Melton Mowbray SIBA Beer Festival 2004

The annual SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers Association) Midlands Beer Festival and judging 2004 took place at Melton Mowbray Cattle Market on Friday 10^th and Saturday 11^th January 2004. The event was staged at quite short notice and wasn't very well advertised. We only found out about it on the Tuesday before the event.

The event attracts SIBA members from the Midlands area which includes breweries as far away as Reading (Loddon Brewery) and Buckinghamshire ( Vale and Rebellion Breweries). The local Leicestershire Breweries represented were Belvoir of Old Dalby, Brewsters of Stathern and Grainstore of Oakham.

Judging took place on Friday afternoon prior to the festival opening at 5pm. Beer judges invited from Leicester CAMRA were Jim Reay, Keith Williams and Andy Sales. The winning brewery goes forward to the next stage, which is a National event.

Keith and Andy assisted in judging the session beers as did Jim with the strong beers. There were 60 beers entered and judging was undertaken by some of the East Midlands CAMRA branches along with industry partners.

The winners were:-

Milds                                        Highgate          Highgate Mild              3.4

Bitters                                      Castle Rock     Trammie Dodger         3.8

Premium                                  Frog Island      Natterjack                    4.8

Strong                                     Frog Island      Croak & Stagger          5.6

Porters/Stout/Old Ales              Burton Bridge  Top Dog Stout             5.0

Speciality                                 Alcazar            Maple Magic                5.5

Bottles                                     Highgate          Old Ale                        5.3

Overall Winners

Gold Award                             Castle Rock     Trammie Dodger         3.8

Silver Award                            Burton Bridge  Top Dog Stout             5.0

Bronze Award                          Highgate          Highgate Mild              3.4

Note: Castle Rock - Trammie Dodger was initially brewed as a special for the Nottingham Beer Festival in 2003 as their theme for the festival was NET (Nottingham Express Transit) their new tram system, hence “Trammie Dodger” More Trammie Dodger was brewed following it’s popularity and Castle Rock Brewery of Nottingham intend to add it to their regular beer menu, renamed Harvest Pale Ale. It should be available in most Tynemill Pubs.

Acknowledgement must go to Sara Barton of Brewsters Brewery for organising the event and at such short notice. A most enjoyable day out.

A. Sales

This page last updated: April 15, 2011

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