(l-r) Simon Bartlett, Bristol Beer Factory; Julian Grocock, SIBA chief executive; Adrian Posnett, Oakham Ales.

Oakham Ales, Bristol Beer Factory and Hepworth & Company yesterday took top honours, winning the Society of Independent Brewers’ (SIBA) Supreme Champion Awards for cask ale, bottled beer and craft beer in keg respectively.

Oakham’s Green Devil, a 6% ABV IPA, won the Gold Award in the Premium Strong Beers category before going on to take the Supreme Champion title, while Bristol Beer Factory’s Southville Hop, a 6.5% heavily hopped beer, struck Gold in the Champion Strong Bottled Beer category. Hepworths 4.5% ABV Conqueror Sussex Stout was judged the best in Champion Dark Ales, Stouts and Porters.

All three winners were announced at SIBA’s annual conference in Stratford-upon-Avon. Judging took place last month at two finals – one for the cask ale and bottled beer categories and a separate event for the keg beers. Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards were today presented in seven cask and five bottled beer categories, the Craft Beer in Keg awards (apart from the Supreme Champions) having been announced last month.

In previous years, only one bottled beer award has been made after the finals judging and the increase reflects the growing number and quality of bottled beer from SIBA brewers. The Craft Beer in Keg competition is in its second year.

Taking a Gold award at the National Beer Competition brings more than just prestige. The seven cask beer winners are now guaranteed a place on the SIBA Champions Bar at the Great British Beer Festival this summer.

SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock, said, “Those of us who have been involved in this round of SIBA beer competitions have once again been overwhelmed by the quality of the beers entered at every stage from regional heat to national finals.

“With standards rising every year, it becomes ever more challenging to select the best beers from a very strong field. Winning an award at a regional competition is an achievement to be proud of and to take one at the national competition an even greater one.”

He added, “Such is the growing reputation of SIBA’s beer competitions that winning an award today offers the successful brewers the promise of much-increased awareness among beer enthusiasts, and new listings in the growing number of beer-oriented pubs, bars and off-trade outlets.”

Adrian Posnett, MD of Oakham Ales, said, “We’re delighted to have won this very prestigious Award, especially for Green Devil, which we only started to brew 12 months ago. Awards like this help to cement our reputation and raise our profile with retailers and drinkers; they are a testament to the talent and hard work of our brewing team.”

Bristol Beer Factory MD Simon Bartlett said, “This is a reward for our hard work over the last eight years and further vindication of our decision to brew beers like Southville Hop, which is heavily hopped in the American IPA style, but balanced with a malt background. Winning the Award means that when drinkers see our beer in the pub, they’ll have heard of it already and will be more likely to order it.”

For the first time this year, Punch Taverns is offering to showcase the Overall Gold, Silver and Bronze cask competition winners through its Finest Cask guest ale scheme, which is made available to 1,000 of its pubs. Crucially, the listing will run during May and June, taking in the busy Euro 2012 and Diamond Jubilee trading periods.

Keith Bott, SIBA chairman, at the organisation’s annual conference in Stratford-upon-Avon.

SIBA chairman Keith Bott called for policy makers to ‘give beer a break’ as he addressed delegates at the organisation’s annual conference today (8^th March) in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The current iniquitous regime of alcohol taxation is, claimed Bott, “unfair to brewers, to pubs and to drinkers” and has led to falling overall beer sales, pub closures and ultimately lower revenue from duty into the Treasury’s coffers.  He said, “SIBA is fully committed to pragmatic reform of alcohol duties. We are happy to pay our fair share, but not the unfair share we are currently required to contribute.”

Bott continued, “Punishing beer duty levels are clearly responsible for the societal changes that have taken place in the 32 years since SIBA was formed.  The alcohol we drink and the way in which we drink it have been reshaped by successive Governments’ taxation policies.  Beer volumes have fallen while spirits, wine and cider are all in growth, thanks to a system which puts them at an advantage, and brewers and the pubs that sell beer, at a damaging disadvantage.”

While beer duty has increased by 35% over the last five years, spirits enjoyed a duty freeze for a decade from 1998 which has turned them into the ‘pre-load’ drink of choice. Wine duty, though linked to beer, has a banded structure that has allowed producers to increase ABV up to 15% with no additional tax liability. Bott said, “The Government seems intent on driving consumers away from beer to drinks with a higher alcohol content, which seems at odds with its policies around alcohol related harm.”

Turning to cider duty, Bott pointed out that currently, the largest global cider producers pay less duty than the smallest UK microbrewer receiving the maximum amount of Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR).  Cider duty is less than half that of beer, and has the additional advantage of banding. Bott said, “The disparity between beer and cider duties is nothing less than an invitation to large drinks producers to swap their consumers from one fermented beverage to another.”

He continued, “Alcohol taxation iniquities are not just encouraging people to switch from beer to other drinks, they are also driving drinkers out of the pub – the only place where alcohol consumption is supervised. The Government’s policies have been putting at risk the health of the nation.

“After much campaigning, on which SIBA has aligned with the BBPA, CAMRA and others, many politicians and health campaigners now recognise that beer, a low-alcohol drink, consumed in the socially responsible environment of the pub, should be seen as part of the solution to alcohol related harm – not the problem. The trouble is that, while our arguments are beginning to hit home, we are not getting the results we need now in order to avoid further damage to our industry.

Bott explained that, in keeping with SIBA’s pragmatic approach to duty reform, the organisation had realised that, in the current economic climate, straight concessions on beer duty would be too big an ‘ask’ of the Treasury.

He continued, “SIBA’s Budget submission this year presented what we believe to be a very credible proposal to extend SBR to brewers producing up to 200,000 HL annually.  Crucially, we demonstrated how funding for this extension could be achieved simply by pegging the difference between beer and cider duties at its current level, rather than applying across the board percentage increases which would further increase the gap and gift another windfall to cider.“

SBR, introduced in 2002, has proved to be an outstanding example of what can be achieved through targeted Government investment. In the past decade, the local brewing industry has thrived:  SIBA membership has grown from 235 to 550 brewers, most of them small businesses who provide local jobs and contribute to the local and wider UK economy.

Turning to minimum pricing, Bott reminded the audience that SIBA had been the first trade body to cautiously welcome the idea, as a way of closing the on-off trade price gap.  He said, “The Government is keen to do something around alcohol pricing, what we need to do as an industry is find the right mechanism to allow us to keep control, so that it is not captured by the temperance movement, nor used as a cash cow.”

Closing his address, Bott said, “SIBA will continue to strive for a market for beer that is sustainable for all sizes of brewer. We will not shy away from fighting for what is right, nor will we look at issues from our own perspective alone and we will continue to base policy on what is good for brewers and beer drinkers. Most importantly, we will work to put beer back where it belongs, at the very heart of British society.”

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) once again celebrated at the Great British Beer Awards yesterday as seven out of the eight Champion Beer of Britain class winners’ trophies were presented to SIBA brewers.

SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock said, “We’re extremely proud of our brewer members’ success in this competition. SIBA members have been at the forefront of the UK’s craft brewing renaissance for a decade or more, and continue to innovate and take risks to create some of the best beers in the country – as today’s results confirm. Winning one of the trophies is a passport to increased sales and distribution, so we’re delighted for all our class winners whose excellent beer will now reach a wider audience.

SIBA’s own Champions Bar at the GBBF has been “busier than ever” according to Grocock. The bar sells the eight SIBA Champion cask ales, as judged at SIBA’s regional and national beer competitions earlier this year. Grocock added, “For many visitors to GBBF, the SIBA Champions Bar is a ‘must visit’, offering a range of different cask beer styles, all of them already found to be the best of their type in a national competition.”

Champion Beer of Britain winner Mighty Oak Brewing Company let its SIBA membership lapse in 2008.

AND THE WINNERS ARE..
Champion Beer of Britain: Mighty Oak, Oscar Wilde
Milds: Mighty Oak, Oscar Wilde
Bitters: Salopian, Shropshire Gold
Best Bitters: Houston, Peter’s Well
Golden Ales: Cumbrian Legendary Ales, Loweswater Gold
Strong Bitters: Moles, Mole Catcher
Speciality Beers: Oakleaf, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Bitter
Real Ale in a Bottle: St Austell, Proper Job
Winter Beers: Hop Back, Entire Stout

Stephen Crawley, managing director, The Caledonian Brewery

The Caledonian Brewery has become the first brewer to apply for associate membership of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), following the introduction of new membership criteria at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting last Thursday.

Caledonian is ineligible for full SIBA membership as it is not independently-owned, being part of the Heineken group, which produces in excess of the 200,000 hectolitres per annum that are now set as the upper limit for full membership. However, the brewery is keen to engage with SIBA.

Managing director Stephen Crawley signalled Caledonian’s intention to join SIBA immediately after last week’s AGM, commenting, “We are applying to join SIBA because we see exciting opportunities to work with other member brewers in pursuit of a bright future for British beer. From our perspective, the clarification of SIBA membership status is welcome and will enable larger brewers like us to become part of this thriving organisation, without any ambiguity about our role within it.”

Julian Grocock, SIBA chief executive, added, “We are delighted to accept Caledonian back into the SIBA fold as an associate member. Their ongoing commitment to quality beer, which has seen them lead the cask ale revival in Scotland, will be a tremendous asset to our organisation.”

SIBA members at the AGM, held in Stratford-on-Avon last week, unanimously voted in favour of a package of measures around membership. In addition to the upper threshold and associate member status, the package also introduced a 12-month provisional period for new members and a members’ charter. Associate members, who must sign up to the members’ charter, are able to attend regional and national SIBA meetings, though they are not eligible to vote or stand as a trustee.

The winners were selected last month at a judging day at the Canalhouse pub in Nottingham, where the panel tasted the 55 finalist cask and seven bottled beers, served in perfect condition. Commenting on this year’s competition, SIBA chairman Peter Amor commented, “The standard of entries for our National Beer Competition is higher every year, which makes it harder for our judges to select the category and overall champion winners.

“With this focus on quality, taste and provenance, it is no surprise that the smaller breweries are bucking the greater market trend and growing sales volumes.”

And the winners were …

Supreme Champion of the Year

Sponsored by Croxsons

Champion Milds (Up to 4.0%)

Sponsored by Rudd Macnamara Ltd

Champion Bitters & Pale Ales (Up to 4.0%)

Sponsored by Eco-Logicool Services Limited

Champion Best Bitters (4.1 – 4.5%)

Sponsored by Lallemand uk

Champion Premium Bitters (4.6 – 4.9%)

Sponsored by Warminster Maltings Ltd

Champion Strong Bitters (5.1 – 5.5%)

Sponsored by SPAsoft Ltd

Champion Strong Ales (Over 5.6%)

Sponsored by Murphy & Son Ltd

Champion Porters, Strong Milds, Old Ales & Stouts

Sponsored by freerbutler graphic design

Champion Speciality Beers

Sponsored by Smurfit Kappa Display & Print

Champion Bottled Beers

Sponsored by Moravek International Ltd