Champion Beer of Britain 2014

[Quinno]

Is Timothy Taylor Boltmakers (aka Best)

[oldboots]

and the rest of the winners are:

Overall winners-
Gold – Timothy Taylors, Boltmaker
Silver – Oakham, Citra
Bronze – Salopian, Darwin’s Origin

Mild category-
Gold – Bank Top, Dark Mild
Silver – Branscombe Vale, Mild
Bronze – Castle Rock, Black Gold

Bitters category-
Gold – Timothy Taylor, Boltmaker
Silver – Mighty Oak, Captain Bob
Joint Bronze – Flowerpots, Flowerpots Bitter & Sambrook’s Wandle Ale

Best Bitters-
Gold – Salopian, Darwin’s Origin
Silver – Red Willow, Directionless
Joint Bronze – Purity, Mad Goose & Langton, Inclined plain bitter

Golden Ales-
Gold – Oakham, Citra
Silver – Hawkshead, Cumbrian Five Hop
Bronze – Salopian, Hop Twister

Strong Bitters-
Gold – Church End, Fallen Angel
Silver – Blue Monkey, Ape Ale
Bronze –Loch Ness, HoppyNESS

Speciality Beers-
Gold – Saltaire, Triple Chocoholic
Silver – Offbeat, Way Out Wheat
Bronze – Peak Ales, Chatsworth Gold

Champion Winter Beer of Britain (from category winners announced in January 2014)-
Cairngorm, Black Gold (Stouts Category)
Dunham Massey, Dunham Porter (Porter Category)
Exe Valley, Winter Glow (Old Ales & Strong Milds)
Kinver, Over the Edge (Barley Wines & Strong Old Ales)

Champion Bottled Beer of Britain winners
(Sponsored by Beer Hawk)
Gold – Marble, Chocolate Marble
Silver – St Austell, Proper Job
Bronze – Spire, Prince Igor Imperial Russian Stout

- See more at: http://gbbf.org.uk/news/single/timothy-taylors-boltmaker-crowned-champion-beer-of-britain-at-the-great-bri#sthash.yArlPq8x.dpuf

[Aqualung]

This must be the first time in decades when I've actually tried (or even heard of) the three overall winners.

[trainman]

Wandle??? WTF? Unless it's undergone a dramatic recipe change, injecting some (any!) flavour...

[Quinno]

Pleased to see Salopian do well, their beers have been exceptionally tasty over the last couple of years.

[london calling]

Another shocking choice from the guardians of real ale. New drinkers will think if this is the best what are the others like.Self promotion fail?

[Wittenden]

and the rest of the winners are:

Overall winners-
Gold – Timothy Taylors, Boltmaker
Silver – Oakham, Citra
Bronze – Salopian, Darwin’s Origin

Mild category-
Gold – Bank Top, Dark Mild
Silver – Branscombe Vale, Mild
Bronze – Castle Rock, Black Gold

Bitters category-
Gold – Timothy Taylor, Boltmaker
Silver – Mighty Oak, Captain Bob
Joint Bronze – Flowerpots, Flowerpots Bitter & Sambrook’s Wandle Ale

Best Bitters-
Gold – Salopian, Darwin’s Origin
Silver – Red Willow, Directionless
Joint Bronze – Purity, Mad Goose & Langton, Inclined plain bitter

Golden Ales-
Gold – Oakham, Citra
Silver – Hawkshead, Cumbrian Five Hop
Bronze – Salopian, Hop Twister

Strong Bitters-
Gold – Church End, Fallen Angel
Silver – Blue Monkey, Ape Ale
Bronze –Loch Ness, HoppyNESS

Speciality Beers-
Gold – Saltaire, Triple Chocoholic
Silver – Offbeat, Way Out Wheat
Bronze – Peak Ales, Chatsworth Gold

Champion Winter Beer of Britain (from category winners announced in January 2014)-
Cairngorm, Black Gold (Stouts Category)
Dunham Massey, Dunham Porter (Porter Category)
Exe Valley, Winter Glow (Old Ales & Strong Milds)
Kinver, Over the Edge (Barley Wines & Strong Old Ales)

Champion Bottled Beer of Britain winners
(Sponsored by Beer Hawk)
Gold – Marble, Chocolate Marble
Silver – St Austell, Proper Job
Bronze – Spire, Prince Igor Imperial Russian Stout

- See more at: http://gbbf.org.uk/news/single/timothy-taylors-boltmaker-crowned-champion-beer-of-britain-at-the-great-bri#sthash.yArlPq8x.dpuf
Looks OK to me, have even drunk some of them!

[Bucking Fastard]

Pleased to see Salopian do well, their beers have been exceptionally tasty over the last couple of years.

Yes I agree,glad they are getting recognition and even more pleased to see Blue Monkey Ape Ale getting an award.:drinkup::drinkup::drinkup:

[Mobyduck]

Yes I agree,glad they are getting recognition and even more pleased to see Blue Monkey Ape Ale getting an award.:drinkup::drinkup::drinkup:
Had an Ape Ale there today and it was top notch as was the Saltaire Triple Chocoholic. :drinkup:

[aleandhearty]

Amazingly, for once, I've tried all the Gold medal winners, apart from the Strong Bitter. Still quietly stunned about Boltmaker being Champion. Citra would definitely have got the nod from me.

[Aqualung]

I was in a Taylor's pub yesterday and went through the card of Taylor's beers. Boltmaker's is a decent best bitter but not really CBOB material IMO. I don't think Landlord is as good as it used to be. It seemed rather thin to me. I enjoyed the Dark Mild as much as anything, but it was the first one of the day. The Ram Tam was much better than I remembered it.

TT seem to have a habit of getting a cask of their beer in top form for these events. I still think they are a top brewer, it's just the competition is so much stronger nowadays.
The tied house I visited gets a 10 from me.

[aleandhearty]

Boltmaker's is a decent best bitter but not really CBOB material IMO. I don't think Landlord is as good as it used to be.

Yes and yes! I keep promising myself a pilgrimage to The Boltmaker's Arms, Keighley (the de facto brewery tap), to be absolutely sure, but I suspect it will only confirm what most of us already know.

[Aqualung]

As far as Landlord goes I wonder if the answer may be dry hopping. I get the impression that this is something that brewers have stopped doing. I do know that Landlord used to be well and truly dry hopped as were Brakspear beers.

[Mobyduck]

I was in a Taylor's pub yesterday and went through the card of Taylor's beers. Boltmaker's is a decent best bitter but not really CBOB material IMO. I don't think Landlord is as good as it used to be. It seemed rather thin to me. I enjoyed the Dark Mild as much as anything, but it was the first one of the day. The Ram Tam was much better than I remembered it.

TT seem to have a habit of getting a cask of their beer in top form for these events. I still think they are a top brewer, it's just the competition is so much stronger nowadays.
The tied house I visited gets a 10 from me.
I had the best pint of landlord I've had for a good few years the week before last in of all places Salisbury! It did cost me £4.00 for the pleasure but I agree not what I remember it once was, Ram Tam has been my recent TT favourite but now no longer available in Putney as it once was cant find it down South anymore.

[Aqualung]

I had the best pint of landlord I've had for a good few years the week before last in of all places Salisbury! It did cost me £4.00 for the pleasure but I agree not what I remember it once was, Ram Tam has been my recent TT favourite but now no longer available in Putney as it once was cant find it down South anymore.

It was £3.15 high on the windswept Pennines and I thought that was a bit excessive! I couldn't believe how good the Ram Tam was as my recollection of it from many many years ago was that it was rather sweet and cloying.
I wonder if the huge growth of microbreweries has affected the likes of TT. They produce no seasonal or one-off beers, although Ram Tam was originally their winter brew. Somehow I can't see them ever doing an American Red IPA infused with rosemary.
Their tied estate is a lot smaller than in the seventies down from 28 to 18 and I'm sure I remember going round more than five of their houses in Keighley last time I was there.

[ROBCamra]

I was in a Taylor's pub yesterday and went through the card of Taylor's beers. Boltmaker's is a decent best bitter but not really CBOB material IMO. I don't think Landlord is as good as it used to be. It seemed rather thin to me. I enjoyed the Dark Mild as much as anything, but it was the first one of the day. The Ram Tam was much better than I remembered it.

TT seem to have a habit of getting a cask of their beer in top form for these events. I still think they are a top brewer, it's just the competition is so much stronger nowadays.
The tied house I visited gets a 10 from me.

TT Dark Mild is simply Golden Best with caramel added, Ram Tam is Landlord with caramel added, so they brew even fewer different recipes than you'd think.

[london calling]

TT Dark Mild is simply Golden Best with caramel added, Ram Tam is Landlord with caramel added, so they brew even fewer different recipes than you'd think.

I have heard that as well and find all the Taylors beers a bit sweet and under hopped.

[Mobyduck]

TT Dark Mild is simply Golden Best with caramel added, Ram Tam is Landlord with caramel added, so they brew even fewer different recipes than you'd think.
I wasn't aware of this but thinking about it , it makes sense, it seems a bit Micky Mouse to me.

[oldboots]

TT Dark Mild is simply Golden Best with caramel added, Ram Tam is Landlord with caramel added, so they brew even fewer different recipes than you'd think.


I wasn't aware of this but thinking about it , it makes sense, it seems a bit Micky Mouse to me.

It is a perfectly respectable brewing technique, it comes under parti-gyling. Brakspears used to add caramel to make a second beer as well and it's pretty widespread amongst the old family brewers afaik. The new boys just use a different hop and call it something different. Some just change the name and pump clip.

For Taylors a quick look at the ABV would confirm what's occuring,

Golden Best 3.5 Dark Mild 3.5
Landlord 4.3 Ramtam 4.3

of course Caramel is sugar so the ABV ought to be a touch higher in the dark beers :evilgrin:

[Aqualung]

Yes, I've heard of this happening decades ago. It would have been Brakspear's Old that was made from the Special and Marston's Merry Monk (so called) Mild was famously produced by adding Caramel to Pedigree.
When I went on a trip to Fullers brewery years ago they openly admitted that they produced one mash which got watered down in various batches and then processing further to produce Golden Pride, ESB, London Pride and Chiswick. I'm fairly sure Marston's must do the same as all their bitters have a similar taste.

Brodie's produced a one-off beer earlier in the year by mixing Shoreditch Sunshine and London Fields and called it London Sunshine. At least there was no deceit as they openly admitted what they had done and I think the clip had the word blend on it. I wondered at the time if this would have counted as a "new" beer for the tickers?

[london calling]

Yes, I've heard of this happening decades ago. It would have been Brakspear's Old that was made from the Special and Marston's Merry Monk (so called) Mild was famously produced by adding Caramel to Pedigree.
When I went on a trip to Fullers brewery years ago they openly admitted that they produced one mash which got watered down in various batches and then processing further to produce Golden Pride, ESB, London Pride and Chiswick. I'm fairly sure Marston's must do the same as all their bitters have a similar taste.

Brodie's produced a one-off beer earlier in the year by mixing Shoreditch Sunshine and London Fields and called it London Sunshine. At least there was no deceit as they openly admitted what they had done and I think the clip had the word blend on it. I wondered at the time if this would have counted as a "new" beer for the tickers?
London Sunshine would be a new beer for tickers if it comes from the brewer but not if mixed by a publican.Any beer with a change of hops,additives although caramel only really gives colour, change of strength,brewery moving to another area is another reason to class it as a new beer but you make your own rules as a ticker.