The full Bentspoke Brewing range

Bentspoke, Matso’s and Lion subsidiary Castlemaine Perkins have all picked up medals at the International Brewing & Cider Awards 2017.

Canberra’s BentSpoke Brewing won gold and silver medals respectively for its Barley Griffin Pale Ale and Crankshaft IPA cans, which were entered into different ABV brackets of the International Smallpack Ale Competition.

Matso’s won gold in the Fruit & Vegetable Beer category for its Mango Beer, as well as silver in theLager category (4.5 – 4.9 per cent ABV) for Hit The Toad Lager.

Castlemaine Perkins won Bronze in the Lager category (2.9 – 4.4 per cent ABV) for XXXX Bitter.

The 45 judges assessed more than 1,100 beers and ciders – an uplift of 15 per cent on the last competition, held in 2015.

The Awards are unique in requiring that all judges are currently working as brewers or cider makers, and winners are selected through a consensus approach.

Chair of judges Bill Taylor said, “The list of medal winners reflects both the quality and diversity of beers and ciders entered into the competition. Judges put in long hours assessing and debating the merits of the products to select the winners and the final list is an impressive showcase for the very best in brewing and cider making around the world.”

The Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners announced in Burton will collect their medals at an Awards luncheon held at London Guildhall on 26 April, when the 10 overall Championship winners – nine beers and one cider – will be unveiled.