Great Taste Awards 2013 – Sonnet 43's a Winner
The 2013 Great Taste results are now out and Sonnet 43 Brew House is a winner
Sonnet 43 Brew House, Coxhoe, County Durham, is celebrating the news that its American Pale Ale & Bourbon Milk Stout beers have wowed judges in Great Taste 2013 by being awarded 2 stars and 1 star respectively in the world’s largest and most rigorous food awards scheme.
Great Taste Awards are simply about taste and involve over 400 judges and thousands of hours of blind tastings in more than 150 food & drink categories. In total more than 12 judges tasted, conferred and re-tasted the beers before making the decision to award their star ratings.
American Pale Ale was commended by the judges for its hop flavour that ‘really delivers’ whilst the Bourbon Milk stout was highly praised for its ‘lovely nose’, comprising chocolate, oak & liquorice aromas.
The win for the micro-brewery, named after the well-known verse by Elizabeth Barratt Browning who was born and raised at nearby Coxhoe Hall, comes after they have been brewing for less than a year.
Brewery owner, Mark Hird, explains why Sonnet 43 entered the competition: “We made the decision to enter after only a few months of trading as we felt our beers were exceptionally flavoursome and individual – thankfully the judges agreed!
“The Great Taste stars are the mark of a quality product and we’re hopeful having them on our beers will help the brewery to be judged more credible, despite being young, and open doors to new pubs, retailers and area’s that haven’t stocked our beers before.”
Head brewery, Michael Harker, also commented “Of our core range of 6 beers, the American Pale Ale and Bourbon Milk Stout are the stand-out beers for me that I most like to drink. I’m thrilled they have received this accolade and hope this means more people will now get to try them.”
Out of almost 10,000 products entered into Great Taste 2013 just 645 have been awarded 2-star and around a quarter gained 1-star meaning that Sonnet 43 are amongst a mere handful of producers with this coveted recognition.
The beers are available to buy online via the online shop at www.sonnet43.com.
