Yorkshire’s Vocation Brewery is raising a glass to an exceptional year of recognition after securing a string of awards from various respected competitions.
The independently-owned brewery, rooted in Hebden Bridge, has seen a raft of its beers celebrated by judges from the Great Taste Awards, the World Beer Awards, the SIBA North West Independent Beer Awards and the SIBA Can and Bottle North West Region Awards.
“Our brewery’s journey started with a small team brewing in an old chicken shed, perched 1,000 feet above sea level in the hills above Hebden Bridge, so to receive this level of national recognition across several competitions is something we’re incredibly proud of,” said Gail Lumsden, chair and chief executive of Vocation Group.
“These awards are testament to the dedication and craft of our brewing team — and it’s fantastic to see Yorkshire beer celebrated both nationally and regionally.”
At the Great Taste Awards, Vocation earned five medals, including a 3-Star rating for its signature IPA, Life & Death, for the second year running — an accolade awarded to fewer than 1.9% of entries across all food and drink categories. The brewery also saw stars awarded for Crush Hour, Love & Hate, Naughty & Nice Chocolate Stout. and gluten-free offering, Heart & Soul.
The success continued in the England category at the World Beer Awards. The brewery achieved two gold and ‘country winner’ titles, for Hop, Skip & Juice and Naughty & Nice, alongside silver medals for Life & Death and Crush Hour.
Closer to home, the brewery enjoyed a strong showing at the SIBA North West Independent Beer Awards, where Crush Hour secured gold (category champion) in the keg pale ale category and later earned bronze in the overall champion of keg competition. This result sends the beer forward to the national final at BeerX 2026. Plus, Naughty & Nice White Chocolate & Raspberry achieved silver in the speciality and flavoured beer category.
Further success followed in SIBA’s Can and Bottle North West Region Awards, where Love & Hate took silver in the IPA (5.6%–7.4% ABV) category, making it a category champion and also progressing it to BeerX in March. Naughty & Nice White Chocolate & Raspberry also received recognition, with a bronze in the speciality and flavoured beer category.
Rob Beck, head brewer at Vocation Brewery, said: “As a brewing team, we obsess over getting every detail right, from hop composition and bitterness profiles, to fine tuning balance and the unique character of each style.
“To see our work recognised across such a wide range of respected competitions is incredibly special.”
