Wolf and North seize SIBA gold
Added: Friday, March 16th 2018
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Wolf Brewery and North Brewing Co have taken home Overall Champion Gold in the Cask and Keg Awards at the SIBA Independent Beer Awards 2018, with Tring Brewery being named the best bottled or canned beer.
Judged by brewers and industry experts and organised by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) at their flagship BeerX event in Liverpool, the awards run across a huge range of beer style categories in cask, craft keg, bottle and can. The Champion Cask beer is Sirius Dog Star from Wolf brewery and is described as being a ‘uniquely flavoured red ale, lightly hopped with American Galena and Cluster hops, a smooth beer with a soft fruity finish’, it was Transmission from North Brewing Co that took home the top gong in the Craft Keg competition with their ‘hugely drinkable Beer with a light body and dry finish’ , in the bottle and can competition (known as ‘smallpack’ by those in the trade) it was Death or Glory from Tring Brewery, A ‘rich, sweet barley wine with a heady, alcoholic nose and incredibly complex flavour profile.’ Georgina Edwards, Wolf Brewery: “A lot of blood sweat and tears goes into that beer so it means a huge amount to win. It means the world to the family. We were aiming for a smooth, dark session beer that is accessible but with huge flavour - something I think we achieved!” John Gyngell, North Brewing Co: “This award means so much to the whole team, who have been hustling hard and constantly growing the business and making great beer. This beer started life as a trial brew before our brewer Seb even joined us full time. He’s still constantly improving it, and now with this beer we think we’ve nailed that combination of drinkability and a modern, full flavour.” Sam reed, Tring Brewery: "One of our original founders was a royal lancer and this beer is his creation - it’s proved so popular we’ve been brewing it ever since! We just think it’s a great barley wine and it’s nice to know that we’re doing the right things after all these years of brewing it." The SIBA Independent Beer Awards at BeerX are the trade association’s National finals and in order to earn a place at the competition brewers must first win at their regional competition – making these overall Champions very much the ‘best of the best’ when it comes to British independent craft beer. SIBA Chairman Buster Grant, a brewer himself at Brecon Brewing in Wales, congratulated the winners on their huge achievement: “Making it to the finals is an achievement in itself, winning your style category is something to be even more proud of, and then going on to be named the Overall Champion Gold against such tough competition really is something truly special. These are the three best beers from independent craft brewers across cask, keg, bottle and can – beers which I would encourage both beer drinkers and publicans across the UK to seek out while they still can, as demand for these beers is surely about to go through the roof!” SIBA’s National Independent Beer Awards 2018 Full Winners List Overall Cask Champions
Cask Champion Standard Mild Ales & Brown Ales
Cask Champion Standard Bitters & Pale Ales
Cask Champion Best Bitters & Pale Ales
Premium Bitters & Pale Ales
Cask Champion Strong Bitters & Pale Ales
Cask Champion Premium Strong Beers
Cask Champion Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales
Cask Champion Speciality Light Beers
Cask Champion Speciality Mid to Dark Beers
Champion Small Pack Beers
Small Pack Champion Standard Mild Ales & Brown Ales
Small Pack Champion Standard Bitters & Pale Ales
Small Pack Champion Premium Bitters & Pale Ales
Small Pack Champion Strong Bitters & Pale Ales
Small Pack Champion Premium Strong Beers
Small Pack Champion Standard Lager & Pilsners
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In the Business Awards, Signature Brew in London was named Brewery Business of the Year and also won an award for Marketing Implementation. Farr Brew of St Albans won the Green Business Award while North Brewing of Leeds picked up the award for Business Innovation.
Loch Lomond Brewery won the top prize for Individual Design while Leigh-on-Sea Brewery in Essex won the award for Concept Design.
Waitrose was named Independent Craft Beer Retailer, off-trade while Wetherspoon won the Craft Beer Reteailer title for the on-trade.
Wigan Central was named Best Craft Beer Bar while the remote Caebahr Restaurant, owned by Bun Dubh Brewery on the Isle of Tiree in Scotland, won the title of Best Independent Craft Beer Restaurant.
