Scottish craft brewers Williams Bros and Bellfield were among the big winners at the recent Independent Beer Awards.
Organised by SIBA – the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates – the awards scheme acknowledged independent brewers from across the UK, with trophies handed out at this year’s BeerX event in Liverpool.
Williams Bros took a Gold award in the Bottle/Can Speciality & Flavoured Beer category for its Orange Ginger, while Bellfield took Gold in the Keg Session Pale Ale category for its Lucky Spence IPA.
Other Scottish brewers featuring at the event included Loch Lomond Brewery, which took Silver awards in the Keg, Stout & Porter and Keg Speciality & Flavoured Beer categories and Bronze trophies in the Cask IPA and Bottle/Can Double & Triple IPA categories; 71 Brewing, which took Silvers in the Keg British Ales and Keg Pale Ale categories and a Bronze in the Keg Speciality IPA category; Loch Leven Brewery, which took Silver in the Bottle/Can Amber, Brown & Red Ale; and Five Kingdoms, which took Silver in the Keg Double & Triple IPA category.
Cairngorm Brewery and Broughton Brewery took a Bronze award each, in the Bottle/Can Stout & Porter and Cask Imperial & Strong Beer categories, respectively.
In order to compete in the national awards, brewers first had to win their regional leg of the contest, making the national championships a ‘best of the best’ competition.
“It is a pleasure to see so many superb beers from independent breweries of all sizes taking home Golds in this year’s awards,” said competition chair, Anneli Baxter.
“It is incredibly tough to win a category Gold at a regional level, so to then go on and be named the very best in the whole of the UK at the national awards is a massive achievement that these brewers should be hugely proud of.”
Meanwhile, SIBA has launched its official ‘manifesto’ ahead of the upcoming general election.
The association is urging the next government to adopt a raft of 11 policies to promote locally-produced beer.
They include reducing the tax burden on smaller breweries, freezing beer duty (and reviewing the system), and a law requiring transparency on beer advertising so that consumers know what company brews a beer and where it is produced.
SIBA also wants a ‘fully interoperable Deposit Return Scheme’ which ‘works for small breweries’.
