The Indie Beer Can Festival - which gives brewers the chance to get their beers canned - will return next May.
The event was held for the first time last September by The Can Makers and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), and named Adnams Ghost Ship as the UK’s best independent canned beer.
Last month, London agency One Chocolate Communications won one of The Grocer’s Marketing, Advertising and PR Award for trade PR campaign Igniting a Canned Beer Trend in the UK, which promoted the festival. Next year’s event will be judged by Lidl’s head of beers, wines and spirits Ben Hulme; writer and journalist Adrian Tierney-Jones; beer sommelier Annabel Smith; and Martin Constable, chairman of The Can Makers. Entries are open from now until 11 December, after which a first round of judging will take place based on written entries.
This will be followed by a blind taste-testing semi-final in January, before 12 beers proceed to the final on 12 May. For each finalist whose chosen beer is not already available in cans, The Can Makers will arrange for 100 litres of the beer to be canned.
“Consumer demand for independent beer is increasing year on year and I’m personally excited about how this market is continuing to evolve,” said Hulme.
“For the last 12 months brewers and consumers have been dipping their toes into the canned beer market; now that market is preparing to go mainstream, I can’t wait to see where we are in a year’s time. It’s great to be involved in an event that is helping to drive this trend.”
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