This year, because there is no Great British Beer Festival, the finals of two of CAMRA’s national competitions are being held instead at the Bohemia in North Finchley, the home of the London Brewing Company, on Wednesday 2 October. The competitions in question are the Champion Bottled Beer of Britain (CBBoB) and CAMRA’s Home Brew Competition. The London and South East regional round of the CBBoB competition for 2025 will also take place.
The Home Brew competition is in its third year and Senan Saxton, one of the owners of the Bohemia, commented, “I am delighted to be hosting this event, which is celebrating existing brewers and maybe brewers of the future. After all, many current brewers started their brewing careers as home brewers”.
There will be a reception, starting at 5pm, at which the results of both national competitions will be announced. The reception will also mark the launch of a new CAMRA book, The Modern Home Brewer.
Entry to the reception is by ticket only. Tickets can be booked here. They cost £11 for CAMRA members or £13 for non-members and include a pint of one of London Brewing Company’s cask beers (up to 4.6% ABV) plus some samples of the bottled beers which were judged earlier: an absolute bargain! The home brew beers will not be available but it is hoped to have some of them available for the beer judging training course on Saturday 5 October (see bottom of page).
The Modern Home Brewer is written by Andy Parker and Jamil Zainasheff. Andy is the owner of and head brewer at the award winning Elusive Brewing in Berkshire. He was the British Guild of Beer Writers Brewer of the Year in 2022 and previously co-authored CAMRA’s Essential Home Brewing book. Jamil is an award-winning homebrewer, author and beer judge. He hosts the Jamil Show and Brew Strong shows on the Brewing Network, which is a multimedia resource for brewers and beer lovers based in California (https://www.thebrewingnetwork.com). He was also co-founder and owner of the Heretic Brewing Company in California. The book can be pre-ordered on-line from CAMRA Books at . Both the book and the competitions are sponsored by Malt Miller.
The Bohemia is at 762/764 High Road, North Finchley. The nearest Underground station is Woodside Park (Northern Line 10 minute walk).
REGISTERING FOR THE HOME BREW COMPETITION
If you are a home brewer and would like to enter the 2024 competition, details can be found here.
The winner will get a chance to brew a firkin of their beer at the London Brewing Company (most likely with the help of the gentlemen in the photo) and the runner-up will receive a free case of craft beers every month for a year, courtesy of sponsor, BEER52. The third sponsor is Brew at Home. The deadline for registering is Friday 6 September.
Christine Cryne
