FOUR beer and cider writers were recognised when the shortlists for the Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Awards were announced on Tuesday.
Pete Brown – three times a previous winner – is shortlisted in the Best Drink Books category for ‘Clubland’, while Jaega Wise’s ‘Wild Brews’ is nominated for best debut book. Will Hawkes, meanwhile, is up for the Drink Writer of the Year prize for the third year running, having won in 2021.
Adam Wells, cider and perry writer, is also nominated for this year’s Drink trophy, for work in the Cider Review and Pellicle Magazine.
The awards, which are in their 11th year, are widely recognised as the biggest prize in British food and drink writing. A small group of beer writers has won in the past: Brown was Online Drink Writer of the Year in 2015, and has twice won the Drink Book prize (2014 for ‘World’s Best Cider’, and 2017 for ‘The Pub’), a category claimed last year by Jonny Garrett for ‘A Year in Beer’. In 2016, Boak and Bailey were named Online Drink Writers of the Year.
“It’s such an honour to be included on the shortlist,” says Hawkes. “The quality is extremely high. I think it says a lot about how good beer and cider writing is at the moment that four of us have been recognised this year.”
The nomination adds to an excellent few months for Wise, after her brewery Wild Card won SIBA Brewery of the Year, best webshop and best concept design at BeerX in March.
Hawkes was recognised for two pieces of work published by Pellicle Magazine, about Bradford and Munich. He is the author of London Beer City, a newsletter devoted to the capital’s pubs and breweries.
The winners will be announced on 11 May.