British Guild of Beer Writers Announces Shortlist for Annual Awards 2018

The British Guild of Beer Writers has announced its shortlist for annual awards in 2018.

Categories range from Best Beer and Travel Writer to Best Beer Communicator and Best Writer About Pubs and many more.

The full release from the Guild is below.

The British Guild of Beer Writers has shortlisted 35 writers, journalists and bloggers in its Annual Awards. The winners and runners up in nine categories as well as the overall Beer Writer of the Year and Brewer of the Year will be unveiled at the Guild’s Annual Awards presentation and dinner on 22 November.

The finalists were selected by judges Amy Bryant, food editor at The Telegraph; James Cuthbertson, MD of Dark Star Brewery and founder of the Beer & Cider Marketing Awards; Stu McKinlay, co-founder of Yeastie Boys; Jenn Merrick, founder of Earth Station Brewery; Mark Taylor, Bristol-based food and drink writer, and Zoe Wood, retail correspondent at The Guardian.  The current Beer Writer of the Year, Adrian Tierney-Jones, chaired the panel. 

Judges read, viewed and listened to some 140 entries which included books, newspaper and magazine articles, both printed and online, as well as blogs, radio broadcasts and podcasts.

Tierney-Jones said: “Whittling the large field of high quality entries down to a shortlist was a challenge and everyone on it should be proud of having reached this stage.

 “We were especially pleased to see a good number of entries to the Best Writer about Pubs, a new category for this year.  The best entrants in all categories demonstrated a sure grasp of their subject, coupled with a talent for storytelling, whether they did this through books, press articles, blog posts or videos.

“The quality, breadth of topics covered and diversity of media used by our finalists shows that writing about beer and pubs is indeed in good health.  We look forward to toasting all our shortlisted writers, and announcing the winners, at our awards dinner.”                                                 

The dinner will be held at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel on 22 November. Guests enjoy a four-course dinner with beers matched to each course, beers before and after the meal. Guild members, both individual and corporate, and non-Guild members, are welcome to attend, more detail can be found here: Annual Awards Dinner

GUILD OF BEER WRITERS AWARDS 2018: THE SHORTLIST

Long Live the Local Award for Best Writer about Pubs (new award)

• Boak & Bailey
• Jeff Evans
• Nigel Huddleston
• Emma Inch
• Bob Jeffrey

Guild Award for Best Citizen Beer Communicator

• Oli Carter-Esdale
• Oli Haydon
• Brian Jacobs
• Martin Oates
• David Pickersgill

St Austell Brewery Award for Best Young Beer Writer

• James Beeson
• Joseph Dick
• Rebecca Pate
• Katie Taylor
• Eoghan Walsh

Guild Award for Best Beer and Travel Writer

• Claire Bullen
• Richard Croasdale
• Mark Dredge
• Jonny Garrett
• Will Hawkes
• Joe Stange & Tim Webb

Guild Award for Best Beer Writer – Corporate Communications

• B52
• Old Sawley Brewing Co
• Roosters Brewery

Heineken Award for Best Beer Communicator - Online

• Boak & Bailey
• Melissa Cole
• Matt Curtis
• Oli Haydon
• Emma Inch
• Ben Richards

Fuller’s London Pride Award for Best Beer Writer -  Trade Media

• Sophie Atherton
• James Beeson
• Matt Curtis
• Susanna Forbes
• Will Hawkes
• Daniel Woolfson

Adnams Award for Best Beer Writer -  Regional Media

• Susan & Judith Boyle
• Tomm Carroll
• Alastair Gilmour

Greene King Award for Best Beer Writer - National Media

• Boak & Bailey
• Christopher Barnes
• Claire Bullen
• Melissa Cole
• Mark Dredge
• Nada Farhoud
• Emma Inch

Brewer of the Year

For this Award, Guild members nominated brewers and then voted for the winner.

• Sophie de Ronde, Burnt Mill Brewing
• Fergus Fitzgerald, Adnams
• John Keeling, recently retired from Fuller Smith & Turner
• Ross O’Hara, Greene King
• Jaega Wise, Wild Card Brewery

Caption to attached image: winners of the Guild of Beer Writers Awards 2017

The Guild is grateful to the following sponsors, whose support makes possible our annual awards and dinner:

Adnams

Established in 1872, Adnams combines innovation with tradition. Behind the walls of its Victorian-looking building, it has some of the most advanced and energy-efficient brewing equipment in Europe and constantly experiments with new, innovative techniques.  Adnams brews a range of beers which reflect its heritage but also challenge conventions. They use locally-grown East Anglian grains of malted barley, rye, wheat and oats wherever possible and deploy a number of different hop varieties from Britain as well as across the world – all of which contribute to their beers’ individual characters.

Fuller’s London Pride

For Fuller’s, brewing beer is not just our business – it’s our passion. We bring everything to it, committing all our energy and creativity to make Fuller’s beers more special than the rest. It’s that dedication that keeps London Pride as fresh and popular as ever – exhibiting the characteristic longevity of the flower it is named after.

Greene King

Brewing in Bury St Edmunds, the home of Greene King, dates back 1000 years to day of the Doomsday book and in 2019 our two historic breweries, Westgate in Bury St Edmunds and Belhaven in Dunbar will be celebrating a combined brewing heritage of 520 years. With a diverse range in our beer portfolio, from pale ales to craft beers and from bitters to stout one thing is for sure, our passion for brewing top quality, delicious beer is as strong today as all those years ago.

We are proud to sponsor the Guild of Beer Writers Awards, a wonderful celebration of our national passion for great quality British beer, the writers who challenge the brewers and the brewing industry who continue to drive innovation in beer.

Heineken

With over 2,000 passionate people, some of the nation's most loved beers and ciders, nearly 3,000 pubs, thousands of acres of orchards and three UK breweries, there's more to HEINEKEN than the name above the door. Our portfolio of brands includes Foster's, Heineken®, Strongbow, Desperados, Kronenbourg1664, John Smith's, Bulmers, Amstel, Birra Moretti and Old Mout backed by a full range of niche and speciality brands.

As long term supporters of the British Guild of Beer Writers, we truly believe in the power of storytelling - whether that be through the written word, a podcast, or a photograph.  And we are proud to be sponsoring once again.

Long Live The Local

This campaign, backed by Britain’s Beer Alliance. was launched in July 2018 to celebrate the positive role that pubs play in our lives and communities and to highlight the jeopardy they face from a range of tax pressures (VAT, Business Rates & Beer Duty).

More than 116,000 people signed the Long Live the Local petition and the Chancellor listened by freezing beer duty in the October Budget, saving over 3,000 jobs. However, with a rise planned in 2019, the Government has merely postponed the damaging tax hike. To sign the new petition or write to your MP, visit www.longlivethelocal.pub

St Austell Brewery

Founded in 1851 by Cornishman Walter Hicks, St Austell Brewery is an independent and family-owned brewer and pub operator. Its brewery in St Austell produces many of the region’s most popular beers for sale in pubs, bars and supermarkets in the south west, across the UK and overseas. Led with brands including Tribute and Proper Job IPA, St Austell brews beer with individuality, character and spirit which is true to its vision of what good beer ought to be. Fellow west country brewer and pub company, Bath Ales, joined the St Austell Brewery family in summer 2016.

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Notes to editors:

The British Guild of Beer Writers was formed in 1988 to help spread the word about beers, brewing and pubs. With more than 350 members, its mission is “to improve the standards of beer writing and improve the public knowledge of beer and pubs.”  Its members include the cream of the country’s beer communicators – be they journalists, authors, producers, photographers or PR consultants. Supporters of the Guild include: brewers, pub companies, and many suppliers associated with the brewing and pubs industry. http://beerguild.co.uk/

Issued on behalf of:    British Guild of Beer Writers

By:                               Ros Shiel

Contact:                      [email protected] / 07841 694137