Champion Winter Beer Of Britain
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The Champion Winter Beer Of Britain (also known as WiBOB) is an award presented by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), at their annual National Winter Ales Festival in January. The award is similar to the Champion Beer Of Britain (or CBOB) which is presented in August. Until the winter of 1996 these were presented as part of the main Champion Beer Of Britain awards, but were moved to the National Winter Ales Festival from its creation in 1997. As for CBOB, beers can qualify in three ways:
- CAMRA tasting panels judge the beers in their geographic area of the UK. The recommendations of these panels are put forward to 6 regional panels, with the winners of these qualifying for the finals in August.
- Votes from CAMRA members via a form in What's Brewing, the CAMRA newsletter.
- Winning one of the 150 Beer Of The Festival awards from CAMRA beer festivals held throughout the year
Nominated beers are then grouped into categories and go through several rounds of blind tasting at the National Winter Ales Festival. Category winners are then re-judged to determine the supreme champion - the Champion Winter Beer Of Britain.
[edit] Categories
Beers are split into categories depending on their style or strength.
- Old Ales & Strong Milds
- Barley Wines
- Porters & Stouts
[edit] Current Holders
Gold, Silver and Bronze awards for 2007 are:
- Gold: Green Jack Ripper
- Silver: Fuller's London Porter
- Bronze: Orkney Skullsplitter
[edit] Previous Holders
There were two National Winter Ales Festivals in 1997. The first one at the beginning of the year presented the 1996/7 awards and the other, at the end of the year, presented the 1997/8 awards. There was no festival in 1998, the next one being in January 1999.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996/7 | Hambleton Nightmare | Branscombe Vale Yo Ho Ho | Theakston Old Peculier |
| 1997/8 | Nethergate Old Growler | Shepherd Neame Original Porter | Daleside Monkey Wrench |
| 1999 | Dent T'Owd Top | Woodforde's Norfolk Nog | Daleside Monkey Wrench |
| 2000 | Robinson's Old Tom | Theakston Old Peculier | Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout |
| 2001 | Orkney Skullsplitter | Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild | O'Hanlon's Port Stout |
| 2002 | Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout | Bath Ales Festivity | Robinson's Old Tom |
| 2003 | Nethergate Old Growler | Gale's Festival Mild | Wentworth Oatmeal Stout |
| 2004 | Moor Old Freddy Walker | Gale's Festival Mild | Shepherd Neame Original Porter |
| 2005 | Robinson's Old Tom | Bath Ales Festivity | Woodforde's Headcracker |
| 2006 | Hogs Back A Over T | Gale's Festival Mild, | Goff's Black Knight |
| 2007 | Green Jack Ripper | Fuller's London Porter | Orkney Skullsplitter |
