Jo Miller (pictured), head of sales and marketing at Sambrook’s Brewery in Battersea, has become the first employee at a London brewery to receive Beer Sommelier accreditation from the Beer Academy, demonstrating the brewery’s commitment to staff training.

Becoming the seventh female in the world to receive the accreditation, Jo has proved her beer credentials by successfully passing a series of exams that have included learning how to judge a beer by category, blind beer tastings, beer and food matching and technical knowledge.

She said: “I’m very passionate about beer and have spent the last eight years educating the trade and consumers on different beer styles and food matches. I’m delighted to have gained my Beer Sommelier qualification and believe it will help me to enthuse as many people as possible about the beauty of beer.”

Duncan Sambrook, the brewery’s founder, added: “We’re all incredibly proud of what Jo has achieved. Sambrook’s Brewery is committed to providing staff with the best possible qualifications and training.”

Jo will be using her Beer Sommelier qualification to help create and present monthly beer and food matching events at the newly-opened bar at the brewery, the Boadicea Bar. On February 14 she will be joined by beer writer Will Hawkes to present an alternative to Valentine’s Day, which will include an exploration of London’s
craft beer scene and tutored beer tasting. ‘Love beer? drink here’ will begin at 7pm and tickets can be purchased via http://www.sambrooksbrewery.co.uk/events — £20 for members, £25 for non-members.

On March 6, Jo will present an evening of matching beers with pies from the award-winning Ginger Pig to celebrate British Pie Week. The tasting will begin at 7pm and tickets can be purchased again via http://www.sambrooksbrewery.co.uk/events at the same price.

This blog post is not by Wobbly Wallet but originally appeared on Beer Today: http://beertoday.co.uk/?p=12013