Oakham Ales is celebrating success at the SIBA East Independent Beer Awards with Black Magic, its 5% ABV chocolate porter.
Lead brewer Ed Sharman is a great lover of dark beers, Oakham’s Hawse Buckler being a personal favourite, so winning this category was particularly special.
He said: “Oakham Ales is legendary for its pale ales. I wanted to show that we can make fantastic beers in a range of styles, and I’m glad that my journey to the dark side hit the spot for the SIBA judges.”
Originally slated to be the seasonal offering for October 2020, Black Magic was adapted for unfiltered cans and bottles during lockdown.
Oakham Ales lead brewer Ed Sharman
Due to its popularity, Ed brought it back this year as a cask beer with a revised recipe to emphasise the chocolate notes. He removed the lactose, changed the type of chocolate used, and tweaked the malt and hop line-up to bring the recipe into balance.
Black Magic is aged for at least three months to allow the flavours to develop and to give a smooth mouthfeel. It is dark and decadent, balanced with a clean bitterness. It is available at pubs around the country.
This wasn’t the only gong that Oakham Ales picked up from SIBA in its East of England competition. Its 6% IPA Green Devil also took gold in the strong IPA category, its 47th award in a major competition. The iconic Citra, a 4.2% session IPA, which was the first single-hopped Citra beer in the UK, took silver in the session pale ale category.
