Smooth stout is the first speciality beer to be our Supreme Champion
CAMRA’S annual awards for the best beers in Britain are regarded as highly prestigious in the brewing industry because they are decided by real ale drinkers who know their stuff, writes Neville Grundy.
Local tasting panels and regional heats select the best beers across the UK in a variety of categories, and those chosen are invited to compete at the huge Great British Beer Festival where the final judging takes place.
This year’s festival ran from August 9-13 at Olympia in London, attracting more than 50,000 visitors along the way.
The Supreme Champion Beer of Britain award was won by a speciality beer for the first time. Bingham’s Vanilla Stout, brewed in Berkshire, was named the best beer of 2016. It is a 5% Dark Stout infused with vanilla and dark malts to create a smooth and dark beer.
The Kent-based Old Diary Brewery’s Snow Top claimed the silver award. The 6% Old Ale had already taken a gold award at CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival and is described by the brewery as the “perfect winter warmer” with fruitcake and marmalade flavours.
Third place in the competition was Tring Brewery’s Death or Glory, a 7.2% Barley Wine, brewed by appointment to the Queen’s Royal Lancers. The beer is described by the Hertfordshire brewery as being a rich and sweet barley wine with a complex nature.
CAMRA national director responsible for the Champion Beer of Britain Competition Nik Antona said: “Bingham’s Vanilla Stout is packed full of comforting flavours and I’m sure it will be a popular Champion Beer Choice. It’s great to see a speciality beer win the award for the first time in the history of the competition and our congratulations go to the brewery.”
For the complete list of winners in all categories, go to: www.camra.org.uk.
While most local pubs are unlikely to stock these beers regularly, interested drinkers may be able to find them in some of the local bottled beer shops and micropubs that have opened in the area in recent years.
News for real ale drinkers in Freshfield: a new micropub called the Beer Station has opened in a former newsagent’s just yards from Freshfield station. It serves three changing real ales on hand pump.
Local CAMRA website: www. southport. camra. org. uk. Previous CAMRA pub reviews in this paper are at tinyurl.com/vis-pubs.