A traditional mild ale with a modest strength of just 3.2% alcohol stormed to victory in the Champion Beer of Britain competition on 7 August, the opening day of the annual Great British Beer Festival at London's Earls Court.
Hobsons Mild comes from a craft brewery in Cleobury Mortimer near Kidderminster in Shropshire. Hobsons is one of Britain's longest-running craft breweries. It opened in 1993 in a former saw mill but has moved recently to new premises on farm, with room to expand. It supplies beers within a 50-mile radius of the brewery and also supplies own-label beers to the Severn Valley Railway tourist attraction.
Hobsons Mild uses Maris Otter pale malt, pale chocolate malt and crystal malt and is hopped with Fuggles and Goldings. Bitterness units are in the low 20s. Unusually, the brewing water is softened with sea salt, which Nick Davis at Hobsons says brings out the roasted character of the darker malts.
In the competition for the Champion Bottled Beer, the top awards all went to stout, with O'Hanlon's Port Stout winning gold and Titanic Stout and Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout sharing the silver.
The full list of winners in the competition organised by the Campaign for Real Ale, is:
Mild
Gold Hobsons Mild
Silver Nottingham Rock Mild
Bronze Brains Dark
Bitter
Gold Castle Rock Harvest Pale
Silver Twickenham Crane Sundancer
Bronze (joint) Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale/Fyne Piper's Gold
Best Bitter
Gold Purple Moose Glaslyn Ale
Silver George Wright Pipe Dream
Bronze (joint) Fuller's London Pride/Nethergate Suffolk County/Station House Buzzin'
Strong Bitter
Gold York Centurion's Ghost
Silver Inveralmond Lia Fail
Bronze Brains SA Gold
Speciality Beer
Gold Nethergate Umbel Magna
Silver Little Valley Hebden Wheat
Bronze St Peter's Grapefruit
Golden Ale
Gold Mighty Oak Maldon Gold
Silver Oak Leaf Hole Hearted
Bronze Otley 01
Champion Bottled Beer of Britain
Gold O'Hanlon's Port Stout
Silver (joint) Titanic Stout/Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout
Bronze Wapping Baltic Gold
