You know those awards ceremonies where no one turns up to collect their prize, sending someone else in their place? Well, the second annual South African National Beer Trophy, held at Beerhouse was not one of those events. Every one of the 20 gold medal winners turned up to proudly accept their medal or trophy, with some (Zwakala, Brauhaus am Damm, Anvil) flying in from afar to pick up their prize. It was a great evening – high spirits, lots of laughs and of course nothing but the best beers to sip on.

CBC took a whopping four golds – the whole team came out to celebrate. (Image courtesy of Cape Brewing Co)

Organised by sommelier Jean-Vincent Ridon along with his son William and Beer Club’s Matthew Hurst, the BJCP-sanctioned competition has become SA’s premier beer competition and I must say, it’s damn well organised. This year 11 BJCP judges sniffed and sipped 95 beers entered into seven broad categories (light, amber, hoppy, wheat, dark, speciality, hybrid). The gold medal winners all scored more than 38 (out of 50), with special prizes kindly sponsored by the awesome folk at Den Anker and the Belgian Beer Company, Amorim Cork and HQ, for those got the highest score in their category. It was great to see some newcomers on the list  (Black Eagle, Zwakala, Franschhoek Beer Co) alongside the more established brands. And hats off to CBC who took home four golds (plus a further two for Striped Horse).

The categories still need a little work – when you have an amber-tinged beer that is also hoppy, it’s tough to know where to put it. It’s a bit like baking a chocolate fudge cake then deciding whether to categorise it as ‘brown’ or ‘sweet’… There are a few wrinkles to iron out, but the organisers have taken on board all suggestions and the competition has grown immensely since last year. Let’s hope next year we see entries from every brewery in SA. Then we’ll just need a few more people to qualify as BJCP judges…

Here are all the gold medal-winners:

Mountain Brewing Co’s Gershwin Hermanus and PG Groenewald with their two gold medals. (Image courtesy of Mountain Brewing Co)

Anvil Ale – Mjolnir IPA (Highest score for a small brewery)
Black Eagle – Moedersmelk
Boston Breweries Rock Hoppa IPA
Brauhaus Am Damm – Traditions Bock
Cape Brewing Co – Pilsner
Cape Brewing Co. – Lager
Cape Brewing Co – Amber Weiss (Highest score for a wheat beer)
Cape Brewing Co. Imperial IPA (Highest score for a hoppy beer)
Darling Brew – Long Claw Saison (Highest score for a specialitybeer)
Darling Brew – Gypsy Mask
Drifter Brewing – Scallywag IPA
Franschoek Beer Co – Stout
Mountain Brewing Co – Madala’s Gold
Mountain Brewing Co – Copper Dawn Lager (Highest score for an amber beer)
Newlands Spring – Passionate Blonde
Red Sky – Vampire Robust Porter
Riot Beer – Valve IPA
Striped Horse – Pilsner (Highest score for a light beer)
Striped Horse – Pale Ale
Zwakala – Limpopo Lager

Congrats to all the winners, well done to the organisers and big thanks to the sponsors. Oh, and thanks for my gold medal hangover…It was worth it.