Beer news round-up

Three win top SIBA gongs

Oakham Ales of Peterborough, Bristol Beer Factory and Hepworth & Co of Horsham, Sussex, won the top brewing awards at the annual conference of SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Supreme Champion Awards for cask, bottle and keg beers were announced at the conference, with Gold for Oakham’s Green Devil IPA (6%) in the premium strong beers category. Oakham then went on to win the top title of Supreme Champion British Beer.

The Bristol Beer Factory’s Southville Hop, a 6.5% heavily hopped beer, won Gold in the champion Strong Bottled Beer category, while Hepworth & Co’s Conqueror Sussex Stout (4.5%) was judged best Champion Dark Ale in the Dark Ale, Stout and Porter sector.

Main picture shows Simon Bartlett (left) of Bristol Beer Factory and Adrian Posnett (right) of Oakham Ales with SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock.

Flying Dog Coffee Stout to hit British market

Renowned caricaturist Ralph Steadman has designed the eye-catching label (above) for Flying Dog’s Kujo, a 8.9% Imperial Coffee Stout that will be available in Britain from wholesaler James Clay from April.

Brewmaster Matt Brophy said: “We like to think Jujo is the savage spasm of two brewing worlds – coffee and beer – colliding. But in that collision it’s important for us to maintain balance between rich and roasted stout characteristics and the deep, dark coffee notes.”

Viking lager storms to Mersey victory

Birkenhead’s Peerless Brewing Co’s Storr has been named top beer in a Merseyside competition. The 4.8% cask-conditioned lager won the Best Beer award at the Campaign for Real Ale’s Liverpool Beer Festival. It faced competition from eight other brewers, including the large Liverpool company, Cain’s.

The beer is brewed as a tribute to the Wirral’s Viking heritage: Storr is a Viking word meaning great or strong. The beer is brewed with lager malt and lager yeast and is hopped with the Sovereign variety. It’s cold matured for several weeks to give it a refreshing character.

Good Beer Guide honoured in Paris

The annual Good Beer Guide, published by CAMRA, has come second in a prestigious international books competition staged by Gourmand magazine. The guide, now in its 39th edition, was judged the best British drinks book and then went forward to the overall international awards, announced on Tuesday at the world-famous Folies Bergere musc hall in Montmarte, Paris. First place went to the Oxford Companion to Beer, edited by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery in New York City.

Robinson's to stock Hawkshead lager

Lakeland Lager, brewed by the Hawkshead Brewery at Staveley, is to go on sale in a number of Robinson's 55 outlets in Cumbria. It follows moves by the family-owned Stockport brewer to expand the range of beers in its pubs. It's the first such deal between Robinson's and a smaller producer. Robinson's already kegs the lager for Hawkshead and it will also sell the beer in the free trade.