Won a SIBA Keg Beer Award?

You can now order keg font hangers (prices shown below) via Colorscan.

Oval Round

50 £0.39 £0.35

100 £0.34 £0.30

250 £0.29 £0.25

Keg font hangers can be personalised if required.

There is a £15 charge for a unique design.

For more information email steve@colorscan.biz

The new award places a spotlight on independent craft breweries who go above and beyond for the members of their team; empowering people to achieve more in their professional career, introducing initiatives and incentives which create a positive working environment, making efforts to promote diversity and inclusivity, or providing benefits or support mechanisms which encourage a happier healthier life for employees.

Joining the expert judging panel for 2023 were Andy Slee, SIBA Chief Executive; Caroline Nodder, Editor of Independent Brewer and the SIBA British Craft Beer Report; Alex Metcalfe, lead on CAMRA Learn & Discover; Jo Hunter, Interior & Architectural Design expert and founder of Hunter’s Daughter; Charlie Docherty, SIBA Business Development Officer; and Neil Walker, SIBA Head of Comms & Marketing, who chaired the panel. For the full list of winners see pages 78-81.

Invite international breweries you know to join SIBA

SIBA’s International Membership is now live and SIBA would like to encourage all members to reach out to any breweries worldwide you know or have perhaps collaborated with to join as a SIBA International Member.

As a member they get entry into the SIBA International Beer Awards and free entry to BeerX, as well as the opportunity to network with fellow brewers and a range of other membership benefits.

Find out more at www.siba.co.uk/international

A round-up of the most recent regional competitions in the SIBA Independent Beer Awards 2023:

Eight Arch Brewing Co & Yonder Brewing named Champions of the South West

Eight Arch Brewing Co and Yonder Brewing took home the two Overall Champion awards in South West Independent Beer Awards, which took place at the MaltingsFest beer festival in Newton Abbot. Square Logic by Eight Arch, an aromatic and fruity pale ale using buckets of American hops, was named the best cask beer in the competition after a final round judging against all other beer style category winners. In the separate keg beer competition it was Yonder Brewing's Raspberry Gose that took the top spot, wowing judges with huge fruit flavours, subtle sourness and a refreshing, balanced finished.

Steve Farrell, Owner and founder of Eight Arch Brewing in Dorset was on hand to collect this prestigious award. He said: "Absolutely over the moon to win the overall cask champion at SIBA South West. Just did not expect it, as a 4.2% beer going up against some of the regions bigger beers is always tough, so an amazing feeling to win. The beer itself is a really easy drinking pale, there's oats and wheat to give great body, but also loads of citra and mosaic hops too giving great aroma and flavour. The whole aim of this beer is that people can just enjoy it and drink pints and pints of it, and obviously the judges enjoyed it today!"

For the full list of winners see pages 90-91.

Vale of Glamorgan and Geipel Brewery took Overall Champion Golds in Wales & West

The Vale of Glamorgan Brewery, and Geipel, based in Pant Glas, Gellioedd took home the two top awards at the SIBA Wales & West Independent Beer Awards 2023.

Vale of Glamorgan was named the best of the best in the cask beer competition, taking the Overall Champion Gold Award, with Geipel doing the same in the separate Bottle & Can competition.

The awards are run by SIBA prior to the opening of the popular SIBA Ludlow Beer Festival at Ludlow Castle and judge the best independent craft beers across a variety of style categories before overall ‘Gold Champions’ are selected in the separate ‘Cask’ and ‘Bottle & Can’ competitions.

Acorn Brewery takes gold at the North East SIBA Awards

Acorn Brewery, in Barnsley, took home the overall champion gold award from the SIBA North East Independent Beer Awards, which took place at Gateshead Rugby Club.

The winning beer was Acorn’s flagship Barnsley Bitter. Magic Rock Brewing Co’s Ringmaster took overall silver, with Ossett Brewery’s Voodoo picking up bronze.

“Barnsley Bitter was one of the first beers we ever brewed,” said Acorn brewer Steve Bunting. “It’s one of the beers we started the brewery with and has a long heritage, using the original yeast strain from the original Barnsley Brewery from the 1850s. It’s amazing that, against such a wide variety of beer styles in the awards, such a traditional style could come out on top today!”

For the full list of winners see pages 92-93.

Vale of Glamorgan's hefty 8.4% Russian Imperial Stout was specially brewed for the competition and proved a huge hit with judges in the Cask Imperial & Strong Beer category, before going on to win the overall Champion of the Cask Award against all of the other beer style category winners. Collecting the award for Overall Cask Champion was Craig Edmunds, owner of Vale of Glamorgan Brewery, who admitted they took a risk entering such a new beer: “It's been a bit of an experiment to be honest, we knew we wanted to do an imperial stout and we targeted this competition as we really wanted to step-up our game up this year. It means the world to us to win this award. We bought the brewery in 2021 and built the new brewery this Januaryit is a brand with an incredibly pedigree, and we thought we could raise the level even further, and for us this win means we're headed in the right direction."

Geipel's 'Bock'—a traditional German-style 6.5% dark lager, with complex flavours and a bittersweet finish— was named the top beer in the Bottle & Can beer competition. Erik Geupel, Brewer at Geipel Brewery, said: "It's a strong dark lager and when people first have it they're often surprised, because it doesn’t taste like what you'd expect from a lagerbut it's got so much flavour and depth that it really surprised and impresses people. We've been brewing it for 10 years now and coming to the SIBA Wales & West for 10 years, and to win the top prize in any of the categories is really something, but to win the overall Champion is just amazing." For the full list of winners see pages 94-95.