On Friday (June 11) at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival a panel of expert judges had the difficult task of choosing the best beer in Wales and the winners, announced by Jeff Cuthbert AM (Caerphilly) went to:
Gold – Otley Brewery O-Garden
Silver – Bragdy’r Nant Mwnci Nel
Bronze – Rhymney Export
Category winners:
Mild – Bryncelyn Buddy Marvelous
Bitter – Bryncelin Holly Hop
Best Bitter – Breconshire Cribyn
Strong Bitter – Rhymney Export
Golden Ale – Great Orme Celtica
Speciality – Otley O-Garden
So congratulations to Nick, Matt, Charlie and the rest of the team at Otley Brewery for winning Champion Beer of Wales again.
This article by Arfur Daley first appeared on the Brew Wales website.
We reproduce the full text of Jeff Cuthbert’s speech below:
Thank you Ian for that introduction. Hello everyone and welcome to the annual Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival hosted for us by CAMRA. Firstly, I would like to thank CAMRA for sponsoring and putting on this event for everyone here in Wales. With the largest range of Welsh Beers and Ciders under one roof it truly is a beer or cider enthusiasts dream.
I can imagine it must have been gruelling hunting down the finest real ales all over Wales and I assume some of the research went hand-in-hand with the research for CAMRA’s recently released book ‘Real Heritage Pubs of Wales’. Sales of Cask Ales, also known as Real Ales, have finally started to grow again and the future is looking bright for them. It is fantastic to see so many of them here, the Bitters, Old Ales, Porters, Mild’s, Strong Bitters, Golden Ales, Stouts and of course we can’t forget all the specialty beers with flavours from mango to thai green curry, over 150 of them in total. So again, thank you CAMRA for all that you do.
We have been working with CAMRA since the Cross Party Group on Beer and the Pub was founded in April 2009 to provide a forum for those working in the industry in Wales from barley producers to drinkaware and everyone in-between. Often when I tell people that I am the Co-Chair of they group they chuckle, but I know that no-one here will be laughing because you all realise how important this industry as a whole and pubs are to Wales. This group aims to promote wholesomeness and enjoyment of beer in a responsible manner as well as to understand the social, cultural and historic role beer and pubs plays in our society. Beer and pubs contribute to the economy and tourism and very importantly, many people are employed in the industry and many more enjoy the products in the social pub atmosphere.
A key aim of our group is to support the Welsh brewing industry worldwide which is why the Welsh Assembly Government has allocated funding for this event through a Food Festival Grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development as well as being an official sponsor of the event. We support new brewers and producers with grants from the Welsh Assembly Government and provide them with business help and advice. For example we can provide them with funding for equipment or advise them on the branding for their beers and ciders.
Promoting a distinctly Welsh brand for our brewers and establishments is extremely important to us at the National Assembly for Wales. In the Cross Party Group we are always looking for opportunities to help brewers source their ingredients locally if possible, be they barley, water, malt or apples. Access to local produce for the producer and local products for the consumer is extremely important is we are to develop a distinctly Welsh brewing sector.
We should encourage them to distribute their products locally and also ask Welsh pubs to promote and sell Welsh beers and ciders. Only recently we wrote to all the local authorities in Wales urging them to use Welsh beverages whenever possible within their organisations. It is only right that we should take pride here in Wales of this sector, which has recently enjoyed a tremendous amount of growth mostly in beer brewing, many of those real ales, but also in the cider and wine sectors as well. I will work for and look forward, to continuing this tradition in Wales for many years to come.
So without further ado I would like to present to you the Welsh Champion Beer of the year for 2010.
Thank you all for your time and enjoy your evening here at the festival.
