International Brewing Awards

The world is here. There is Burton, spreading itself below me, a patient laid out upon a table, the turrets of Molson-Coors medieval in their dominance, church towers the pinprick of faith, the low mustn’t-grumble growl of traffic in the distance and the taste of beer in the wind. Brewers from all over the world sit, cloistered, content, judge and jury over a world of beers that have found themselves here in Burton, at the mercy of the International Brewing Awards. I like this event. I was here two years ago and was much impressed by the carmarderie on show between brewers, of which there are 40 of them tasting almost 800 beers and ciders. And I am here to watch and witness one of the most venerable beer contests in the world, which were first held in the Agricultural Hall in Islington in 1886 (ironically the site where Beer Exposed was on show in 2008) with only two classes of beer to be judged. The first was the best beer of any class or age with at least 15% of patent gelatinised rice malt or torrefied barley malt, while the second class offered prizes in three sections. The overall requirement was that beers be brewed with at least 10% of gelatinised rice malt and then they were split into three sections: beers with an original gravity of under 20 pounds (lbs 1055 OG), from 20-24 lbs, and 25lbs 1069 OG and upwards. Wonder if they had arguments over beer styles then… 

And one of the great advantages of being here, right now, is that you get to taste some excellent beers once the judges have come off duty. Last night Doug Odell presented Amuste, an Imperial porter made up of  20% grape must, a fabulous beer that married the sternness of porter and the love song of the wine. Then The Meddler, an old bruin ale, being at once fruity, musty, funky, sour, vinegar, sweetness and peach stone. After that Thwaites’ Ian Bearpark brought forth the twangy 13 Guns, a roustabout of a black IPA and a dark knight of a beer whose time well spent in an Islay barrel brought forth peaty, vanilla notes. 

And back at the National Brewing Centre the world of beer continues to mull and ponder on what is in the glass and late tomorrow the winners will learn what their peers thought of the beers they sent to Burton (and tomorrow just after the judges finish their work and disperse back to their own world the International Beer Festival begins, where you can taste some of the beers the judges will have made their own over these three days, why should they have all the fun?). 

Of Burton and its unions

Now here’s somewhere I’ve never been before: the Burton Unions at Marston’s, a system of fermentation that was once common throughout the brewing industry but is now all on its lonesome, here at Marston’s in dear old Burton. Here we are, at ease a massive hall, a warehouse space, walking along a gantry and down below there they are. Long stainless steel troughs filled with a landscape of creamy, rocky-headed foam. Beer drips steadily from swan neck pipes into these troughs, a steady, constant tap tap tap of beer; it drips with the same measured rhythm that I imagine blood has on its journey through the body, the action of fermentation the heart that drives the blood. Down below the troughs, in unison, grouped together, massive oak barrels from where the beer rises up, driven to despair by the act of fermentation (there are 264 of them); meanwhile fruity estery, slightly sulphury aromas hang in the air, scraps of paper twisting and turning as they rise from a bonfire. Down below I note a man, scurrying about, checking this, checking that. There’s another man on another gantry, checking, checking, checking. The sound of an air conditioner, the just about audible tap tap tap of beer, an amazing space that I’d never been to before, Burton’s last unions. A pint of Pedigree please. 

And then out into the night into another space, more convivial, human, a beer dinner with the judges of the Brewing Industry International Awards, currently on show in Burton-upon-Trent, a competition 125 years old, a competition with over 800 beers being judged by judges from across the world — and at the end of the week you get a chance to try a lot of the beers at the International Festival of Beer being held at the National Brewing Centre. To observe, to watch, to see how they judge, that’s why I’m here, but to learn as well. Look there’s John Keeling from Fuller’s, James Clarke from Hook Norton and Doug Odell from Colorado. Stefano Cossi from Thornbridge is about somewhere as is Peter Eells (Tim Taylor), Geoff Larson (Alaska) and Dimitri Staelens (Moortgat). It’s a talent of judges and today is the second day of judging. I’m just off in a minute in the company of Pete Brown to see how they get on — I’ll be in touch.