The Operative Brewers' Guild was founded by a group of Yorkshire brewers at a meeting held in Leeds in October 1906. During 1911 and 1912, Guild membership expanded rapidly, and sections were formed across the Country.

A news sheet, which had been published in the early days of the Operative Brewers' Guild, soon became a regular and respected monthly journal, titled The Brewer. The publication of a journal entailed a financial responsibility on members, and led to the formation, in 1917, of a limited liability company -- the Operative Brewers' Guild Limited -- to which was entrusted all trading and administrative aspects of the Guild.

The limited liability organisation adopted in 1917 did not, however, provide a constitution entirely suited to a professional society. As a result, in 1929, the Society changed its title to the Incorporated Brewers' Guild, and was registered as a company limited by guarantee. The Operative Brewers' Guild then changed its name to Brewers' Guild Publications Ltd.

In 1992, it was agreed that the 'Incorporated' should be deleted from the title, and at the AGM that year the IBG became the Brewers' Guild. A further name change followed in 1996, when the Guild became the International Brewers' Guild.