St Austell Brewery has scooped four accolades at this year’s Quality Drink Awards, held at London’s Grosvenor House last week, including overall winner in the beer category for Big Job, St Austell’s massively hopped 7.2% ABV big brother of mainstream brand Proper Job.
Alongside the main platinum award, Big Job also gained top spot in the IPA category, while St Austell’s 5.3% ABV Eden Project-inspired Baobab wheat beer added a third win in the Speciality Beer category. Following close behind another St Austell Brewery Small Batch classic, 5.9% Sayzon Belgian Farmhouse Ale – which recently won gold at the European Beer Star awards – claimed silver in the same category.
Each beverage was judged by a reputable team of drink aficionados including drink journalists, bar consultants, certified experts and industry insiders. The panels were chaired by some of the most recognisable names in the drinks business. Master of Wine, Philippa Carr chaired the wine categories while Certified Cicerone Melissa Cole chaired the beer judging. Gary Sharpen, editor and co-founder of The Cocktail Lovers magazine, chaired the spirits panel. The acknowledged expertise of the judges and chairs means that consumers can buy these award-winning tipples safe in the knowledge that each winning accreditation is credible and deserved.
As St Austell Brewing director Roger Ryman commented, “What’s great about these awards is that there are always top names involved in the judging who are experts in their field, so to win a QDA is both authentic and meaningful. To win three, picking up best in show is just amazing and is credit to the hard work of everybody here at the Brewery, from the brewing team through to sales and marketing who all play their part in making our beers taste and look so good.”
Organised by Metropolis Business Media, the Quality Drink Awards are unique in that all products are first blind tasted as in other competitions, but then crucially, judges base their final decisions on then seeing how the product looks, taking in factors such as design, packaging and price point.
Helen Lyons, director of the Quality Drink Awards, says: “The standard this year has been amazing and our winners stand out as the ‘ones to watch’ for on the shelves, especially in the run up to Christmas.
“These awards give us the chance to reward not only excellence in the quality of drinks being made across all categories, but also to recognise the importance that design and packaging have in their overall appeal to consumers. The Quality Drink Awards take in to consideration how the product has been made, how it tastes, what it looks like and what consumer appeal it has. That is what makes us so different.”
For more details visit ukdrink.qualityfoodawards.com. For more information about St Austell Brewery’s award-winning range of premium beers, visit www.staustellbrewery.co.uk.
Notes to Editors
- The winners were announced in the Court Suite at London’s Grosvenor House on 9th November 2017.
- The full winners list for Quality Drink Awards 2017 is:
Category Winner
IPA St Austell Brewery Big Job
Speciality Beer Winner St Austell Brewery Baobab
Low Alcohol Beer Winner Krombacher Pils Low Alcohol
Blonde Ale Windswept Brewing Blonde
Rest of the World Pale Ale Wimbledon Brewery Copper American Red Ale
Lager Wimbledon Brewery Gold Lager
Gluten Free Beer Stringers Beer Outlook Dark Ale
Bitters Hunters Brewery Hunters Premium
Porters / Stouts Aldi Spill The Beans Coffee Porter
Cider Saxby’s Original Cider
Fruit Cider Wobblegate Eden Four Berries Cider
Gin Durham Distillery Durham Gin
Vodka Durham Distillery Durham Vodka
Brandy Spar Brandy
Whisky & Bourbon Aldi Glen Marnoch Islay Single Malt Whisky
Liqueurs & Speciality Spirits White Heron British Cassis Blackcurrant Liqueur
Low Alcohol and Fruit Wines Lyme Bay Ginger Wine
Red Wine Over £7 Aldi Recioto Delle Valpolicella
White Wine Under £7 Aldi Leaf Plucker Sauvignon Blanc
White Wine Over £7 Asda Lugana
Champagne Aldi 2006 Vintage Blanc De Blanc
Sparkling Wine Under £10 Asda Extra Special Asti
Sparkling Wine Over £10 Lyme Bay Classic Cuvée
Platinum Beer St Austell Brewery Big Job
Platinum Spirits Aldi Glen Marnoch Islay Single Malt Whisky
Platinum Wine & Champagne Aldi 2006 Vintage Blanc De Blanc
Quality Drink Awards Retailer of the Year Aldi