St Austell brewing director, Roger Ryman, poses with the brewery’s three winners at the Quality Drink Awards
St Austell Brewery has scooped four accolades at this year’s Quality Drink Awards, including overall winner in the beer category for Big Job, the massively hopped 7.2% ABV big brother of mainstream brand Proper Job.
Alongside the main platinum award, Big Job also gained top spot in the IPA category, while St Austell’s 5.3% Eden Project-inspired Baobab wheat beer added a third win in the speciality beer category.
Following close behind was another St Austell Small Batch classic, 5.9% Sayzon Belgian Farmhouse Ale, which recently won gold at the European Beer Star awards and which claimed silver in the same category.
Each beverage was judged by a reputable team of drink aficionados, including drink journalists, bar consultants, certified experts and industry insiders. The panels were chaired by some of the most recognisable names in the drinks business — sommelier Melissa Cole was in charge of the beer judging.
St Austell brewing director, Roger Ryman, said: “What’s great about these awards is that there are always top names involved in the judging who are experts in their field, so to win a QDA is both authentic and meaningful.
“To win three, picking up best in show, is just amazing and is credit to the hard work of everybody here at the brewery, from the brewing team through to sales and marketing, who all play their part in making our beers taste and look so good.”
Organised by Metropolis Business Media, the Quality Drink Awards are unique in that all products are first blind tasted as in other competitions, but then, crucially, judges base their final decisions on then seeing how the product looks, taking in factors such as design, packaging and price point.
