The search is on for the best writing about beer and pubs, as the British Guild of Beer Writers opens its annual awards, offering a total prize fund of £11,000 to the winning journalists, broadcasters, bloggers and other communicators.
Entries are invited between now and 7 September and will be judged on how well they further the Guild’s mission “to extend public knowledge and appreciation of beer and pubs”.
Judges this year are: Amy Bryant, food editor at The Telegraph; James Cuthbertson, MD of Dark Star Brewery and founder of the Beer & Cider Marketing Awards; Stu McKinlay, co-founder of Yeastie Boys; Jenn Merrick, founder of Earth Station Brewery; Zoe Smith, retail correspondent at The Guardian and Mark Taylor, Bristol-based food and drink writer. The current Beer Writer of the Year, Adrian Tierney-Jones, chairs the panel.
Guild of Beer Writers chairman Tim Hampson said, “We are excited about embarking once again on our annual awards, which not only reward those who excel in their field, but also help to raise the public profile of beer and pubs.
“As the UK’s beer and pubs sector develops, so too do our awards. We are delighted to be introducing a new award this year in conjunction with Britain’s Beer Alliance, which recognises the vital role that pubs play at the heart of our communities. We look forward to receiving entries to this category that celebrate all that is great about the British pub.”
Entries are invited in nine categories, each carrying a prize of £1,000 for the winner and £500 for the runner-up, with the exception of the Best Writer about Pubs and Best Citizen Beer Communicator awards, which give one prize of £1,000 only, and the Corporate Communications category, where entries are submitted by organisations rather than individuals and the winner receives a trophy.
More detail on how to enter can be found on our Awards page
The categories:
- Greene King Award for Best Beer Writer, National Media
- Adnams Award for Best Beer Writer, Regional Media
- Fuller’s London Pride Award for Best Beer Writer – Trade Media
- Heineken Award for Best Beer Communicator – Online
- St Austell Brewery Award for Best Young Beer Writer
- Britain’s Beer Alliance Award for Best Writer about Pubs
- Guild Award for Best Beer and Travel Writer
- Guild Award for Best Beer Writer – Corporate Communications
- Guild Award for Best Beer Citizen Communicator
The Guild will publish a shortlist for all nine categories in November, while the winner and runner up for each will be unveiled at the Guild of Beer Writers annual awards dinner on 22 November at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel. One overall Beer Writer of the Year will receive the Michael Jackson Gold Tankard Award and the Guild also bestows the Brewer of the Year title on one brewer at the same event.
Full details of all nine categories in the Awards, and advice on how to submit entries, can be found on the Guild’s website. Entries must be received by the closing date of Friday 7 September and must have been published between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2018.
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 possible 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.
Britain’s Beer Alliance Britain’s Beer Alliance is a cross-industry group of brewers, pub companies and beer organisations working together for the good of beer in Britain.
Fuller’s London Pride
For Fuller’s, brewing beer is not just our business – it’s our passion. We bring everything to it, committing all our energy and creativity to make Fuller’s beers more special than the rest. It’s that dedication that keeps London Pride as fresh and popular as ever – exhibiting the characteristic longevity of the flower it is named after.
Greene King
Brewing in Bury St Edmunds, the home of Greene King, dates back 1000 years to day of the Doomsday book and in 2019 our two historic breweries, Westgate in Bury St Edmunds and Belhaven in Dunbar will be celebrating a combined brewing heritage of 520 years. With a diverse range in our beer portfolio, from pale ales to craft beers and from bitters to stout one thing is for sure, our passion for brewing top quality, delicious beer is as strong today as all those years ago.
We are proud to sponsor the Guild of Beer Writers Awards, a wonderful celebration of our national passion for great quality British beer, the writers who challenge the brewers and the brewing industry who continue to drive innovation in beer.
Heineken
With over 2,000 passionate people, some of the nation’s most loved beers and ciders, nearly 3,000 pubs, thousands of acres of orchards and three UK breweries, there’s more to HEINEKEN than the name above the door. Our portfolio of brands includes Foster’s, Heineken®, Strongbow, Desperados, Kronenbourg1664, John Smith’s, Bulmers, Amstel, Birra Moretti and Old Mout backed by a full range of niche and speciality brands.
As long term supporters of the British Guild of Beer Writers, we truly believe in the power of storytelling – whether that be through the written word, a podcast, or a photograph. And we are proud to be sponsoring once again.
St Austell Brewery
Founded in 1851 by Cornishman Walter Hicks, St Austell Brewery is an 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 the south west, across the UK and overseas. Led with brands including Tribute and Proper Job IPA, St Austell brews beer with individuality, character and spirit which is true to its vision of what good beer ought to be. Fellow west country brewer and pub company, Bath Ales, joined the St Austell Brewery family in summer 2016.