Writers, bloggers, broadcasters, webmasters, photographers and others who communicate about beer and pubs are urged to enter the Guild of Beer Writers’ Annual Awards, which close in one month’s time, on 9th September.
This year’s awards come with a total prize fund of £12,000 to be shared between the winners and runners up in the competition, which aims to reward the best communication about beer and pubs in national, regional, trade and on-line media as well as writing about beer-related travel and food. There are also categories for broadcasting about beer and for work from young writers, aged 35 or under.
Judging the awards are: Dave Myers – one half of the ‘Hairy Bikers’ TV chefs duo; Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent at The Guardian; Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and Roger Ryman, head brewer at St Austell Brewery. Last year’s Beer Writer of the Year, Breandán Kearney, chairs the panel.
Entries are welcomed from writers outside the Guild as well as members, as are nominations from third parties. Work must have been published between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016 to be eligible.
The winner and runner up in each category and the overall Beer Writer of the Year 2016 will be announced at the Guild’s annual Awards dinner, which is being held on Thursday 1 December at London’s Park Lane Hotel.
Full details of how to enter the Awards and downloadable entry and nomination forms can be found on the British Guild of Beer Writers website
This year’s categories are:
- Molson Coors Award for Best Beer Writer – National Media
- Adnams Award for Best Beer Writer – Regional Media
- Fuller’s 1845 Award for Best Beer Writer – Trade Media
- Caledonian Brewery Award for Best Beer Communicator – Online
- Shepherd Neame Classic Collection Award for Best Beer and Food Writer
- Badger Ales Award for Best Young Beer Writer
- There’s A Beer For That Award for Best Beer Broadcaster
- St Austell Brewery Award for Best Beer and Travel Writer
- Guild Award for Best Beer Writer – Corporate Communications
The Guild is grateful to the following sponsors, whose support makes possible our annual awards and dinner:
Adnams
Established in 1872, Adnams combines innovation with tradition. Behind the walls of its Victorian-looking building, it has some of the most advanced and energy-efficient brewing equipment in Europe and constantly experiments with new, innovative techniques. Adnams brews a range of beers which reflect its heritage but also challenge conventions. They use locally-grown East Anglian grains of malted barley, rye, wheat and oats wherever popular and deploy a number of different hop varieties from Britain as well as across the world – all of which contribute to their beers’ individual characters.
Badger Ales
Badger Ales have been brewed in the heart of the Dorset countryside since 1777 by independent brewers Hall & Woodhouse. As one of the leading independent brewers in the UK, Hall & Woodhouse is well known for its range of award-winning ales brewed under the Badger brand and its network of public houses throughout the South of England. The brewery is still owned and managed by the seventh generation of the Woodhouse family.
Caledonian Brewery
Since its founding in 1869, Caledonian Brewery – also known as ‘The Caley’ – has been renowned for creating some of Scotland’s finest beers and its pioneering spirit has ensured that this is a brewery never content to rest on its laurels. Innovation is at the heart of the Caley’s ethos. One of the original Victorian breweries of Britain, it’s the only one to still use direct open fired coppers. At Caley they brew beer by hand, and that’s not just a nice phrase – it’s true, full leaf hop flowers and specialty malts are weighed and added by hand to the carefully crafted recipes.
Caledonian’s range of traditional craft ales comprising Deuchars IPA, Edinburgh Castle and Flying Scotsman is joined by its more contemporary craft styles, Three Hop and Coast to Coast and now Rare Red.
Fuller’s 1845
Fuller’s has been brewing at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, since 1828. They are the only UK brewery to have three different beers named Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA; collectively London Pride, Chiswick Bitter and ESB have received this accolade five times. Other beers in its extensive and wide-ranging portfolio include Honey Dew, Bengal Lancer, Wild River and Frontier.
Fuller’s 1845 is a strong, rich and fruity ale, specially commissioned to celebrate 150 years of the Fuller, Smith and Turner partnership. It’s a live, bottle-conditioned beer, skilfully brewed to mature over time.
Molson-Coors
For more than 350 years, Molson-Coors has been brewing, innovating and delighting the world’s beer drinkers. With a long history of creating local and international brands, Molson-Coors’ global beer portfolio has more than 100 beers. Always looking for ways to bring something new and exciting, their innovations are inspired by insights from customers and consumers.
Shepherd Neame
Shepherd Neame is an independent family brewery and pub operator based in the medieval market town of Faversham, Kent. Dating back at least 400 years, it is Britain’s oldest brewer and still creates its range of Kentish ales and award-winning lagers using traditional methods with 100% natural ingredients; chalk-filtered mineral water from the artesian well below its site, the finest malting barley and Kentish hops.
Its beer portfolio includes Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale and the new Spitfire Gold, Bishops Finger Kentish Strong Ale and Master Brew. More recent introductions include Spitfire Lager, the contemporary Whitstable Bay Collection and a new collection of limited edition No.18 Yard Brewhouse beers, named after its historic cask store. It also brews a number of high quality international lagers under licence including Asahi and Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
St Austell Brewery
Founded in 1851 by Cornishman Walter Hicks, today St Austell Brewery remains a 100% independent and family owned brewer and pub operator. Its brewery in St Austell produces many of the region’s most popular beers for sale in pubs, bars and supermarkets in Cornwall, Devon, across the UK and also overseas. St Austell brews beer with individuality, character and spirit which is true to its vision of what good beer ought to be.
St Austell’s sponsorship of Best Beer & Travel Writer Award is apt as Cornwall is the UK’s favourite domestic holiday location and its leading brand Tribute is now served on British Airways flights and in BA lounges all over the world.
There’s A Beer For That
There’s A Beer For That is a campaign to reignite Britain’s love of beer by focusing on the quality, diversity and versatility of beer. Backed by Britain’s Beer Alliance, the campaign is seeking to change consumers’ attitudes and behaviours around beer through a number of events, digital activity and media partnerships. It recently launched partnerships with Picturehouse Cinemas and the Telegraph Media Group to further change the image of beer, and place it where consumers can learn, trust and experience great beer and food pairings.
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Notes to editors:
The British Guild of Beer Writers was formed in 1988 to help spread the word about beers, brewing and pubs. With over 400 members, its mission is “to improve the standards of beer writing and improve the public knowledge of beer and pubs.” Its members include the cream of the country’s beer media experts – be they journalists, authors, producers, photographers, illustrators or PR people. Supporters of the Guild include: brewers, pub companies, and many suppliers associated with the brewing trade. http://beerguild.co.uk/