The Champion Beer of Wales is a beer award presented annually by the Campaign for Real Ale at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival in Cardiff, Wales.
The award is selected by a multi-tier system. First, individual branches of CAMRA nominate beers that have been in regular, non-seasonal production for at least one year from Welsh breweries in a series of CAMRA-defined categories. The most commonly nominated beers in each category are then presented to tasting panels, with one panel consisting of four to six people tasting each beer in a particular style in a blind tasting. These tasting panels are selected from CAMRA members and other individuals, including members of the brewing industry (although representatives of nominated beers' breweries are excluded). The winners in each of these categories are then presented to a new panel consisting of local celebrities, politicians, and brewers, who, again blind tasting, selects an overall champion, silver medalist, and bronze medalist. Awards are given for the top beer in each category and the three overall top places.
Current & previous winners are summarized: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath | N/A | N/A |
| 1997 | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath | Bullmastiff | Tomos Watkin OSB |
| 1998 | Flannery’s Oatmeal Stout | N/A | N/A |
| 1999 | Bullmastiff Gold | Tomos Watkin Old Style Bitter | Pembroke Brewery Old Nobbie Stout |
| 2000 | Bullmastiff Gold | Warcop Pit Prop | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath |
| 2001 | Tomos Watkin Merlin's Stout | Brains Dark | Swansea Brewery Original Wood |
| 2002 | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous | Bullmastiff Gold | Brains Dark |
| 2003 | Bryncelyn Brewery Oh Boy | Tomos Watkin Merlin Stout | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2004 | Breconshire Brewery Golden Valley | Bullmastiff | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2005 | Bullmastiff | Tomos Watkin Merlin Stout | Bryncelyn Brewery Oh Boy |
| 2006 | Otley O8 | Brains Dark | Otley OG |
| 2007 | Rhymney Dark | Bryncelyn Brewery Holly Hop | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2008 | Otley O8 | Brains Gold | Brains Dark |
| 2009 | Purple Moose Snowdonia Ale | Otley OG Bitter | Otley Porter |
| 2010 | Otley, O-Garden | Bragdy'r Nant, Mwnci Nel | Rhymney, Export |
| 2011 | Rhymney Dark | Rhymney Export | Otley O8 |
| 2012 | Heart of Wales, High as a Kite | Heart of Wales, Welsh Black Stout | Rhymney, Hobby Horse |
| 2013 | Tiny Rebel, Dirty Stop Out | Tiny Rebel, Fubar | Tiny Rebel, Urban IPA |
| 2014 | Tiny Rebel, Fubar | Purple Moose, Dark Side of the Mouse | Great Orme, Welsh Black |
| 2015 | VOG Brewery, Dark Matter [6] | Tudor Brewery, Black Mountain Stout | Purple Moose, Dark Side of the Moose |
| 2016 | Tudor Brewery, Black Rock [7] [8] | Boss Brewing, Boss Black | Monty's, Old Jailhouse |
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes what they designate as "real" ale, "real" cider, "real" perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just over 160,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU).
Welsh beer is beer brewed in Wales.
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St. Peter's is an independent brewery founded in 1996 by John Murphy in former agricultural buildings adjacent to St. Peter’s Hall in St Peter, South Elmham, near Bungay in the English county of Suffolk.
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The Otley Brewing Company Limited, colloquially Otley Brewery, is a brewery located in Pontypridd, Wales. Established in 2005, it has won several awards, including the Champion Beer of Wales in 2006. The head brewer is Charlie Otley. In October 2016, the brewery was put up for sale by its owners. In February 2018 the brewery ceased trading.
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The Malt Shovel Brewery is an Australian brewery owned by Lion, which in turn is a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Kirin. It is located in Camperdown, New South Wales. Malt Shovel is best known for its James Squire range of beers. The beer is named after the convict turned Australia's first brewer James Squire, who also went on to grow Australia's first hops and is said to have created Australia's first commercial brewery.
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Blue Monkey Brewery is a 20 barrel microbrewery located on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Founded in Ilkeston in 2008, the company doubled its capacity and moved to Giltbrook in 2010. It produces award-winning beers, including Ape Ale and Guerrilla Porter. It currently has four outlets; The Organ Grinder Nottingham, The Organ Grinder Loughborough, The Organ Grinder Newark and The Coffee Grinder Arnold
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Tudor Brewery is a microbrewery in Llanhilleth, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. In 2016, the company's Black Rock Ale won the CAMRA award for Champion Beer of Wales.
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