in a successful, evangelising video blog called Beer Beauty (www.beerbeauty.co.uk) which aims to spread the message to women & beer novices nationwide about the beauty in beer. She's thrilled to become Britain's newest female beer sommelier and can't wait to see which doors it might open, so she can continue preaching about the brilliance of beer to anyone who'll listen!!

His passion for beer came from an enjoyment for trying new food and drink whilst spending 10 years managing pubs. Andrew has spent the last 2 years at the Bristol Beer Factory hosting numerous tastings. The events he has put on have been wide ranging in their scope; Beer v Wine v Cider Competitions, 7-course beer dinners at Michelin-listed restaurants, Cheese School, BBF Beer and Food Tour etc.

After studying Hotel and Restaurant at Oxford Brookes University Tom Gee spent 10 years working in London for the Conran group in hotels, bars, restaurants and more recently events firms organising private parties and other events including the Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace. Tom left London to run his own business in Oxfordshire and then purchased the freehold on the Red Lion Inn, Cricklade in 2009. The pub now has 10 hand pumps and showcases real ales and craft beers on draught and in bottles from all around the world. Tom is also now in the process of adding a microbrewery to the site that he intends to run himself

A love of pubs prompted Peter to give up a career in explosives to become a beer historian. A five year stint running the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) resulted in the success of the Society's long-running campaign for Progressive Beer Duty, and, job done, Peter left to join Meantime Brewing in 2002. Having done just about every job in the brewery Peter saw an opportunity to get more hands on when his local brewery was left minus a brewer, and in January 2011 he resumed his self-employed status brewing at the Florence in Herne Hill, South London.

Stephen is a beer lover and microbiologist with over 20 years experience in the brewing industry. He has a particular excitement for the diversity of beer styles and flavours available today, the provenance of beer's natural ingredients and the quality and passion exhibited by brewers on a daily basis both large and small. Steve has worked with brewers around the world and, since 2010, for the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), where he is active in raising the profile of beer as a drink of both quality and diversity but also as the perfect, natural match with food.

Eric always had an interest in beer, brewing and brewery history whilst enjoying the odd beer, he worked in pubs and off licenses initially for pocket money and later part time and then full time. Eric has managed and tenanted pubs for various brewers and pubcos while dabbling in brewing, the most notable pub being the very successful B & T Brewery Wellington Arms in Bedford. He currently manages a Robinsons Pub for Mitchells of Lancaster.

In 2003, after persuading his Welsh father to allow him to construct a brewery in his garage the business set off. Now, nearly a decade on, after 2 expansions Tom is back in his family land of Caerphilly receiving a number of National and International awards for his flavoursome high-end organic beers with his Brewery 'The Celt Experience'.

Garrett is a graduate of Boston University, and holds a degree in Broadcasting and Film. He began brewing professionally at Manhattan Brewing Company in 1989 becoming brewmaster in 1993. In late 1994, Garrett joined The Brooklyn Brewery as brewmaster. Many of his beers have won national and international awards.

"I love beer", Stuart Pearson always said and having worked in the industry for over 12 years, running bars, working late nights and not seeing much of the day, Stuart Pearson saw a career in beer and set off on his journey. Stuart initially took up a role as a Beer Specialist for Molson Coors, honing and training his palate to the diversity of beer. His journey has taken him from providing beer masterclasses to hosting beer and food matching dinners. Stuart helped develop beer-training manuals for both Molson Coors and his current company Chilli Marketing. A keen blogger he is currently letting us know just what good beer and food pairings really are. See this for yourself at thebeerandfood.blogspot.co.uk

Worked for meantime since 2009. General manager of the Greenwich union since 2010. 20 years in the service and retail industry. Grew up in Umea, Sweden. 650km north of Stockholm. ¬ First job was with my father at Till Bryggerier in Umea, stacking crates. Loved the smell of a brewery. Regularly travel to Belgium and Germany to drink beer. Have developed the beer list at the Union from 40 odd to about 150. Enthusiastic sampler and explorer of beer and beer culture.

Jane Peyton's passion for beer started when she drank her first pint of ale - Tetley Mild - as a teenager. She is a keen beer advocate and spends lots of time rhapsodising about it. Jane is Principal of the School of Booze, a company she founded to offer tutored beer, cider, and wine tasting events. She is also an after-dinner speaker on the subject of alcohol history & culture. Changing people's perceptions of beer is a mission and she enjoys the challenge of finding the perfect beer for people who say that they don't like it - especially women. Matching beer with food is a way to do this and Jane has become adept at pairing beer with dessert - crème brulée with a wheat Dopplebock being a particular favourite!

Nick's passion for the alcoholic beverage industry began in his student days working in bars back in his homeland New Zealand. A passion for bartending soon led to an interest in luxury spirits which then developed into a full blown obsession for all things whisky! This mania lead to global commercial roles spanning three continents managing international business development for the Japanese whisky giant Suntory and Scottish single malt specialist Morrison Bowmore Distillers. It was this time spent closely working with the remaining 'old worthies' in Scotland's distilleries that a passion for 'distilled' barley became one of 'brewed' barely... Roles in beer soon followed and Nick has worked closely with some of the most renowned brewers on the European continent namely Czech Republic's Budweiser Budvar and Germany's Warsteiner. Inspired by Scotland's unique brewing and distilling heritage Nick founded Old Worthy Brewing Co. based on Isle of Skye in 2011.

Nigel Sadler's interest in beer and brewing started in the early '80's when he joined CAMRA to hunt down beer festivals and search out new brews. In 1985, he went on one of the first micro brewing courses to be run by Keith Thomas at Brew Lab. Three years ago, he left a career in the city to become a brewing consultant to an Essex based microbrewer helping win awards for both the beer and the business over a two year period.

Alastair Scott runs Catton Consultancy, a consultancy that helps hospitality businesses make more money by driving sales and converting sales more effectively to profit. Alastair gained his experience through brands such as Browns, All Bar One, Harvester, O'Neill's and many unbranded gastro pubs, town and city pubs, and music driven venues.

Annabel has been training manager at Cask Marque, the body formed to improve the quality of cask ale and to promote its values, for 7 years. In that time Cask Marque have trained over 8,000 retailers in Cellar Management and Beer Quality. She is a founder member of Dea Latis, the independent, industry-wide forum for everyone involved in trying to make beer a more appealing drink for women. www.dealatisuk.wordpress.com She is also a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers and has introduced the beers to MPs at the All Party Beer Group dinner in held annually in Westminster.

Martin has had a long career in financial services in the US, and for the last year his job has brought him to London. A few pints have been consumed in his quest to visit Pubs across London. His travels have also introduced him to many local beers and ales. Back in the US, he is part of a start-up microbrewery in Minnesota called Fulton. The brewery opened in Fall of 2010. Fulton is now featured widely in Minnesota bars and restaurants, in bottles, and its own taproom. Fulton has a passion for creating well balanced and very drinkable beers across its wide range of styles. Upon his return, Marty looks forward to helping Fulton in its expansion and in educating consumers about beer, utilizing his Beer Academy training and many tastings in the UK and abroad.

In 1997 he got his foot back in the door by joining the Caledonian Brewing Company; initially as Telesales Development Manager and now Operations Manager. In the last 3 years he has increased their annual range from 12 to over 20 beers. Also looking after wholesale customers and route to market has allowed Craig to get great feedback on how Caledonian's beers perform and see how market trends are developing. Craig has given many pub presentations and tastings over the last 12 months; from just 2 miles from his house in Edinburgh to as far away as Denver.

Grew up in Kent near the famous Hop Farm in Beltring. Youngest beer sommelier in the UK at 24. Been working in pubs since the age of 18. Interest in beer started when trying Belgian beers at a stall at Imbibe live! Ran the Marquis, a pub next to the famous Harp in Covent Garden for a short while, trying to bring in new interesting bottled beers to tempt those who couldn't get into the pub next door. Started running the bar at the Old brewery in October 2011 and starting intense beer training in order to become de facto sommelier there. Explaining to diners what the different styles of experimental beer churned out by Rod Jones who ran the small brew house there were and what to order them with. At the start of summer 2012 started taking tour groups around the main brewery, treating tour goers to a 2 and a half hour session including a tutored tasting, a history of brewing in London and a full tour of Meantime's state of the art brewery. Since November 2012 have been the General Manager of the Visitor's Centre, arranging special beer and food matching events, training staff from venues that stock meantime across London and continuing to host tours, which now see, on average, 180 people pass through per week. Favourite beers are American Brown Ales. About to take another swing at home brewing after a couple of initial disasters.

After a flirtation with Electronic Engineering he received a call to the "Bar". It could be argued that beer is in his blood, but from the start he was always destined to be involved in the Beer business. He was the third generation of his family to take their place on the hallowed ground behind the taps of an Irish Freehold Pub.
There spread the message of "Good Beer" to all that would listen. Eventually he felt the need to get out on the road and bring the world of great beer to the masses!
He currently works the hi-ways and bi-ways of Ireland for Fourcorners (Craft Beer importers & distributers) bringing the best beer to the people of Ireland."

A love of the beer industry led Joe Thomson to convince a local in the pub where he was working to help finance and set up a brewery in 2008. At the time Joe was one of the youngest brewers in the country, and over the 5 years since then has led Penpont Brewery to develop a wide range of beers, with an ever increasing reputation, including winning regional SIBA gold awards in 2011 and 2012. Recently Joe has developed an on-going rotating range of specials inspired by the incredible variety of flavours to be found in beer. These include abbey style beers, those using alternative ingredients such as juniper or orange as well as showcases of various beer styles such as IPA's and milds.