Sociable Beer Company members get a taste of things to come

Online blog Liquor Trips reported in July how members of the club had the chance to each brew a beer to put forward in to a competition hosted by the Sociable Beer Company (SBC), a brewery and taproom in Britannia Road in the city centre.

The group, who meet every third Thursday of the month at the Dragon Inn on the Tything, has since gathered at the SBC for the competition tasting which would see the winner decided.

The judges – Nick Davis from Hobsons Brewery, Ben Adams and Charlie Gorham from Charles Faram Hop Merchants, Steve Tromans, Keith Duddy and Jason Clines from SBC – tasted eight beers in total, all ranging in variety from American pale ales to Brown porters.

The judging panel contained years of experience of brewing as well as experience of judging commercial beers to SIBA (The Society of Independent Brewers) standards.

The beers were judged on appearance, aroma, flavour and saleability, with each brewer getting the chance to inform the judges around the ingredients used, the process the brewer went through and the packaging conditions.

The beers were served in the following order:

Dan Walters – Best Bitter

Martin Cullwick – London Ale

Dave Cutler – English Wheat Beer

Ben Greenaway – American Pale Ale

Ben Lester – Saison

Craig Arnold – American Rye Amber Ale

Jon Dowson – Brown Porter

Thomas Brace – Black Chocolate Rye IPA

Club members attending also tasted the beers and discussed amongst themselves the beers and what each beer offered in terms of flavours and aromas with further discussions about their processes – home brew geek levels were almost off the scale.

And so the winner was revealed – Thomas Brace will now see his Black Chocolate Rye IPA brewed at the Sociable Beer Company and sold in their taproom.

Each entrant got feedback on what worked well and what could be improved from the judges, who revealed the runner-up to be Ben Greenaway with his American Pale Ale and Ben Lester’s orange and pepper Saison in third place.

The judges praised Thomas, commenting that his was a superbly balanced beer considering the different flavours within the beer. The condition of the beer was also superb and would stand-up to any commercial beer, they said.

Ben Adams, who previously worked for Wye Valley Brewery, said he was ‘overwhelmed’ with the quality of the beers.

He said: “The passion that goes into the brewing process from all the members of the club is evident. We have all been impressed by the high standards, technical skills and creativity everyone has shown.”

The club will now be invited back to the brewery for a commercial scale brew day and then for the launch of the collaboration beer.

Thomas said: “I feel humbled my beer came first out of what was a really great selection of beers and I’m really looking forward to brewing my recipe on some bigger kit.”

The club are always welcoming new members – either go along to one of their club nights or check them out on Facebook.