Anarchy, Mordue and Tyne Bank strike gold at Siba awards
North East breweries have carried off an armful of national awards from the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba).
Morpeth’s Anarchy Brew Co, North Shields’ Mordue and Tyne Bank Brewery in Byker all took gold at the ceremony, held at the BeerX conference in Sheffield, last night.
“I couldn’t be happier,” said Tyne Bank‘s Julia Austin, who’s 4.9% ABV American hopped Silver Dollar took the kegged premium pales, goldens and bitters crown.
“There were over 100 kegged beers entered for the awards and after all of the hard work people have put in it’s fantastic that we’ve been one of the beers recognised – particularly with the following that Silver Dollar has developed over the past two and a half years.
“Silver Dollar was one of our launch beers, though we had to stop brewing it because we couldn’t get the hops, but since it’s been back it’s won the Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt regionals and now this.
“And the award is perfectly timed as we hear that Newcastle International Airport is going to have it on all their bars – so they’ll have an award winning beer on for their new bar, Beer House, when it opens.”
Earlier in the evening Anarchy and Mordue ensured that a quarter of Siba’s cask beer category awards were also heading back to the North East.
Anarchy took gold with its 7% breakfast stout Sublime Chaos in the Premium Strong Beer section, while Mordue’s Munich malted, six hopped Killswitch 51 – which was first brewed for Newcastle Beer Festival’s Battle of the Beers in 2012 – won the Speciality Beers category and took bronze in the overall cask champion judging.
Not a bad nights work! Well done all the other North East winners#welikeawards pic.twitter.com/YveWGvsdan
— MordueBrewery (@MORDUEBREWERY) March 13, 2014
Mordue brewer Rob Millichamp took to Twitter to share his joy at the wins, confessing he’d been “moshing to Killswitch Engage. In the kitchen. Whilst necking a pint of Killswitch 51,” when he found out the beer had won.
“Killswich 51. You done us proud today. I wont ever forget your story and how you were born (2012 Newc beer fest BOB),” tweeted Rob, who also congratulated his fellow winners, describing Anarchy’s Sublime Chaos as “a modern regional classic.”
The ceremony also saw a silver award go to Mordue for its Amber Ale on keg.
And there were bronzes for Northumberland’s Allendale Brewery, for it’s bottled Golden Plover, and Wylam brewery for its kegged Flannel Hammer stout and Jakehead IPA.