Burning Sky brewery halt Scottish hat-trick in SIBA independent beer awards

Burning Sky brewery in East Sussex have stopped a potential Scottish hat-trick in the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) National Independent Beer Awards, by taking home Gold in the Keg competition. The awards, the biggest of their kind ever seen in the UK with hundreds of cask, keg, bottled and canned beers judged across 5 days, were announced at SIBA’s BeerX event in Sheffield last night.

With 400 beers in the keg competition it was Burning Sky Brewery’s’ Easy Answers IPA that wowed judges and won them the top spot after Williams Brothers in Scotland took home the much coveted Supreme cask Gold award for their traditional dark mild ‘Black’, before another Scottish brewer, Fyne Ales, won the bottle and can competition with ‘Mills & Hills’, a hefty imperial stout of almost 10% ABV.

“It is fantastic to see such high quality beers across a range of formats in this years biggest ever beer competition. With hundreds of entries across cask, keg, bottle and can this really was the cream of the crop in terms of independent craft beers from the UK and each of the three Supreme Champion Gold Winners should be extremely proud of their achievement. It’s also clear fantastic tasting beer is being produced by our members across the length of Britain, but that Scotland brewers have proved to be a particular hit with judges in 2017, with both Fyne Ales and Williams Brothers taking home top spots.” Mike Benner, SIBA Managing Director.

It is the second year running that a Scottish brewer has won the best cask beer in the country award, following Loch Lomond taking home the Silverware in 2016 for their citrussy Southern Summit pale ale.

“This a fantastic win and hugely exciting for us as this was one of our very first beers we ever brewed, so for it to still be winning awards is amazing. Mild has an image as an older, more old-fashioned style but it’s a great beer. Maybe Mild is the new IPA!” Scott Williams, Co-founder Williams Bros.

SIBA say the awards have also highlighted the diversity of independent craft beer that is now being brewed in the UK, with three very different beers taking home the top spots. From the traditional dark mild ‘Black’ from Williams Brothers winning in the cask competition, to the heavily hopped, aromatic ‘Easy Answers’ IPA from Burning Sky winning in Keg, as well as the rich, dark and strong 9.5% Imperial Stout ‘Mills & Hills’ from Fyne Ales winning in bottle.

“It’s amazing to win this award as it’s judged by our peers, by other Brewers in the industry as well as the hop and malt merchants that are so important to what we do. It’s a massive result for our whole team and we are so proud to accept this award from SIBA.” Mark Tranter, Head Brewer Burning Sky Beer

SIBA’s Smallpack competition can be entered by both canned and bottled beers, but it was the 330ml bottled stout from Fyne Ales, brewed in collaboration with De Molen in the Netherlands, that came out on top this time around.

“A lot of fantastic beers were up for this award so even to be amongst them is amazing for us. This was the fifth brew we ever did and is special as it was a collaboration with De Molen in the Netherlands where we just decided to have a play on our brand new kit, to really push to see what it could do. 3 years later and people still love it!” Jamie Delap, Owner Fyne Ales

Click here to download excel spreadsheet of Full Winners list for SIBA Independent Beer Awards 2017

Brewery Beer ABV CLASS Award
Williams Bros Brewing Co Williams Black 4.2 Supreme Champion of the Cask Beer Competition GOLD
Swannay Brewery Island Hopping 3.9 Supreme Champion of the Cask Beer Competition SILVER
Eight Arch Brewing Co. Corbel 5.5 Supreme Champion of the Cask Beer Competition BRONZE
Williams Bros Brewing Co Williams Black 4.2 Champion Cask Standard Mild & Brown Ales GOLD
Earl Soham brewery Ltd Sir Rogers porter 4.2 Champion Cask Standard Mild & Brown Ales SILVER
Blackedge Brewing Company Ltd Dark MIld 3.9 Champion Cask Standard Mild & Brown Ales BRONZE
Swannay Brewery Island Hopping 3.9 Champion Cask Standard Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
York Brewery Ltd Blonde 3.9 Champion Cask Standard Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Combined Brewers Ltd Nibley Ale 3.8 Champion Cask Standard Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Wantsum Brewery Ltd Montgomery 4.0 Champion Cask Best Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Barngates Brewery Tag Lag 4.4 Champion Cask Best Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Black Sheep Brewery Special Ale 4.4 Champion Cask Best Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Alechemy Brewing Ltd Bad Day At The Office 4.5 Champion Cask Premium Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Salopian Brewery Hoptwister 4.5 Champion Cask Premium Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Cullercoats Brewery Ltd Pilot 4.8 Champion Cask Premium Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Eight Arch Brewing Co. Corbel 5.5 Champion Cask Strong Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Slater’s Ales Haka 5.2 Champion Cask Strong Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Daleside Brewery Monkey Wrench 5.3 Champion Cask Strong Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
St Austell Brewery Big  Job 7.2 Champion Cask Premium Strong Beers GOLD
Harrogate Brewing Company Kursaal Imperial Stout 7.5 Champion Cask Premium Strong Beers SILVER
Black Cat Brewery Tzar Imperial Stout 6.8 Champion Cask Premium Strong Beers BRONZE
New Lion Brewery Totnes Stout 4.4 Champion Cask Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales GOLD
Great Newsome Brewery Liquorice Lads Stout 4.3 Champion Cask Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales SILVER
Bespoke Brewing Co Ltd Money for Old Rope 4.8 Champion Cask Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales BRONZE
RCH Brewery Chocolate Slug 4.5 Champion Cask Speciality Beers GOLD
Blackedge Brewing Company Ltd Ginger 4.5 Champion Cask Speciality Beers SILVER
Northern Monk Brewing Co Northern Star 5.9 Champion Cask Speciality Beers BRONZE
Fyne Ales Mills & Hills 9.5 Supreme Champion of the Small Pack Competition GOLD
Loch Lomond Brewery Silkie Stout 5.0 Supreme Champion of the Small Pack Competition SILVER
Hawkshead Brewery Lakeland Lager 5.0 Supreme Champion of the Small Pack Competition BRONZE
Strathaven Ales Craigmill Mild 3.5 Champion Small Pack Standard Mild & Brown Ales GOLD
The Loose Cannon Brewing Company Abingdon Bridge 4.1 Champion Small Pack Standard Mild & Brown Ales SILVER
Wolf Brewery Sirius Dog Star 4.4 Champion Small Pack Standard Mild & Brown Ales BRONZE
Idle Valley Brewery Ltd Vacant gesture 3.8 Champion Small Pack Standard Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Gloucester Brewery Ltd Gloucester Gold 4.1 Champion Small Pack Standard Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Hawkshead Brewery Windermere Pale 4.0 Champion Small Pack Standard Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Thornbridge Brewery AM:PM 4.5 Champion Small Pack Premium Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Woodfordes Nelsons Revenge 4.5 Champion Small Pack Premium Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Liberation Brewery Liberation IPA 4.8 Champion Small Pack Premium Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Purity Brewing Company Longhorn IPA 5.0 Champion Small Pack Strong Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Irwell Works Brewery Mad Dogs & Englishmen 5.5 Champion Small Pack Strong Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Hambleton Ales LLP Thoroughbred Pale Ale 5.0 Champion Small Pack Strong Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Fyne Ales Mills & Hills 9.5 Champion Small Pack Premium Strong Beers GOLD
Lacons Brewery Audit 8.0 Champion Small Pack Premium Strong Beers SILVER
Windsor and Eton Brewery Uprising’s Treason 6.0 Champion Small Pack Premium Strong Beers BRONZE
Brass Castle Brewery Helles Lager 4.4 Champion Small Pack Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          GOLD
The Norfolk Brewhouse DewHopper Norfolk Lager 4.0 Champion Small Pack Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          SILVER
Charnwood Brewery Liska 4.0 Champion Small Pack Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          BRONZE
Hawkshead Brewery Lakeland Lager 5.0 Champion Small Pack Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  GOLD
The Norfolk Brewhouse StubbleStag 5.0 Champion Small Pack Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  SILVER
Edinburgh Beer Factory Paolozzi 5.2 Champion Small Pack Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  BRONZE
Loch Lomond Brewery Silkie Stout 5.0 Champion Small Pack Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales GOLD
Salopian Brewery Midnight Express 5.2 Champion Small Pack Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales SILVER
Bristol Beer Factory MIlk Stout 4.5 Champion Small Pack Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales BRONZE
Swannay Brewery Barrel Aged Orkney Porter (2014 Arran Ed) 10.5 Champion Small Pack Speciality Beers GOLD
Elgood & Sons Ltd Q E Cherry Wheat 3.6 Champion Small Pack Speciality Beers SILVER
The Five Points Brewing Company London Smoke 7.8 Champion Small Pack Speciality Beers BRONZE
Burning Sky Brewery Limited Easy Answers 6.0 Supreme Champion of the Keg Competition GOLD
Grain Brewery Slate 6.0 Supreme Champion of the Keg Competition SILVER
Grain Brewery Weizen 5.0 Supreme Champion of the Keg Competition BRONZE
Arran Brewery Arran Dark 4.3 Champion Keg Standard Mild & Brown Ales GOLD
Everards Brewery Tiger 4.2 Champion Keg Standard Mild & Brown Ales SILVER
Elgoods Brewery Ltd Black Dog 3.6 Champion Keg Standard Mild & Brown Ales BRONZE
Stewart Brewing Jack Back 3.7 Champion Keg Standard Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Red Squirrel Brewing Company Hopfest 3.8 Champion Keg Standard Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Acorn Brewery Barnsley Bitter 3.8 Champion Keg Standard Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Charnwood Brewery American Pale Ale 4.8 Champion Keg Premium Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
New Lion Brewery Pandit 4.9 Champion Keg Premium Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
The Dark Star Brewing Co Ltd American Pale Ale 4.7 Champion Keg Premium Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Charnwood Brewery India Pale ale 5.8 Champion Keg Strong Bitters & Pale Ales GOLD
Salopian Brewery Kashmir 5.5 Champion Keg Strong Bitters & Pale Ales SILVER
Grain Brewery Pale 5.0 Champion Keg Strong Bitters & Pale Ales BRONZE
Burning Sky Brewery Limited Easy Answers 6.0 Champion Keg Premium Strong Beers GOLD
Saltaire Brewery Ltd Kala Black IPA 6.2 Champion Keg Premium Strong Beers SILVER
St. Peter’s Brewery Black IPA 7.0 Champion Keg Premium Strong Beers BRONZE
Coniston Brewery Oliver’s Lager 3.4 Champion Keg Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          GOLD
Williams Bros Brewing Co Caesar Augustus 4.1 Champion Keg Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          SILVER
Daleside Brewery Daleside Larger 4.0 Champion Keg Standard Lager & Pilsners                                                          BRONZE
Barngates Brewery Vienna 5.2 Champion Keg Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  GOLD
Calvors Brewery Limited Calvors Premium Pilsner Lager 5.0 Champion Keg Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  SILVER
St Austell Brewery Co Ltd Korev 4.8 Champion Keg Premium Lager & Pilsners                                                                  BRONZE
Grain Brewery Slate 6.0 Champion Keg Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales GOLD
Thornbridge Brewery Baize 6.0 Champion Keg Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales SILVER
Hardknott Brewery Dark Energy 4.9 Champion Keg Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales BRONZE
Grain Brewery Weizen 5.0 Champion Keg Speciality Beers GOLD
The London Beer Factory Fruit Loop 4.1 Champion Keg Speciality Beers SILVER
Purple Moose Brewery Chocolate Moose 4.5 Champion Keg Speciality Beers BRONZE

 

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