The Global Beer Competition: Meet the judges

Ian Swanson, Ian Swanson Technical Brewing Services

As well as heading up his eponymous brewing services company, Swanson is a certified Cask Marque assessor, Beer Academy tutor and trade quality brewer. He has previously held roles with Diageo, Young’s and Romford Brewery.

He has a Masters in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Brewing Science from the University of Birmingham.

Another returner from last year’s Beer Masters, speaking about his experience, Swanson noted: “I liked some of the beers using New World hops, but there were just too many of them. It confirmed my view that there is an over-reliance on New World hops – it is harder to hide brewing faults and lose fermentation flavours (good and bad) using mainly English hops. It is getting harder to find a classic ‘English Ale’.”