SIBA Beer X

Killswitch 51 bags gold in speciality then bronze overall in cask, keg amber wins a silver.

 

To me Killswitch 51 will always be remembered for Newcastle beer festival's battle of the beers 2012. The all Munich malt brew hopped with Apollo and Galaxy hop varieties fell flat on it's arse as far as winning was concerned. Deemed a total failure at the time by staff. Then somehow overnight it changed, blossoming into something profoundly different from the wall of malt it was. One twitter fan deemed it as the North East's answer to Magic Rock's Rapture. Ever since Killswitch as remained a seasonal beer with a cult following that's proven it's worth winning a regional SIBA gold last year previous to its current accolade. All in all a good consolation to falling short at BOB 2012 you might think

But aside from this Mordue haven't just won a SIBA national award, the North East on a whole has punched above it's weight at Beer X. We kicked ass. Anarchy Brew Co got a gold with surely the most high octane stout of the region, Sublime Chaos. Tyne Bank got a gold for Silver Dollar IPA on keg (still not tried the keg version) then aside from this Wylam, Sonnet 43 and Allendale also bagged medals.

I love the North East's brewing scene, as a beer drinker I was practically brought up with it. Since I have joined Mordue many of the personalities and companies have changed and evolved but I still love it. But it's under-rated. You only have to look at the many nation wide beer blogger end of year 'Golden Pint' awards to see the obvious dominance of the likes of Thornbridge, Redwillow, Summer Wine, Fullers, Hardknott, Siren, Brew Dog, Beavertown an heaps more. Respect to them I say, but it's not all about what beer bloggers think. The North East has some exciting beers, some real (dare I say it) world class beers. From the well established to the new ventures we have quality and diversity. We're not just some fringe region of the UK known for it's random set of virtually unheard of micros putting out 'samey' products.

Brewers of the toon I salute you, for many of your beers were an inspiration to me through my journey of beer. Our scene has grown and thrived and long may it continue to do so.