The 2024 Guild Awards – a view from the chair

There’s no denying it, our industry – by which I mean our breweries, pubs, writers, broadcasters, everyone – is in crisis.

As chair I am receiving weekly messages from writers concerned about their income, about the independence of writing, about the threat of AI. I hear from brewers whose wage bills are growing, whose demand is dropping. From pubs whose margins are being squeezed, who struggle to recruit, who find not opening on Wednesdays cheaper than opening. 

The guild’s articles of association prevent it from being political. We can’t pick sides, and I think that’s right. The guild should not speak for its members, who more than ever hold different views, have had different experiences, and honed unique skills. Unfortunately, however, the opportunities for our members to have their say are dwindling. This year we saw the closure of  the world’s most prolific and high-profile beer magazine – Good Beer Hunting. Commissions from mainstream media continue to be minimal, while specialty magazines are unable to pick up the volume of great writing our membership produces.

This is a huge financial strain on our community, but it’s also bad for the industry as a whole. Without the promotion and sometimes criticism of the industry that we provide, we leave the narrative to those with vested interests; those that don’t always have the industry as a whole in mind.

It feels like a few years ago we were announcing the death of the blog, and of the amateur beer writer. This side of the pandemic, however, we’re seeing just how important those voices and opportunities are. There are still genuine chances to be seen, heard and read in the self-publishing space, and some of our writers and broadcasters are already making the most of it, as the winners from this year’s competition show below. We had a record number of entrants to the awards (over 270), and there are lots of new faces in the highly commended, silver and gold positions, showing that while the industry is in turmoil, communicators have never been better at what they do. There’s never been a better showing of mediums – this year’s shortlist included podcasts, videos, cartoons, technical papers, books, and print and digital journalism of everything from 500 to 5,000 words.

For the industry to still thrive against the myriad of issues it faces, it needs strong writers and financial support for their independent journalism. I think the awards this year prove that it would be worth the investment. 

Below are the links to all the winning works. As chair, I’d like to pass my congratulations to all those who were shortlisted as well as those who won – the work that the guild’s members have done this year is beyond anything I’ve seen before.

 

THE WINNERS & THEIR WORK

 

Best Corporate Beer Communication, sponsored by Brewhouse Brewing Co.

Gold: CAMRA Learn & Discover (Ruvani de Silva)

• Mexican Lager: A History of Colonialism, Adaption, Appropriation and Ascendence

 

Best Beer Business Communicator, sponsored by the Guild

Gold: Will Hawkes

• Highway To Helles
• How Guinness Led a Modern Nitro-Stout Takeover of Britain’s Pubs

Silver: Rob MacKay

• Do Androids Dream of Electric Pints? – On AI Art in the Beer Industry

 

Best Communication about No and Low Alcohol Beer, sponsored by Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I

Gold: Mark Dredge

• Heartbreak Hill
• Visions Of The Things To Be — How Mash Gang is Breaking the Alcohol Free Mould

Silver: Emma Inch

• Same Again? podcast – S1E5 – ‘all beers become equal’
• Same Again? podcast – S1E2 – ‘a very loud, critical, chaotic, interior monologue’

Highly Commended: David Nilsen

• Hoppy and [Alcohol] Free: Non-Alcoholic Hazy IPA Takes Flight
• Sierra Nevada Enters Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer with Trail Pass

 

Best Communication about Sustainability in Beer and Pubs, sponsored by Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company

Gold: Ruvani de Silva

• The Rest Is Noise — Arizona Wilderness’s Quiet Revolution to Drink Like You Care
• Patagonia Provisions Launches First National Regenerative Organic Certified® Kernza® Brewing Project

Silver: Mark Dredge

• Can The Beer Industry Be Net Zero?
• St Austell’s sustainable focus on cask ale Anthem

 

Best Audio or Video Beer Communication, sponsored by St Austell Brewery

Gold: Emma Inch

• Same Again? podcast – S1E1 – Beer, Pubs & Mental Health
• Same Again? podcast – S1E2 – ‘a very loud, critical, chaotic interior monologue’

Silver: Ben Gibbs

• Redefining Revelry: Crafting Inclusivity with Andy Mee’s Alcohol-Free Vision 
• Savoring Tradition and Innovation: Mark Dredge’s Beer Journey 

Highly Commended: Sam Grist

• The Food Programme: Stouts and Porters: How dark beers became cool 

 

Best Short-Form Beer Writing, sponsored by the Guild

Gold: David Bailey

• Hype is Dead, Regional Cask is Forever
• The Usual

Silver: Katie Mather

• Why don’t restaurants serve better beer?
• OP From The Wood

Highly Commended: Mark Dredge

• Delicious magazine column – beer and cheese
• What Is Beer? 

 

Best Technical Communication about Beer, sponsored by WSET

Gold: Charlotte Cook

• Adjuncts Vs Additives
• Understanding Hop Compounds

Silver: Mark Dredge

• From One to All — The Past, Present, and Future of Lager Yeast
• Can The Beer Industry Be Net Zero?

Highly Commended: Anthony Gladman

• Once more for the union

 

The Susanna Forbes Award for Best Communication about Cider, sponsored by Aspall

Gold: Adam Wells

• Perry: A Drinker’s Guide*
• An Introduction to Perry Pt.1 

Silver: Jane Peyton

• The Philosophy of Cider
• Cider Adjacent

 

Best Citizen Beer Communicator, sponsored by Harvey’s Tom Paine

Gold: Jessamy Queree

• Beer is My Dad in a Damp Wax Coat

Silver: Imran Rahman-Jones

• The Sir Walter Scott – Bombers, billionaires and birds
• The Royal Dick – A royal tragedy if this goes

 

Best Newcomer to Beer Communication, sponsored by Fuller, Smith & Turner

Gold: Anaïs Lecoq

• A Survivor Over Four Centuries — Brasserie Meteor in Hochfelden, Alsace, France
• French Women Are Paving the Way for More Inclusive Beer Festivals

Silver: Cliff Lucas

• A La Mort Subite
• La Fleur en Papier Doré

 

Best Self-Published Beer Writing, sponsored by the Guild

Gold: Pete Brown

• Let’s make craft beer great again
• My favourite beers in the world

Silver: Lloyd Lugsden

• Dead Pubs of Bedfordshire: A nostalgic look at lost pubs Vol 2

 

Best Communication about Diversity in Beer, sponsored by the Guild

Gold: Ruvani de Silva

• Apathy Has Rained On Me — On DEI Burnout in the Beer Industry
• London Is The Place For Me — Robyn Weise and Her Windrush 75 Lager

Silver: Emma Inch

• Same Again? podcast – S1E6 – ‘part of being human is about having these struggles’ 

Highly Commended: Lucy Corne

• Women-Led, Women-Brewed — Kweza Craft Brewery in Kigali, Rwanda

 

Best Communication about Beer and Travel, sponsored by VISITFLANDERS

Gold: Ruvani de Silva

• Beer City: Bangalore
• My Father, Lion Lager, & Home

Silver: Matthew Curtis

• Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars*
• Belfast’s Burgeoning Beer Scene

Highly Commended: Michael Clarke

• A Happy Valley of Beer — Investigating the Pubs and Breweries of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England
• Black Country Treasures

 

Best Communication about Pubs, sponsored by Shepherd Neame

Gold: Emma Inch

• Same Again? podcast – S1E1 – Beer, Pubs & Mental Health 
• Same Again? podcast – S1E6 – ‘part of being human is about having these struggles’

Silver: Rachel Hendry

• The Essential Guide to Beer and Crisp Pairing
• A history of beer dispense (CAMRA)

Highly Commended: Pete Brown

• The Old Stone House

 

Best Commissioned Beer Writing, sponsored by Greene King

Gold: Will Hawkes

• The Story of Dora Kulka, and How One Woman Changed British Beer Forever
• Bonedigger, Bonedigger

Silver: Pete Brown

• Real Ale Wars
• This is the End — The Sad Demise of Worthington White Shield

Highly Commended: Mark Dredge

• From One to All — The Past, Present, and Future of Lager Yeast
• Visions Of The Things To Be — How Mash Gang is Breaking the Alcohol Free Mould

 

Best Book about Beer or Pubs, sponsored by Heineken

Gold: Dr Christina Wade

• The Devil’s In The Draught Lines – 1000 Years of Women in Britain’s Beer History

Silver: Matthew Curtis

• Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars

 

The Michael Jackson Award for Beer Writer of the Year

Winner: Ruvani de Silva