New beer wins award

Hilden Brewery, where a new £400,000 bottling plant is hoped to open next year, won top prize with its beer ‘Twisted Top’ that went head to head against 130 of the best crafted beers and ales from across the globe.

‘Twisted Top’ is relatively new, an 18 month old full flavoured pale ale described as having lots of aroma, bitterness, with late Galaxy hops from Australia, balanced with plenty of Brewer’s Gold from Germany won first prize.

Another of its beers with tastes of black pepper, cardaman and coriander, ‘Barney’s Brew’ - named after Barney Hughes baker the inventor of the Belfast Bap - was regional winner at the Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt 2013 and it too received a prize, a bronze award in the weekend competition.

The International Craft Brewing and Distilling Competition came to Dublin this year for the first time, in conjunction with ‘The Gathering.’

It was hosted by AllTech at The Convention Centre Dublin. The competition presented a fantastic platform for these breweries to increase the profiles of their beers in a competitive, commercial market and to build brand recognition within the industry.

Brewery Manager Owen Scullion said, “We know that our beers are of top quality so to get that seal of approval from some of the expert judges who are experts with decades of experience. This is quite something and indeed an honour.

“They were up against some stiff competition some that had influences from the likes of north America and UK.”

Competitors showcased their beers to a panel of leading industry judges some with decades of experience.

‘Twisted Hop,’ along with 35 other beers and ciders, will be available to try at the Hilden Beer and Music Festival during the closing session of the Convention.

Hilden brewery produces 11 other draught beers, including a porter, a blonde, a premium red and two amber ales. In addition to these, the brewery also produces five bottled beers and is planning to expand to produce the full range.