The London Brewers’ Alliance (LBA) has formalised the governing structure of the group, with John Keeling named its first chairman.

Sam McMeekin of Gypsy Hill has taken on the role of deputy chairman that was formed in 2010 with the task of uniting those who make local beer with those that love it, while representing the vibrant heritage and contemporary scene of beer brewing in the city of London.

The newly-appointed roles will help lead the group through a 12 month review of both the role and structure of the LBA in order to improve issues of funding, knowledge sharing and communications.

This new working group will also report back to the wider LBA membership at regular intervals.

John Keeling, explained: “The London Brewers’ Alliance was created on a more social level, to bring together those of us with the common purpose of brewing great beer in our capital city.

“However, we realise that we need to formalise some of our activity to ensure that we offer the best support possible to our members – and to do that, we need a working party to identify areas of commonality and issues for development.

 “I’m honoured to be taking on this role – and delighted to have Sam in support. It was only 10 years ago that I was one of just five head brewers in London. Now there are 90.

“We need to ensure that brewing in London continues to flourish and survive and I’m looking forward to implementing plans to do just that.”