Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt Regional Finalists Announced
20 beers short-listed to go into Sainsbury’s stores nationwide ahead of October grand final
Following an intense round of heats earlier this month in which Sainsbury’s customers and beer experts judged more than 150 beers from 70 breweries across the UK, Sainsbury’s has today announced the regional winners of this year’s Great British Beer Hunt. With bottled ales growing by 13.7% in the last year in supermarkets, breweries across the UK entered their new beers for the chance to win a coveted retail listing.
This year has been more popular than ever and consumers and judges alike have commented on the food-friendly versatility of the beers on show at the regional heats. Amongst the shortlisted 20 are citrus-spiked Infra Red, fiery Black Pepper Ale, tropical Serendipity and spicy Barney’s Brew.
All 156 beers entered into the Great British Beer Hunt 2013 were categorised by region and judged by beer experts – including John Read and Chris Hall from the British Guild of Beer Writers – as well as selected Sainsbury’s customers at four regional beer hunt events across the country during April and May. The five beers which received the highest number of votes at each regional event will go on sale in Sainsbury’s stores for three weeks in September. The three best-selling beers from each region will then go into a grand final on 4th October, where a panel of experts will select the two overall winners from a line-up of 12. The winners will receive a guaranteed, minimum six-month listing in Sainsbury’s stores across the length and breadth of the country from November this year.
Jack Rutherford, Sainsbury’s Beer Buyer, says: “At the regional beer hunt heats this year, we were really impressed with the high quality of British beer on display, which received excellent feedback from the brewers, beer experts and customers alike. The competition is a fantastic opportunity to put these beers in front of our customers and in the coming weeks we will be working with breweries to get them on shelf at the beginning of September.
Winning beers will be sold in the seasonal aisle in over 300 Sainsbury’s stores for three weeks in September.
Winners by region:
| SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND | ||
| Barney’s Brew | Hilden Brewery | SIBA |
| Gonny no brew that | Wiliams Bros Brewing Co | SIBA |
| Hipsway | Wiliams Bros Brewing Co | SIBA |
| The Honey Thief | Wiliams Bros Brewing Co | SIBA |
| Wayfarer IPA | Orkney Brewery | SIBA |
| NORTH | ||
| American Pride | Double Maxim Beer Co | SIBA |
| Crafty Dan | Thwaites Brewery | |
| Infra Red | Hardknott UK LTD | SIBA |
| Swedish Blonde | Double Maxim Beer Co | SIBA |
| Windermere Pale | Hawkshead Brewery | SIBA |
| WEST | ||
| Devon Dreamer | Hunters Brewery | SIBA |
| Gower Gold | Gower brewery company ltd | SIBA |
| Harbour IPA | Harbour Brewing Co | SIBA |
| Harbour Porter No.6 | Harbour Brewing Co | SIBA |
| Serendipity | Bird’s Brewery | SIBA |
| EAST | ||
| B Bok | Batemans | SIBA |
| Black Pepper Ale | Batemans | SIBA |
| Reindeer Droppings | Ridgeway Brewing | |
| Querkus | Ridgeway Brewing | |
| Lavender Honey | WBC (T/A Wolf Brewery) | SIBA |
