Local brewery wins place in national beer finals

Wylam Brewery in Heddon on the Wall is taking its beer to Sheffield in March, to compete against brews from across the country at the BeerX National Beer Competition 2015 organised by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). The brewery’s Haxan Black Wit earned its place at the national finals by winning an award in a regional SIBA competition. It is one of just a handful of beers to represent the North East at BeerX, where it will be judged against beers of the same style from all over the country. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded in each category, as well as three Supreme Champion Awards, given to the best cask, keg and bottled beers. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 18 March. After being judged by a panel of more than 100 judges, all the beers will be sold to drinkers at the BeerX Festival of Beer. Beer enthusiasts and novices are expected to visit the festival and enjoy some of the 200+ ales, lagers, stouts, milds and other styles of beer on offer. Dave Stone says, “We are very proud of our beers and delighted to have this opportunity to compete on a national stage, against some of the finest beers from all over the UK.  Obviously, we’re hoping to come home from BeerX with a medal, but we’re happy just to be going to Sheffield and introducing our beer to hundreds of drinkers who haven’t tried it before. He added, “We’re grateful to everyone at our brewery who has helped us to brew great beer, and to the many local pubs, shops and drinkers who have supported us. “ Dave Stone described the 6.2% beer as ‘a black wheat beer with deep solid tawny tones.’ SIBA managing director Mike Benner said, “There are now more than 1,400 small brewers in the UK, producing innovative, flavourful beers that have fuelled the regeneration of the British beer market and introduced millions of consumers to our national drink. “With hundreds of beers entered into at our regional beer competitions, winning an award and progressing to the national finals is a mark of a quality beer and Wylam Brewery should be very proud of their achievement.”