Twisted Tree Brewery, in Oxfordshire, and Gloucester Brewery have scooped the top cask and keg prizes at the Indie Beer Awards Midlands and West.
Andy Slee (left), of SIBA, presents the awards to representatives of sponsors RLBS and Rudd Macnamara on behalf of Twisted Tree and Gloucester breweries
Twisted Tree’s black IPA, The Bark Side, wowed judges in the cask competition. It was described as a beer where “rich roasted malts meet vibrant hops, delivering notes of coffee, dark chocolate, citrus, and a resinous finish”.
The champion keg beer was Gloucester Brewery’s NEIPA, a New England-style hazy IPA. The brewers say it is their most heavily hopped beer, “bursting with an incredible tropical fruit aroma and a luxuriously soft, rounded mouthfeel.”
“In what was our biggest ever Midlands and West awards — with well over 250 beers judged in cask and keg — the quality across the board was truly outstanding,” said Andy Slee, chief executive of competition organiser SIBA.
“Massive congratulations to all of today’s winners, and of course Twisted Tree and Gloucester, who were named the best of the best and take home the overall champion golds. A huge well done!”
The judging took place at the Nottingham Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival, at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. The event continues today and over the weekend. All of the award-winning beers are on sale there.
The full list of winners can be seen here.
