Hefeweissbier wins International Beer Challenge

November 13, 2009: This year's International Beer Challenge winner for packaged beers is Weihenstephan's Hefeweissbier, entered by Branded Drinks, which took home the coveted International Beer Challenge 2009 supreme champion honour.

Harviestoun's Ola Dubh 40 won top prize for best design and packaging.

The full list of gold, silver, bronze and commended winners was published on Beer Today on September 24 — see the list here.

Chairman of the IBC judges was award-winning beer writer Jeff Evans, who said: “The IBC is the premier competition for bottled and packaged beer in the world. This year, there were entries from more than 20 countries including India, New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria, USA, Japan and Namibia.

“Our judges are similarly international, and each recognised as an expert in their own right as a brewer, taster, retailer or writer. These experts come not just from the United Kingdom, but also Belgium, Czech Republic, USA, Belgium, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

“The threshold for winning gold is set very high — only 30 odd gold medals were awarded out of the hundreds of entries and six different classes of styles of beer — ales, stouts & porters, lagers, wheat beers, fruit beers and speciality. We do not hand out medals, particularly gold, willy-nilly.”

l Cheddar Ales, a microbrewery based on the edge of Cheddar village, Somerset, won a gold medal for its Totty Pot brew.

"We were surprised when it won best bottled beer in the South West last year, but since then it has just kept on winning," said head brewer Jem Ham.

Totty Pot is dark and warming, with hints of roasted coffee and creamy malt flavours. The brewery will also be releasing a Christmas version of the beer, Festive Totty, which has been enriched with ruby port to give a slightly sweeter taste with hints of fruit and dark chocolate.

John Magill, the other half of Cheddar Ales, said: "Both versions of the beer are great for supping by the fireside, but they are more versatile than that — you can also cook with them in all sorts of dishes. For example, now is the right time to be making your Christmas pudding and a splash of Totty Pot in your pudding mixture will make for a very merry Christmas indeed. There's a recipe on our website if you need one."

l Four Hook Norton beers achieved accolades in the challenger. There were gold medals for Double Stout, Twelve Days, Haymaker and Old Hooky — more than any other brewer in the world. Two more Hook Norton beers picked up bronze awards — Hooky Bitter and Hooky Gold — and all six beers won medals for the quality of their bottle design and labelling.

Hook Norton managing director, James Clarke, said: “I am delighted that our bottled beers have been honoured by this prestigious competition. The IBC is the largest and most important competition for packaged beers in the world, and for Hook Norton to win more golds and more medals than any UK brewer, is a fantastic achievement."

l Fullers was awarded a record eight medals at this year’s International Beer Challenge, more than any other UK brewer. The haul includes a gold medal for Golden Pride, and medals for Discovery, ESB, London Porter, Gales HSB, London Pride, 1845 and Organic Honey Dew.

John Roberts, managing director of The Fuller’s Beer Company, said: “2009 has been a great year so far for us, and we are extremely proud to have such a fine range of award winning brands — and for eight of them to win an award in this important competition is proof as to how good our range really is. This is an outstanding achievement that no other brewer comes close to.

"Not only that, but the brands are performing very well in the market place, particularly London Pride, while Organic Honey Dew has grown dramatically and is not only the UK’s best selling organic beer, but also joins London Pride as one of the top 20 premium bottled ales in the UK.

“In addition, ESB, Discovery, Gales HSB and London Porter are all performing well, and our latest release, Seafarers Ale, is selling exceptionally well following its introduction recently."

l St Austell Brewery is celebrating after three of its bottled ales took honours in the International Beer Challenge. Last year Admirals Ale was voted the best bottled beer in the world. This time St Austell Brewery has been recognised for both the quality and the branding of its ales.

Clouded Yellow scooped a gold award in the repackaged ales category for the innovative design and marketing of its bottle and label. Proper Job IPA was awarded silver in the same category and also received a commended in the ales category. And St Austell’s latest ale, Smugglers, was commended in the strong beer group.

Jeremy Mitchell, head of marketing at St Austell Brewery, said: “We’re delighted with these award wins. As well as being recognised for the quality of our ales it’s also very gratifying to be rewarded for the way in which we package our ales for customers.

“Following the installation of a new £750,000 bottling line at the brewery this year we have invested in redesigning all out bottle labels, so it’s wonderful to see the results have gone down well. We’re also using new lighter weight bottles which take less energy to make so there are benefits for the environment too.”