Swiggin in Wiggin : September 2012 - Wigan

The Great British Beer Festival (GBBF), also known
as the ‘World’s Biggest Pub’, organised by CAMRA,
opened its doors at London’s Kensington Olympia
on Tuesday 7th August and ran until Saturday 11th
evening.
The festival returned to Olympia for the first time
since 2005 due to Earls Court being used for part
of the London 2012 Olympics. This meant that the
festival had to be scaled down to approx three
quarters of last years size. Frustratingly, another
part of Olympia was scheduled for a separate
event but that was cancelled late otherwise the
Beer Festival could have been scaled closer to that
of Earls Court. The number of CAMRA bars had to
be reduced from 13 to 10, and several trade bars
sadly could not be accommodated.
Despite the reduced size, the GBBF was a fantastic
showcase for all the best that British brewing and
cider making has to offer, plus the chance to taste
beers from the USA Cask Ale Bar, the Belgium and
Dutch Bar, the German and Czech Bar and if that
wasn’t enough, the New World Bar with a further
selection of foreign beers. In all over 800 drinks
from around the world. To accompany this heady
range, the festival offered a great choice of food
from traditional cuisine to classic pub snacks,
popular live music, and a wide variety of traditional
pub games.
Although a smaller venue, the Olympics events
taking place, no direct tube link to Kensington
Olympia and hoteliers hiking up room prices,
47,500 drinkers attended - the highest number of
visitors ever to the Olympia venue.
After a year of local tasting panels and regional
heats, Coniston Brewery’s ‘No.9 Barley Wine’ was
crowned the ‘Best Beer’ in Britain. No.9 Barley
Wine, which has an ABV of 8.5%, was described by
the judges as ‘having fantastic finesse, reminiscent
of a fine cognac.’
The Coniston-brewed real ale was judged the
Supreme Champion over a host of other finalists
in 7 different beer categories (Bitters, Best Bitters,
Strong Bitters, Golden Ales, Milds, Winter Beers,
and the Speciality class), including beers from both
small microbrewers and large regional brewers.
GBBF 2012
14
OVERALL WINNERS
Gold : Coniston, No.9 Barley Wine
Silver : Green Jack, Trawlerboys Best Bitter
Bronze : Dark Star, American Pale Ale
MILD CATEGORY
Gold : Rudgate, Ruby Mild
Silver : Hobsons, Hobsons Mild
Bronze : Son of Sid, Muckcart Mild (from Little
Gransden, Bedfordshire)
BITTER CATEGORY
Gold : Purple Moose, Snowdonia Ale
Silver : Tintagel, Castle Gold
Joint Bronze : Flowerpots, Bitter ; Fuller’s, Gale’s
Seafarers Ale ; Salopian, Shropshire Gold.
BEST BITTER CATEGORY
Gold : Green Jack, Trawlerboys Best Bitter
Silver : Salopian, Hop Twister
Joint Bronze : Oakwell, Senior Bitter ; Milton,
Pegasus
GOLDEN ALE CATEGORY
Gold : Dark Star, American Pale Ale
Silver : Cumbrian Legendary Ales, Langdale
Bronze : Hobsons, Town Crier
STRONG BITTER CATEGORY
Gold : Dark Star, Festival
Silver : O’Hanlon’s, Stormstay
Bronze : Highland, Orkney IPA
SPECIALITY BEERS
Gold : Dunham Massey, Chocolate Cherry Mild
Silver : Little Valley, Hebden’s Wheat
Bronze : Nethergate, Umbel Magna
CHAMPION BOTTLED BEERS
Gold : Stewart, Embra
Silver : Great Gable, Yewbarrow
Bronze- : Molson Coors, Worthington’s White Shield