Beer Judge moves to Australia

One of the regular judges at the Champion Beer of Wales competition and the Champion Beer of Britain competition, Ian Boyd, is hanging up his white wig and gavel and moving to Australia. A member of South Bedfordshire CAMRA, Ian first came to the attention of the Brew Wales editor when he became the only lecturer to join the UCL real ale society, almost 20 years ago. After years of persistent nagging, he was invited along to be a judge at national competitions and has stayed on the list ever since. Ian has travelled the world, finding time to visit brewpubs in between the lecture circuit and one year even did an interview with Chinese Television at the Great British Beer Festival, after just flying in from China and visiting their brewpubs a few days earlier. A regular contributor to the CAMRA publication "Beer in Beds", we look forward to his reviews of the Melbourne brewery scene.

Above: Ian Boyd is pictured hard at work at Cardiff City Hall, judging the Champion Beer of Wales competition in 2007


Quote from Ian, "Having seen the Niagra Falls, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall, the Pyramids, and the Giants Causeway, dived the Great Barrier Reef, and experienced the midnight sun in the Arctic Circle, there's still nothing like enjoying a good pint or three of tasty real ale, perfectly served in a lined-glass, either beside a roaring log fire in an unspoiled flag-floored hostelry, or in the sunny garden of a well-kept traditional thatched country pub, in good company, righting the wrongs of the world".

Ian Boyd will be moving to Australia to take up the position of Director at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. Does the Melbourne Brewery scene know what is going to hit it?