Wharfedale Brewery wins Bronze in Regional Beer Awards
Stewart (centre) is pictured with the award alongside Head Brewer Michael Allan (left) and assistant Adrian Long.
Wharfedale Brewery, housed at the back of the Flying Duck Brew Pub in Church Street in Ilkley is celebrating more success after their flagship beer, Wharfedale Blonde, was awarded the Bronze medal in the “Standard Bitters” category at this year’s Northern Region Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) beer competition.
Following a rigorous tasting process, in which the judges consider the appearance, aroma, taste and finish of every beer entered, Wharfedale’s Technical Director Stewart Ross was delighted to win the award in such a hotly contested category.
The multi award winning brewer told SIBA “The North East region of SIBA is the largest in the country and competition for these awards is always fierce as most breweries produce a session ale which falls under the “Standard Bitters” category. For such a small microbrewery to win a prestigious award like this, in a purely blind tasted competition, is an incredible bonus and a huge accolade to the brewing team.”
Wharfedale Blonde is described as a straw coloured blonde session ale weighing in at an ABV of 3.9%. It combines English malts with a blend of New Zealand and American hops to create lingering citrus/grapefruit flavours and a fresh satisfying bitter finish.
Brewing only started in Ilkley at the turn of the year but the staple products of Wharfedale Blonde, Best and Black have enjoyed great success throughout the area and can be found regularly on the bars at over 20 pubs between Otley and Hubberholme including some of the Yorkshire Dales most popular hostelries on The Ales Way; Wharfedale’s Ale Trail.
Meanwhile, the bottled version of Wharfedale Blonde has been selected by the Yorkshire Dales Society for delegates to enjoy at the forthcoming National Park Societies Annual Conference which is being held at Coniston Hotel near Skipton next week as part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
