Liberation Group picks up precious medals at International Brewing Awards

Liberation Group has collected two Gold and a Silver medal at the Brewing Industry International Awards at Burton in the UK.

The Channel Islands company’s Liberation Ale and Mary Ann Best Bitter were nominated for a Gold Award, with Mary Ann Best Bitter also picking up a Silver. It’s a fantastic achievement for Liberation Brewery to collect three top awards against competition from breweries around the world.

More than 800 beers were sampled over three days of intense scrutiny. The awards will be collected at a glittering ceremony at London’s Guildhall on 12th April. The categories in which Liberation Group succeeded were:

•  International Cask Ale 3.9%-4.3% ABV – GOLD for Liberation Ale

•  International Keg Ale 2.9-3.7% ABV – SILVER for Mary Ann Best Bitter

•  International Dark Beer 2.9% - 3.7% ABV – GOLD for Mary Ann Best Bitter

Liberation Group Chief Executive Mark Crowther says: “I think it is an amazing result in the 140th anniversary year of our brewery to have Mary Ann and Liberation Ale crowned as best out of all the 800 beers sampled from around the world. We’re the biggest pub, brewing and drinks company in the Islands but we’re a small company when you look at some of the competition that took part. This is a testimony to the work and dedication of the brewery teams.”

Liberation Brewery Head Brewer Paul Hurley was at the competition as a judge, which in itself demonstrates the high regard in which the company is held. He says: “This was my fourth time as a judge at the Awards and it was by far the most exciting. I was working with some of the giants of the industry and we had three days of intense judging and debate at the end of which we had to select the best beers from around the world in nine broad categories.”

Chairman of the Judging Panel Bill Taylor said of the event: “This is often unofficially termed “the Oscars of the Brewing Industry”. Watching the judges at work it is easy to see how this is justified. They take the process very seriously, in order to reach the right result. Once an Award is made that beer and its brewing team are said to have reached “the pinnacle of brewing achievement”, because they have received the ultimate accolade of their brewing peers”.

The two Gold Medals awarded at the competition put Liberation Brewery in contention for Championship trophies in their respective categories. And there could be further honours for Liberation Group to come. A week before the Guildhall ceremony Liberation Group will find out if it has been successful in this year’s Publican Awards, the UK’s highest recognition for industry excellence. The company has been nominated in the Regional Brewer of the Year category.