 |
23 July 2010
SIBA Champions Bar ‘ever-more popular’ fixture at GBBF
The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) is once again offering visitors to the Great British Beer Festival a chance to try the some of the best beers brewed by its members. Eight beers from seven brewers will be sold on the SIBA Champions Bar, creating a compelling tasting experience for beer enthusiasts.
The bar has become an ever-more popular fixture at the GBBF, as drinkers seek it out as somewhere to try a range of beers that come with a stamp of approval: each has already won its category at SIBA’s National and Regional Beer Competitions. SIBA’s chief executive Julian Grocock says, “The beers on our Champions Bar are well-named, as they have been judged the best from an initial field of around 1,400 entries. The fact that they’ve made the final line up speaks volumes for their quality and encourages drinkers to try them.” He adds, “The beers on the Champions Bar are all winners of different categories in the National Competition, so together they showcase the wonderful diversity of the beers produced by our members.”
A brewer with two fonts on the Champions Bar is Saltaire Brewery from Shipley, West Yorkshire, which won the Premium Bitters category for its Cascade Pale Ale and the Supreme Champion Beer title for its Triple Chocoholic stout – the first speciality beer to lift the top title. Founder Tony Gartland said, “Since winning the SIBA title, we’ve had a lot of interest in Triple Chocoholic; we’ve started bottling it now and it will be listed by three supermarket groups in the autumn. We’ve been to the GBBF before, but not on the SIBA Bar and we’re delighted as it has a prominent position and attracts a lot of people. This is a great opportunity to raise our visibility with trade customers and consumers and we’re confident it will lead to an increase in our levels of business.”
Across the Pennines in Bolton, Bank Top Brewery is set to take its Dark Mild to Earl’s Court. Head brewer David Sweeney said, “Dark Mild is on a winning streak at the moment: it was runner-up in the Champion Beer of Britain last year, then won the SIBA Mild category in March this year. We’ve not been on the SIBA Champions Bar before, so we’re looking forward to meeting new potential stockists and getting their feedback on our beers , which we then use to refine and improve them.” Bank Top has widened its distribution since winning the SIBA national title, through beer ‘swaps’ with other SIBA brewers in Essex, Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent. It has also bought its first pub, in Bolton.
In addition to the Champions Bar, SIBA will again be sponsoring the tutored tastings, led by experts such as Jeff Evans, Melissa Cole and Roger Protz, whose sell-out guide to the Festival’s winning beers will be dominated by SIBA members’ brews: the last 10 ‘CBOB’ winners have been SIBA-brewed. SIBA is also hosting the popular ‘Meet the Brewer’ session, where six brewers lead a tasting of one of their beers.
Caption to attached image (l-r): Tony Gartland of Saltaire Brewery, winner of SIBA’s Supreme Champion Beer, with chief executive Julian Grocock
-ends
Issued on behalf of: Society of Independent Brewers
By: Shiel Communications
For information: Ros Shiel
07841 694137 / 01403 267971
ros@shielcomms.co.uk
OR
Julian Grocock,
01949 843136
|
|
|
|
