At the end of November, CAMRA once again took its Great British Beer Experience roadshow to the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC Birmingham. As is now customary, it was the venue for CAMRA’s prestigious Champion Bottled Beer of Britain competition. Congratulations go to Fuller’s who won the Gold award with their strong, rich and fruity 1845 ale (6.3% ABV). This was the fourth time that 1845 has won an award in this competition. It also took Gold in 1998, Silver in 2008 and Bronze in 1997. Fuller’s Head Brewer, Georgina Young, said, “This beer was the brainchild of our former Head Brewer, the great Reg Drury, to celebrate 150 years of brewing at Fuller’s so I’m delighted that it is still as popular as ever 23 years later. Winning the Champion Bottled Beer of Britain award is a real honour; I think we will be celebrating at Chiswick by drinking a few bottles.”
The Silver award went to Durham Brewery’s Temptation Imperial. This is a 10% ABV Russian stout, deeply black in colour with a roast bitterness, coffee and liquorice notes and a velvety texture. The Bronze award went to St. Austell Brewery’s Big Job. This is a 7.2% ABV Double IPA, brewed with Citra and Centennial hops and bone dry in taste.
Meanwhile, CAMRA has re-launched its accreditation scheme for Real Ale in Bottle and Can to keep up with changes in the brewing industry. To carry the ‘CAMRA says this is Real Ale’ logo, beers will need to be tested independently by Brewlab, the well established industry analysts, to confirm that the beer undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle or can in accordance with CAMRA’s definition of real ale.
Tony Hedger