Posted: 9th December 2015
Best of Beer Writing Honoured in Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Beer writer, blogger and photographer Breandán Kearney was named Beer Writer of the Year 2015 at the British Guild of Beer Writers’ annual awards ceremony, staged last week (3rd December) in London.
Kearney, who hails from Ireland but lives in Belgium, also lifted two category titles on his way to the overall prize – Best Young Beer Writer, and our own Shepherd Neame Classic Collection Award for Best Beer & Food Writer, which was presented by Head Brewer, Richard Frost. Beer Writer Melissa Cole received Silver in the category.
The Beer Writer of the Year title is the top award in the Guild’s annual competition for writing about beer and pubs, which this year received close to 150 entries and nominations across nine categories.
Robert Humphreys MBE, chairman of judges for this year’s competition, said:
We were impressed by the quality and variety of this year’s entries. All the judges, including those who’ve worked around brewing and pubs for many years, were excited by what they read and also learned something new.
The best writing demonstrates passion, curiosity and originality, and there was no shortage of these qualities among the entries. We’re delighted to see beer writing in such good health and congratulate all our winners.
Sheila Dillon, presenter of BBC’s The Food Programme and one of this year’s judges, said:
Breandán’s articles were a joy to read; informative, entertaining, full of quirky facts and written in a flowing, accessible style. He also understands that it’s the people behind the beer that make for an interesting story.
Humphreys added:
We’re pleased with response to the Best Beer Broadcaster category introduced this year to reward broadcast communicators on mainstream media channels. They play a vital role in taking beer out to a wider public.
The winners and runners up in each category were announced at the Guild’s annual dinner, this year held at the Park Lane Hotel on Piccadilly. More than 200 guests enjoyed a four-course dinner prepared by the hotel’s chef Andrew Bennett, with each dish accompanied by a beer selected by a handful of the Guild’s Beer Sommeliers and other beer and food experts.
You can read more about the awards, and see a full list of winners here on the Guild's website.
The British Guild of Beer Writers was established in 1988 to help spread the word about beer and brewing and improve standards of beer writing in general. To find out more go to www.beerwriters.co.uk.
