A Norfolk brewery’s smoked porter has won Silver in the Overall Champion Keg Beer of the UK awards.
Grain Brewery’s ‘Slate’ took home the award at the Society of Independent Brewers National Beer Awards at BeerX Liverpool. At the awards, finalists from all the different UK Regional Competitions in 2023 came head-to-head to compete for the national titles.
Slate, which won Overall Champion in both the SIBA cask and keg regional awards in 2023, won Gold in its keg category at the National Awards, before taking second place as the Overall Champion Keg beer of the UK.
The brewery produces its traditional dark porter from its base in Alburgh, South Norfolk and the 6% beer is brewed with Norfolk barley and oak-smoked malt from Bamberg, Germany.
Phil Halls, owner of Grain Brewery, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to take home such a large number of awards from this prestigious national event.
“I understand this year saw more entries than ever, and I sampled some fantastic beers from all over the UK whilst visiting, so I was overwhelmed when we performed so well against the best beers in the country.
“Our brewers Marc and Grahame have been working hard to make the beers the best they can be, so I am extremely pleased that their efforts are being rewarded.”
The team also came home with a silver in the cask category for Blackwood, its smooth and creamy stout and Lignum Vitae, its India pale ale, was awarded gold in its cask category.
The well-respected industry awards, run by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), are judged by beer experts in blind tastings and are seen very much as the brewers’ choice awards in the industry. The event was hosted by beer writer Pete Brown, who has recently moved to Norwich.
Other Norfolk brewers who won awards were Moongazer, Wolf and Lacons.
As dark beers continue to grow in popularity, Grain Brewery are putting their success down to Norfolk-grown barley and our region’s hard, chalky water.
With light and sandy soils, warm and dry weather and salty sea breezes, Norfolk is famed for growing some of the best malting barley in the world.
Coupled with the county’s hard water which is packed full of calcium and magnesium – perfect for darker profiles in beer – it’s no wonder Norfolk’s dark beers are scooping up awards.
Phil Halls said: “Our water in Norfolk is very hard, making it dreadful for many things. It scales up your kettle, and leaves stains on your car after you’ve washed it, but fortunately it is good for brewing dark beer.
“Norfolk’s ground is full of calcium carbonate, in other words, chalk, which is why buses mysteriously disappear into deep sink holes in the road, but the chalk provides the barley and yeast what it needs to brew good beer, and also gives the beer a full flavour on the palate.
“After all, beer is mostly water, so our water is very important.”
Grain Brewery’s taproom is open every Friday and Saturday 12noon – 7pm. To find out more about Grain Brewery and their beer visit www.grainbrewery.co.uk
