Raising a glass: 10 women in beer
17th November, 2015
by
Lauren Eads
Annabel Smith
Role: Beer sommelier and founder of Dea Latis
Annabel Smith is a beer sommelier and founding member of Dea Latis – a group set up to educate women about beer and encourage them to embrace Britain’s national drink. Made up of brewers, beer tasters, publicans, writers and marketeers, Dea Latis is named after the Celtic goddess of beer and water.
“Dea Latis aims to challenge women’s ideas about beer and present it to them in a way that encourages them to taste it”, its webpage says. “We don’t expect change to happen quickly or easily, but that’s no reason not to try.”
Having worked in the beer industry for over 25 years, Smith began her career from the ground up working in pubs across the UK. She later worked for Guinness training more than 35,000 publicans how to pour the perfect pint of black stout Guinness, before moving to work for the then fledgling Cask Marque as a beer taster and a training manager. It was during her 10 year stint with the company that she became one of the UK’s first beer sommeliers. Now a freelance beer sommelier, Annabelle works as a writer, consultant, trainer and motivational speaker to both the beer industry and consumers, under her company name BeerBelle. She is also a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers.