Each year the International Beer Challenge (IBC) discovers and rewards the finest beers from across the globe in association with drinks trade publication, Off Licence News. In this year’s competition, local Lincolnshire Brewer, Batemans won the best in the Stout or Porter category for its Dark Lord. This attractive ruby beer with its full creamy malt character, is named in honour of English Civil War commander Thomas Fairfax, who led the Parliamentarians to victory close to Batemans Lincolnshire home. Batemans Triple XB was also singled out as one of the top 50 best beers in the world.

Chairman of the judges and leading beer writer Jeff Evans said:
‘Dark Lord is a natural winner in the IBC, as it ticks both the taste and packaging boxes. The beer is excellently balanced and full of interesting, satisfying dark malt flavours, while the bottle is attractive and very informative, giving customers all they need to know when shopping for beer.’

Winning a category is no mean feat. Judging takes place over two days. On the first day a team of some 30 judges from across the industry; brewers, writers, independent retailers, supermarket beer buyers and consultants whittle down hundreds of entries to 75. On the second day these 75 beers are judged for a second time by a smaller group to choose the winners in each class and the overall winner. The beers are not only assessed on taste but also on how they are presented.

Stuart Bateman, managing director or Batemans Brewery said: “We are really pleased to win Best in Category with Dark Lord and it is rewarding to see that our decision to give more taste details to our customers on our beer labels is paying dividends.”