Barrel Aged Imperial Stout — Speyside Cask Matured, from Edinburgh’s Cold Town Beer, has been named UK beer of the year at the London Beer Competition.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” said Ian Kennedy, head of production at Cold Town Beer. “We’ve spent the last seven years building a range we’re truly proud of, and it’s incredibly exciting to see Cold Town getting national recognition.
“This beer is something special. It’s a celebration of everything we’ve been working toward, and a real moment for our team to put Cold Town firmly on the map.”
The base beer for Barrel Aged Imperial Stout is Cold Town Beer’s Topic Thunder Stout, which took home a gold medal at last year’s London Beer Competition.
The brewery filled a Speyside whisky cask with 400 litres of Topic Thunder and left it to mature. One year later, they emptied the cask to create an extremely limited run of 875 cans, offering smooth whisky character and deep complexity.
“From day one, we set out to create beers that were full of character and brewed with care — and our Barrel Aged Stout is the perfect example of that ethos,” said Cold Town director Euan Bain.
“Maturing it in Speyside whisky casks was a passion project for the team, and the result has exceeded all our expectations. To see it recognised as beer of the year, United Kingdom, is a huge honour and testament to the dedication of everyone at Cold Town.”
