Adnams Ghost Ship was awarded the title ‘best independent beer in a can’ at the Indie Beer Can Festival. Second and third place in the world first competition, sponsored by the Can Makers in partnership with the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), went to 13 Guns from Thwaites and Breakfast Stout from Arbor Ales respectively.
Adnams Ghost Ship
The winning beer is a citrusy Pale Ale brewed using Citra hops. The judging team praised its luscious notes of tropical fruit, beautifully balanced malts, and sparkling amber appearance.
Emma Hibbert, Marketing Director at Adnams, comments: “We are overjoyed to have been recognised by such a prestigious panel of judges. Ghost Ship has been a real success story for Adnams. Times are good for canned beer, with more and more premium beer brands choosing the format.”
Chiara Nesbitt, one of the five independent judges and Beer Buyer for Tesco, comments: “The competition was very tight but Adnam’s Ghost Ship clearly stood out from the others. We felt this beer had the widest appeal of the finalists and all agreed it was a joy to drink and suited the canned format perfectly. All twelve finalists are great examples of how independent beers look and taste great in cans.”
Coming in second place, 13 Guns was described by the judges as having aromas and flavours of orange and grapefruit, and a more-ish finish. Breakfast Stout, meanwhile, has highly aromatic notes of black coffee and vanilla and was called ‘a real bomb of a beer’.
Rapidly growing trend for independent beers in cans
Graham Fenton, Chairman of the Can Makers, says: “It has been a privilege to sample such a great range of beers and to select our fantastic winner. It’s also been gratifying to see how successfully Indie Beer Can Festival has tapped into the rapidly growing trend for independent beers in cans. Cans are convenient, light, quickly chilled and they look great. In America canned independent beers are the height of cool, it won’t be long before the same can be said in the UK.”
Launched in April 2014, the Indie Beer Can Festival invited independent brewers in the UK and Eire to submit their beers, regardless of original pack format, for judging in cans. From over 100 entrants 12 were chosen as finalists and those not already in can also won the opportunity to trial in can for the Festival final.
The full judging panel included industry experts Adrian Tierney-Jones and Jane Peyton; Chiara Nesbitt, Beer Buyer for Tesco; President of Cask Brewing Systems Inc, Peter Love; and Graham Fenton, Chairman of the Can Makers. The winners were announced at the Indie Beer Can Festival on September 11th.
The twelve finalists
Adnams Adnams Ghost Ship
Arbor Ales Breakfast Stout
Batemans Brewery Orange Barley
Blacks of Kinsale Kinsale Pale Ale
Butcombe Brewery Butcombe Gold
The Concrete Cow Brewery Dirty Cow
Fyne Ales Sanda Blonde
Purity Brewing Company Longhorn IPA
Springhead Brewery Roaring Meg
Thwaites 13 Guns
Wadworth & Co Beer Kitchen Orange Peel
Windsor and Eton Brewery Republika
Pictured top: Lee Williams from Thwaites, Ruth Goldsmith from Adnams and Jon Comer from Arbor Ales.
UK Can Makers
Members of The Can Makers work together specifically to promote the benefits of the drinks can and aid communications between the industry and its customers: the brewers and soft drinks manufacturers and the retailers, as well as the packaging industry, the media and consumers.
The Can Makers Information Service acts as the reference point for data and advice on the beverage can and the can manufacturing industry. Amongst its services is the issue of a regular newsletter and the publication of special reports on research activities. Consumer opinion and industry research forms an important part of the Can Makers programme.
The Can Makers was the first organisation in Europe formed to promote drinks cans. It is part of a European network set up under the auspices of Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME), which includes similar country organisations across Europe.
The Society of Independent Brewers
SIBA was formed in 1980 as the Small Independent Brewers’ Association, to represent the interests of the emerging new wave of microbrewers.
With growing credibility and campaigning success, SIBA has come to represent the broad spectrum of the independent brewing sector. Renamed in 1995, SIBA is now one of the most authoritative and respected bodies in the brewing industry.