23rd August 2006

Five Hooky beers in the world’s best

A panel of brewers, buyers and journalists have named five Hook Norton beers in the world’s top 50. The International Beer Challenge, which is organised by trade magazine Off Licence News has named the world’s top 50 beers following a rigorous two-day judging process.

From the hundreds of beers entered from all over the world – Hook Norton’s 303AD, Double Stout, Haymaker, Old Hooky and Twelve Days were named in the illustrious list of the world’s best beers. A spokesman for the International Beer Challenge said: ““Entries are received from all over the world. The IBC is restricted to packaged products rather than beers that are exclusively available on draught.”

A team of expert judges, including beer critics, current and former brewers, buyers and retailers are assembled for a day of judging in London. Each category is judged individually, with teams of judges awarding marks out of 30 in a blind tasting. The same team then judges the packaging from a different category, this time awarding marks out of 20. Each entrant thereby ends up with a combined mark out of 50.

“The top 70 beers will go through to the super jury stage. These will be the top scoring products from the first round, including the top two scorers from each category around the judging table. “This will decide the winners, thus creating the first list of the World's 50 Best Beers,” said a spokesman for the IBC.