THE BREWERS' CHOICE

The International Brewing Awards has maintained the highest standards throughout its history, encouraging innovation and diversity in beer whilst rewarding the best beers in the world.  2013 sees the inclusion of 2 cider categories to further embrace fermented drink styles.

THE INTERNATIONAL BREWING AWARDS are judged only by currently working professional brewers / cider makers who have acknowledged and current expertise in the tasting and commercial evaluation of beers and ciders.


This selection criteria for judges is a unique attribute of this competition. The judges are there to reward the quality and commercial worth of the beer.
 

Individually, the judges are likely to be Head Brewers, Master Cider Makers, Production Directors, Quality Managers or similarly experienced senior brewers/cider makers currently supplying products to the market.

Collectively, the experience of the judging panel will cover a wide range of styles from across the world. Judges affiliations are declared and samples managed to ensure annonymity and integrity are maintained throughout the judging process." .

Judging for these awards is by consensus, not by scoring and, in the judging for a Champion Beer/Cider only, by voting.

Panel members are divided into teams which change for every session of judging.   They are asked, individually, to argue the case for which beer/cider they, as a team, should put forward to the next round.   This process is very thorough and generates some lively debate. 

The consensus method used by the panels ensures that any differing individual views are explained and discussed with the entire panel.   One judge may have more experience of a particular style being judged and may lead the discussion but all panel members will use their experience and judgement to contribute to the process.

The Competition promotes the fact that every type of beer/cider in the world will find a place in one of its broad categories.   The diverse experience of the invited panel ensures that even the more unusual beers/ciders will not be beyond the knowledge and palate of some members.


No entry is lightly considered at any stage of the judging process.   Merits and demerits are carefully weighed and discussed.   The Chairman of the Judges briefs all panellists at the outset and asks them “to promote those entries on which they would be prepared to stake their future success” – the guiding principle of this unique competition.

Judges are always presented with a manageable number of beers/ciders to compare in any one session – the classes with larger entries have more teams judging them in the early rounds.

Each panel will assess and promote forward the best entries and eliminate the lesser entries, which have come through the earlier stages.

As the number of entries in contention in a class is reduced, so the size of the judging panel assessing them is increased. This culminates in the entire panel of over 30 judges selecting the Champion in each of the categories.


Another unique feature of this Competition is that the judging categories are separated into Classes defined primarily by alcoholic strength.   This encourages diversity and innovation in style.