[2] While a Biochemistry student at University College North Wales, Barton took a class on yeast genetics and became interested in brewing.
[3][5] Barton also co-owns a pub, the Marquis of Granby in the Vale of Belvoir, which is run by her husband Sean McCardle.
[2] Barton started Project Venus in 2011; this organization female brewers from England and Ireland meet every three months to brew a new beer.
[8] The British Guild of Beer Writers chairman Tim Hampson commented specifically on Barton's work when he said “By sharing her experience and skills generously with these emerging brewsters, she is encouraging more of them to start brewing and returning an industry that has been dominated by men back to its roots, when beers were made, like bread, by the woman of the house.”[4] Barton has also been called “a trailblazer for women in the industry, agrees that imagination is what women bring to brewing and it is a big part of their increasing success."
[3][4] She won a gold medal at the International Brewing Awards in 2016 and Brewer of the Year from the All Parliamentary Beer Group in 2018.