The top six honours at the SIBA North West Independent Beer Awards have gone to just three breweries — Bank Top, in Bolton, Black Edge, in Horwich, and RedWillow, in Macclesfield.
Neil Walker (right), head of communications and marketing at SIBA, with the award winners
Bank Top Brewery took home the overall gold and silver in the cask competition having also won across a number of styles categories. Black Edge took overall gold in the separate keg beer awards.
RedWillow were just edged out of the overall gold medal spots, but took home the biggest medal haul, with an overall silver in cask and an overall silver and bronze in keg.
But top of the cask table was Bank Top’s flagship Flat Cap, a traditional English bitter and a beer with a fierce local following, but which has only recently begun to be appreciated more by judges in beer competitions.
“Flat Cap is our best-selling beer, our most famous beer, but it hasn’t won that many awards before,” said brewery general manager, Claire Kirkman. “But is just absolutely on form at the minute.
“It’s absolutely amazing to win, especially as we’ve just lost one of our brewers, who has left to pastures new. So, to know that we’re brewing great beer with Ben and the new team is really great.”
The overall keg gold went to Black Edge Brewery’s 99 Red Balloons, a strawberry Berliner weisse sour beer developed as part of a new more experimental range of keg beers.
Founder and director, Wayne Roper, said: “Absolutely overwhelmed to win the keg award as we’ve been working really hard to get the keg beers going for the last 12 months, especially something a little bit different like this sour beer, which is more specialist.
“Lots of sour beers are made using flavourings rather than natural fruit, but by using real fruit and adding that fruit at the right time we can add sourness but also increase the body and flavour of the beer. It’s a beer that’s proved really popular with a huge range of drinkers who might not usually go for beer.”
High-calibre beers
The awards took place ahead of the Bolton Beer Festival at the Toughsheet Bolton Stadium, which continues today and over the weekend.
Hosting the awards on behalf of SIBA was Neil Walker, head of communications and marketing. He said: “Our most experienced judges join our final table, where all of the category winners are pitted against one another to try and claim the overall gold, silver, and bronze awards.
“Comments from the judges this year were that this was perhaps the highest calibre of beers they’ve ever had at these awards. Huge congratulations to all of the winners and especially to the three breweries who bagged the top spots in the overall category, which is judged completely blind and really is the very best of the best.”
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