Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), wins Overall Gold & Bronze at Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) North West Regional Beer Competition
Blackedge Brewing Company, based in Horwich, was last night named Overall Champion ‘Cask Beer’ at SIBA’s North West Regional Independent Beer Competition for their ‘Ginger’. They also won the Overall Bronze award for their ‘Dark Mild’.
260 beers, from 50 breweries were judged by approximately 100 independent craft brewers, beer industry representatives and experienced beer drinkers at the Macron Stadium, Bolton throughout the day.
Blackedge Ginger, is a 4.5% abv Speciality Beer and described as being “Copper, Ginger and Orange.”
Wayne Roper, Director and owner of Blackedge Brewing Company said, “It is fantastic to be recognised in this way for our beers. Winning the Overall awards and the three Gold Category awards means we will now have three entries in the SIBA national finals next March at BeerX. I hope we can go one step further and pick up the national award in 2017.”
The Overall Silver Award went to Brewsmith Beer (Bury), Oatmeal Stout.
It was also great news for Cumbria in the ‘Small Pack’ (bottle and can) competition. Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal) won the Overall Gold and Silver for their Tonka and Windermere Pale respectively and Hesket Newmarket Brewery won the Overall Bronze for Old Carrock.
Tonka is a 8.5% abv bottled beer and described as, “A deep, dark, unfiltered, velvety ale, aged with a smattering of tonk beans & cacao nibs – luscious layers of flavour: chocolate, vanilla, coconut, almond, bitter cherry, rolling into the richness of dark malts – a sumptuous beer.”
Alex Brodie, Owner of Hawkshead Brewery said, “Tonka is our Head Brewer’s baby! It is great to see such an innovative beer do so well and it must be the first beer using tonka beans – a fruit of the South American Cumaru tree – to win such a prestigious award. We are also delighted to see Windermere Pale pick up the Small Pack Silver. It goes to show there is still life in low gravity session beers.”
Commenting on competition, SIBA Chairman and beer judge, Guy Sheppard said,
“I would like to congratulate Blackedge Brewing Company and Hawkshead Brewery on their success in the SIBA’s North West Regional Independent Beer competition. To win two ‘Overall’ awards is an amazing achievement when you consider the amount of fantastic brewers there are in the North West. I would also like to thank all of the judges for attending and the members for entering the competition and who worked tirelessly serving the beers. All of these wonderful beers can be enjoyed at Bolton Beer Festival at the Macron Stadium over the weekend (13th-15th Oct).”
All Gold category winners will now be entered into the SIBA National Finals which take place at BeerX in Sheffield (16-19th March 2017)
For further information:
Tony Jerome, SIBA’s Communications Director – http://beer-festival.co.uk
SIBA North West Regional Independent Beer Awards results:
Overall Champion Cask Beer of the Competition – Sponsored by Napthens
Gold: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Ginger
Silver: Brewsmith Beer (Bury), Oatmeal Stout
Bronze: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Dark Mild
Standard Milds & Brown Ales
Gold: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Dark Mild
Silver: Bank Top Brewery (Bolton), Dark Mild
Bronze: Irwell Works Brewery (Blackburn), Tin Plate
Standard Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by SPASoft Ltd
Gold: The Borough Brewery (Lancaster), Pale
Silver: The Bowland Beer Co (Clitheroe), Bowland Pale
Bronze: Liverpool Organic Brewery (Liverpool), Cascade
Best Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by Charles Faram & Co Ltd
Gold: Barngates Brewery (Ambleside), Tag Lag
Silver: Spitting Feathers (Cheshire), Special Ale
Bronze: Southport Brewery (Southport), Golden Sands
Premium Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by Bulk Storage & Process Systems Ltd
Gold: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Blonde
Silver: RedWillow Brewery (Macclesfield), Wreckless
Bronze: Green Mill Brewery (Rochdale), On the Tiles
Strong Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by Rankin Brothers & Sons
Gold: The Hooded Ram Brewing Company (Isle of Man), Mosaic Single Hop
Silver: Brightside Brewing Company (Manchester), Topaz Single Hop IPA
Bronze: Bollington Brewing Co (Cheshire), Eastern Nights
Premium Strong Beers – Sponsored by CBI Insurance
Gold: Front Row Brewing (Congleton), Obolensky
Silver: Brewsmith Beer (Bury), Brewsmith IPA
Bronze: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), IPA
Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales – Sponsored by Murphy & Son
Gold: Brewsmith Beer (Bury), Oatmeal Stout
Silver: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Black
Bronze: Worsthorne Brewing Co (Burnley), Blackhorne Stout
Speciality Beers
Gold: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Ginger
Silver: Prospect Brewery (Wigan), Clementine
Bronze: RedWillow Brewery (Macclesfield), Smokeless
Overall Champion Small Pack of the Competition – Sponsored by Brew cover
Gold: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), Tonka
Silver: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), Windermere Pale
Bronze: Hesket Newmarket Brewery (Hesket Newmarket), Old Carrock
Small Pack – Standard Mild Ales & Brown Ales Bitters & Pale Ales
Gold: Southport Brewery, (Southport) Dark Night
Silver: Bank Top Brewery (Bolton), Dark Mild
Bronze: Old School Brewery (Carnforth), Blackboard
Small Pack – Standard Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by Saxon Packaging Ltd
Gold: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), Windermere Pale
Silver: Southport Brewery (Southport), Golden Sands
Bronze: Cumbrian Legendary Ales (Ambleside), Loweswater Gold
Small Pack – Premium Bitters & Pale Ales – Sponsored by Muntons PLC
Gold: Bank Top Brewery (Bolton), Pavilion Pale Ale
Silver: Prospect Brewery (Wigan), Gold Rush
Bronze: RedWillow Brewery (Macclesfield), Wreckless
Small Pack – Strong Bitters & Pales Ales
Gold: Irwell Works Brewery (Blackburn), Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Silver: First Chop Brewing Arm (Salford), POP
Bronze: Bank Top Brewery (Bolton), Blonde
Small Pack – Premium Strong Beers
Gold: Hesket Newmarket Brewery (Cumbria), Old Carrock
Silver: Liverpool Organic (Liverpool), Imperial Russian Stout
Bronze: The Cheshire Brewhouse (Congleton), Govinda
Small Pack – Premium Lager & Pilsners – Sponsored by Label Apeel Ltd
Gold: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), Lakeland Lager
Silver: Cumbrian Legendary Ales (Ambleside), Buttermere Beauty
Bronze: The Cheshire Brewhouse (Congleton), Dane’ish
Small Pack – Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ale
Gold: Red Star Brewery (Liverpool), Partisan
Silver: Brightside Brewing Company (Manchester), Underworld Porter
Bronze: Bollington Brewing Co (Cheshire), Oat Mill Stout
Small Pack – Speciality Beers – Sponsored by Beatson Clark Ltd
Gold: Hawkshead Brewery (Kendal), Tonka
Silver: Bank Top Brewery (Bolton), Port O’Call
Bronze: Blackedge Brewing Company (Horwich), Black Port
