Arkell’s Brewery is celebrating after swooping not 1, not 2, but 13 awards this year from four very prestigious awarding bodies. The local Swindon brewery has won awards from The International Beer Challenge, Taste of the West, The Great Taste Awards and SIBA which further celebrate the wide range of craft beers and ales available to customers today.
Alex Arkell, Head Brewer at Arkell’s Brewery said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won yet more awards this year from four very prestigious awarding bodies. We’re honoured to have so many different types of our craft beers and ales winning bronze, silver and gold awards. This shows that the brewing process that has been passed down through generations in addition to the the innovations that each family member has created are continuing to pay off. We’ll always raise a glass to that!”
The International Beer Challenge awarded Arkell’s the Taste Award for their brews, with a silver for both Moonlight and Wiltshire Gold and a bronze for Bees Organic. The award celebrates quality and excellence from beers across the globe. There are a massive 72 categories in the International Beer Challenge Awards and 31 countries in total take part in the rigorous judging process.
Detailing more on the judging process, the International Beer Challenge state: “We have some of the shrewdest beer judges in the land – retailers, importers, publicans, brewers, writers and flavour analysts. The judging process is rigorous, unrivalled and our approach is much respected among our panel of judges. It acknowledges the skill of the brewer and is an internationally recognised symbol of quality.”
The Taste of the West Awards have been celebrating South West food and drink for nearly three decades by promoting quality, integrity and provenance across sectors spanning hospitality to chocolate to beer. Arkell’s Brewery brought home a grand total of six awards; with Kingsdown Ale, Hoperation IPA and Wiltshire Gold all winning a gold award in addition to Moonlight and Bees Organic awarded silver with Sir Noel Ale receiving a Highly Commended award.
Setting out the importance of the awards to the community, The Taste of the West Awards states: “We are the largest independent regional food group in the UK and we’re here to promote and support fantastic local food and drink from this region. That’s Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Our aim is to champion food and drink producers in the West Country as well as all the places that serve and sell them, to prove that when it comes to what you eat and drink, it really is best in the South West.”
The family brewer also secured two awards from The Great Taste Awards, where they were awarded 2 Stars, Above and Beyond delicious, Outstanding Award, less than 15% of entries will achieve this. They won this for Bees Organic and Moonlight. The annual awards celebrate only the best and have been described as the ‘Oscars’ of food and drink awards.
Describing The Great Taste Awards the body said: “Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink’. Described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’, quite simply the Great Taste logo is the sign you can trust when buying food and drink in your local, quality retailer.”
The final award of the year so far is from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) which saw the 1843 Craft Lager win a gold award and Moonlight a silver. The awards are judged by brewers and industry experts and run across a huge range of beer style categories all from porter and stout to lager and pale ale.
Award body SIBA said: “The SIBA Independent Beer Awards represent the very best beer from the UK’s independent brewers and are judged by fellow brewers and industry experts making these awards the “Brewers’ Choice” awards in the UK.”
