Grey Trees Brewery & Purple Moose come out on top at SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards
Lawrence Washington (Purple Moose), Buster Grant (SIBA), Ray Davies (Grey Trees)
Grey Trees Brewery and Purple Moose Brewery took the top awards in SIBA’s Wales & West Independent Beer Awards, which took place at Ludlow Festival.
The American hopped ‘Afghan Pale Ale’ by Grey Tress Brewery took home the overall Gold in the cask beer competition, whereas the rich and chocolatey ‘Chocolate Moose’ by Purple Moose took home the overall Gold in the small pack (bottle and can competition).
“Two very different but equally excellent beers won the overall Champion Golds in the SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards. Judges had a tough job separating the pack as the standard was extremely high once again and lucky beer festival attendees will be scrambling to try these beers – now officially the best independent craft beers in the Wales & West region. Massive congratulations to Grey Trees & Purple Moose!” Buster Grant, SIBA Chairman.
The SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards judge a huge range of beers across a number of styles before the winners from each category go forward to an ‘Overall Champions’ final. It was this ‘best-of-the-best’ final that finds the best winners in cask and small pack, which judges cans and bottles side by side.
Grey Trees Brewery, which started with a mission to get local people excited and enthusiastic about drinking ‘proper beer’ again as apposed to global lager, is run by Ray Davies, who had this to say on their win, “Fantastic! This has been a great year for the brewery and it is brilliant to see an IPA win the overall regional cask award. I would like to thank all of my family and everyone at the brewery for their support and hard work.”
The Purple Moose Brewery is a ’40-Barrel’ micro-brewery based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia. Brewer Lawrence Washington from Purple Moose commented “This is amazing news for the brewery with so many great breweries in the Wales & West SIBA region. To win the overall small pack award is testament to how far we have come as a brewing business.”
Full Winners List
Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition
Sponsored by SPAsoft Ltd
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Grey Trees Independent Craft Brewers | Afghan Pale Ale | 5.4 |
| SILVER | Mumbles Brewery | Mumbles Weiss | 5.8 |
| BRONZE | Corvedale Brewery | Katie’s Pride | 4.3 |
Cask Standard Mild & Brown Ales
Sponsored by Muntons PLC
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Corvedale Brewery | Katie’s Pride | 4.3 |
| SILVER | Hillside Brewery | Over The Hill | 3.5 |
| BRONZE | Hobsons Brewery | Champion Mild | 3.2 |
Cask Standard Bitters & Pale Ales
Sponsored by Murphy & Son Ltd
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Wye Valley Brewery | The Hopfather | 3.9 |
| SILVER | Heavy Industry Brewing Ltd | Electric Mountain | 3.8 |
| BRONZE | Stroud Brewery | Tom Long | 3.8 |
Cask Best Bitters & Pale Ales
Sponsored by Charles Faram & Co. Ltd
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Ludlow Brewing Company | Blonde | 4.0 |
| SILVER | Castles Brewery Limited | White Knight | 4.1 |
| BRONZE | Glamorgan Brewing | Jemimas Pitchfork | 4.4 |
Cask Premium Bitters & Pale Ales
Sponsored by Rankin Brothers & Sons
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Big Hand Brewing Co Ltd | Appaloosa | 4.5 |
| SILVER | Heavy Industry Brewing Ltd | 77 | 4.9 |
| BRONZE | Prescott Ales | Super 6 No 2 Session IPA | 4.5 |
Cask Strong Bitters & Pale Ales
Sponsored by Brewers Select
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Grey Trees Independent Craft Brewers | Afghan Pale Ale | 5.4 |
| SILVER | Ludlow Brewing Company | Stairway | 5.0 |
| BRONZE | Cerddin Brewery | Red Devilish | 6.0 |
Cask Premium Strong Beers
Sponsored by Rastal GmbH & Co KG
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Brecon Brewing | Mind Bleach | 10.0 |
| SILVER | The Untapped Brewing Co. | Coldharbour | 6.5 |
| BRONZE | Salopian Brewery | Nephilim | 7.4 |
Cask Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales
Sponsored by Bulk Storage & Process Systems Ltd
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Cwrw Ial Community Brew Co | Imperial Tan Halen | 7.0 |
| SILVER | Heavy Industry Brewing Ltd | Nos Smoked Porter | 5.5 |
| BRONZE | Bespoke Brewing Co Ltd | Money for Old Rope | 4.8 |
Cask Speciality Light Beers
Sponsored by Crisp Malting Group
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Mumbles Brewery | Mumbles Weiss | 5.8 |
| SILVER | Clun Brewery Ltd | Solar | 4.3 |
| BRONZE | Purple Moose Brewery Ltd | Ysgawen | 4.0 |
Cask Speciality Mid to Dark Beers
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Mantle Brewery | Dark Heart | 5.2 |
| SILVER | Stroud Brewery | Redcoat Red Rye IPA | 5.3 |
| BRONZE | Mumbles Brewery | Oystermouth Stout | 4.4 |
Overall Champion of the Small Pack Competition
Sponsored by Brewers Select
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Purple Moose Brewery Ltd | Chocolate Moose | 4.5 |
| SILVER | Bewdley Brewery | Sir Keith Park | 4.5 |
| BRONZE | Stonehouse Brewery | Off The Rails | 4.8 |
Small Pack Standard Mild & Brown Ales
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Hillside Brewery | Over The Hill | 3.5 |
| SILVER | Mumbles Brewery | Malt Bitter | 4.1 |
| BRONZE | Bespoke Brewing Co Ltd | The Kings Shilling | 4.2 |
Small Pack Standard Bitters & Pale Ales
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Hobsons Brewery | Old Prickly | 4.2 |
| SILVER | Gloucester Brewery | Gloucester Gold | 3.9 |
| BRONZE | Stonehouse Brewery | Sunlander | 3.7 |
Small Pack Premium Bitters & Pale Ales
Sponsored by Beatson Clark Ltd
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Bewdley Brewery | Sir Keith Park | 4.5 |
| SILVER | Bluestone Brewing Company | Hammerstone | 4.5 |
| BRONZE | Gloucester Brewery | Session IPA | 4.5 |
Small Pack Strong Bitters & Pale Ales
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Bewdley Brewery | Worcestershire Sway | 5.0 |
| SILVER | Salopian Brewery | Kashmir | 5.5 |
| BRONZE | Wye Valley Brewery | Glorious IPA | 6.0 |
Small Pack Premium Strong Beers
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Geipel Brewing | Zoiglator Bock | 6.7 |
| SILVER | Salopian Brewery | Nephilim | 7.4 |
| BRONZE | The Untapped Brewing Co. | Tymor | 7.5 |
Small Pack Standard Lager & Pilsners
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Mumbles Brewery | Murmelt | 4.4 |
| SILVER | Hillside Brewery | Hillside Craft Lager | 4.3 |
| BRONZE | Geipel Brewing | Aloha from Bala | 4.4 |
Small Pack Premium Lager & Pilsners
Sponsored by Saxon Packaging
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Stroud Brewery | Premium Organic Lager | 4.9 |
| SILVER | Mantle Brewery | Hoodwinked | 5.0 |
| BRONZE | Bluestone Brewing Company | Preseli Pils | 4.7 |
Small Pack Porters, Stouts, Old Ales, Strong Milds & Strong Brown Ales
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Stonehouse Brewery | Off The Rails | 4.8 |
| SILVER | North Cotswold Brewery | Hung Drawn ‘n’ Portered | 5.0 |
| BRONZE | Stroud Brewery | Big Cat | 4.5 |
Small Pack Speciality Light Beers
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Salopian Brewery | lemon dream | 4.5 |
| SILVER | Mumbles Brewery | Mumbles Weiss | 5.8 |
| BRONZE | Brecon Brewing | Brecon Bamboo | 3.7 |
Small Pack Speciality Mid to Dark Beers
| Brewery | Product | ABV | |
| GOLD | Purple Moose Brewery Ltd | Chocolate Moose | 4.5 |
| SILVER | Wye Valley Brewery | Mocha Stout | 6.0 |
| BRONZE | Stroud Brewery | Schwarzwalder | 5.0 |
