SIBA South East Cask Awards
The 40ft Brewery from Dalston took the prize for Overall Champion Cask Beer at the Society of Independent Brewers’ South East Cask Awards in November. The winning beer was Neighbourhood IPA at 6% ABV. It is a lovely looking gold coloured beer with a woody, hoppy aroma and flavour, which is balanced by a biscuity sweetness. The judging took place at Big Penny Social.
Five Points’ Railway Porter won the British Dark Beers (4.5% ABV to 6.4% ABV) category, with Sambrook’s Powerhouse Porter coming second. Gold medals in their categories also went to Hammerton’s for City of Cake, to Signature Brew for Backstage IPA and Wild Card for their Cask Pale. Five Points XPA and Redemption Big Chief received bronze medals.
The gold winners from these awards will go forward to the SIBA National Finals, which will be held in Liverpool in March 2024.
Christine Cryne
BrewDog close Hawkes Cidery
Hawkes, London’s first urban cidery, was founded in 2013 in Bermondsey with the aim of turning surplus apples into cider. They were acquired by BrewDog in 2018 and production was moved to Scotland. Happily, they quickly saw the light and returned production to Bermondsey. Now however BrewDog have decided to close both the cidery and its taproom. The company told the trade press, “As with all UK businesses in recent times, Hawkes has been battling rampant inflation, soaring utilities costs and relentless cost of living pressures. Unfortunately, the slowdown in trade on the Bermondsey beer mile, combined with exorbitant rent increases, has meant we have had to permanently close the much-loved Hawkes taproom.” The brands will however continue to be available with production once again being transferred to BrewDog’s main site in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. BrewDog say that they may make another attempt at a ‘cider-focused venue’ in London in due course.
Deviant & Dandy closes
This Hackney based brewery was founded in 2017 and, after a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2020, they added a taproom. Sadly, in early November, founder Benjamin Taub posted the following message on social media, “After six eventful years it’s come time to wave goodbye to Deviant & Dandy. It was a big learning curve coming from a completely different industry but very proud of the beers we produced.” We wish him well with his future projects.
Ignition Brewery changes hands
Sydenham based Ignition is a special brewery in that it helps adults with learning disabilities establish themselves in the workplace. Nick O’Shea, who founded the brewery with Will Evans in 2015, has now moved on. Happily, the new owners, Brighter Horizons, will continue this vital work. Dave King from the Lewisham-based charity said, “Ignition is such a community asset and occupies a really unique place at the centre of Sydenham. It’s loved by lots of people and I’m really excited to build on that and see more people get on board with what we’re about and what we’re trying to achieve. We’re planning to bring a modest food offering next year as well as to start bottling more of our beers.”
Prize Old Ale returns
George Gale & Co. Ltd of Horndean, Hampshire, first brewed their legendary Prize Old Ale in 1923. A century later, after many changes, the brand is now in the hands of Dark Star, now a subsidiary of Fuller’s, who are themselves owned by multinational brewers Asahi Breweries. Dark Star now brew at the Meantime Brewery site in Greenwich, which is also owned by Asahi. The last version of POA was produced in 2011 (under the supervision of John Keeling) and some of that brew has since been preserved in tanks at Fuller’s Griffin Brewery in Chiswick. It has now been carefully moved to the Meantime site. The latest version has been brewed with the original yeast, blended with the earlier version and matured for three to four months. It went on sale on 16 November with the release of 3,000 500ml bottles and will be available on-line from the Dark Star website. A few precious casks will also be made available. No promises but it might be worth checking out the Harp and the Olde Mitre …
Portobello at last
On 6 October the last presentation for the Champion Beer of London awards was made to Portobello Brewery for their Chestnut Ale in the brown and red ales category. The brewery staff were pleased to receive the award.
