Elgood’s Brewery, based in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, was awarded seven medals, including two golds, at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) East beer competition, which the brewery hosted.
Elgood’s Belgian-style Cherry Wheat Beer was awarded gold in the speciality beers small pack (bottled beers) category and went on to be nominated the overall winner of the bottled beer section of the competition. The beer has been blended with cherry and raspberry to create a refreshing, slightly carbonated beer.
Elgood’s managing director, Belinda Sutton, and
head brewer Alan Pateman with the awards
Its lambic-style Coolship Fruit was awarded silver in the same category, placing the brewery first and second in the speciality beer class. Both beers have been launched by the brewery during the past two years.
Its Black Dog Mild was awarded the bronze medal in both the cask and bottled beer groups, and Cambridge IPA and Talon Stout were also awarded bronze in each of their respective categories.
The Cherry Wheat Beer will now go through to the SIBA National Beer Competition taking place at BeerX in March 2016.
Belinda Sutton, managing director of Elgood’s, said: “Both our QE (Quintessentially English) and Sour range of bottled beers are recent introductions, so to be awarded the gold and silver in the speciality beer class is praise indeed. It’s great to see that our recent innovations are being recognised and rewarded by the industry and reflect the great response we have had from the general public.”
Coolship Fruit is part of Elgood’s new lambic-style sour range. Light purple in colour with a sparkling finish, it is blended with raspberry and a hint of blackberry. The sweetness and rich berry flavour is off-set by the smooth sourness of the Coolship Ale.
Elgood’s is the only regional brewer in the country able to produce a lambic-style beer, due to owning a unique pair of open cooling trays, known as coolship trays. These are needed for the brewing process, allowing the beer to cool naturally overnight and attracting a range of wild yeasts and flavours dominant in the area. The beer then undergoes a spontaneous fermentation over a period of six to nine months. Other beers in the Sour range include Coolship and Coolship Blonde.
