So it seems you do only have to go ’round the corner’ for the some of the best beer IN THE WORLD……..
A little more than three months since the launch of its brewery taproom in the heart of Melton Mowbray, the East Midlands’ own Round Corner Brewing Ltd has walked away with a gold medal in the 2019 International Brewing Awards for its iconic Black Lager, ‘Gunmetal’ and a silver medal for its ‘Frisby Lager’. The winning entries by one of the UK’s newest and most exciting breweries were chosen by an elite international judging panel headed by Bill Taylor from a field of more than 1,000 beers from around the world in a tasting and judging session held in Burton-on-Trent from 4 – 7th of March.
Started in 1888, the awards are often dubbed the ‘the Oscars of the brewing industry’. Round Corner Brewing founders Combie Cryan and Colin Paige will be awarded the trophy by the Association of British Beer Writers in a celebratory event at London’s Guildhall along-side this year’s batch of recognised brewers. For Colin and Combie, it’s an early validation for the lifelong ambition to make great beer. Both are understandably over the moon. Combie met the news by acknowledging that given Colin’s pedigree as a brewer over the previous 2 decades, this was “not a surprise for those who know Colin. It’s emotional times for us and that’s not just the Gunmetal Black Lager speaking.”
Silver medal winner Frisby is a 4.2% ABV is bright straw-coloured lager with a dense white foam. It’s made with a blend of German and English malts for a honied sweetness with crisp biscuit notes while English Fuggles Hops are used to create a light herbal spice aroma and a soft pleasing bitterness. Nick Holden, publican at area Gastropub and inn where Round Corner Brewing beers are served on draft is already a fan: “It’s lovely when a new local product turns out to be this good.”
Gunmetal (4.8% ABV) is a Black Lager – a style more familiar to German beer lovers. Hailing from Germany’s Saxony region it is one of Colin’s favourite styles of beer to make and drink and a style he has been trying to perfect brewing for over 10 years. A long and slow ferment at 9 degrees Celsius helps produce an incredibly clean beer. Roasted malts produce a striking black lager with a deep garnet colour (unusual for a lager in the UK) and delicious earthy notes of Noble hops and a toasted malt nose that is like no other beer.
Colin sees the result as a validation of the brewery’s core principles around integrity of ingredients, patience and finesse to produce incredibly balanced beers as suitable to connoisseurship as they are to a session – with no rough edges. The brewery’s vision has always been to brew classic global beer styles and executing them perfectly.
As he says, “A brewery of our size and absolute newness needs all the validation and nurturing it can get. We’ve decided to tread our own path and not brew ‘me-too’ extreme beers where it is easy to mask flaws with over-the-top flavourings. We’ve built our core range on malt, hops, yeast and water, the way we believe beer should be. It’s tough for newbies to stand out in a crowded marketplace with bigger peers with deeper pockets to spend on research, marketing and sales. Ultimately the beer has to speak for itself. To be awarded the accolade of producing the best lager beer of its class in the world is the best validation we could receive. For now, we’ll take these wins and use them to share our message across the East Midlands and the U.K. and abroad of what truly great beer is and sticking to what we do best – brewing and serving pints in our brewery taproom and getting the word out to pubs across the East Midlands.”
It’s a wonderful turn of events just in time for St Patrick’s Day and the perfect excuse to pay a visit to the East Midland’s most exciting new brewery (or a pub that pours Round Corner), get a fresh pour, meet the team in person and support a great new business that aims to make waves in the East Midlands beer scene and beyond.
Events information and opening hours are published on their website and Facebook.
12 February 2019
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