Sixty local brewers were recognised as winners in the SIBA National Beer Competition 2013, as the best cask, keg and bottled beers were unveiled at SIBA’s BeerX event in Sheffield.
Supreme Champions
Top honours went to Convivial London Pubs, Cairngorm Brewery Company and Quantock Brewery, named as the SIBA Supreme Champions 2013 in craft beer in keg, bottled beer and cask beer respectively.
The Supreme Champion beers are: The Lamb Brewery Oatmeal Stout, a 5% ABV stout from Convivial London Pubs; Black Gold, a 4.4% bottled beer from Cairngorm Brewery Company and Wills Neck, a 4.3% ABV best bitter from Quantock Brewery.
The winning beers were chosen at a judging session by a panel of around 100 brewers, industry experts, local licensees and beer enthusiasts who assessed over 200 beers – the first time that cask, keg and bottled beers have been judged on the same day, under one roof. The Gold Award winners in each category were then judged again to find the SIBA Supreme Champions.
SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock, said, “As the number of brewers within SIBA grows, so does the number of beers competing for the top prize. We set as little restriction as possible on the number of beers at our seven regional heats, and welcome beers from all our brewing members at this stage.
“Winning at a regional heat and progressing to the national finals is an achievement in itself and the quality of beers judged yesterday was of the highest standard, as all our judges would attest. To then come through to win one of the national awards is a real achievement and our hearty congratulations go to all the winners announced today.”