Carlsberg UK is sponsoring a new prize within the Guild of Beer Writers Annual Awards this year, with the aim of recognising the importance of writing and other communication in driving sustainability in the beer and pubs sector.

The Carlsberg UK Award for Best Writing on Sustainability in Beer and Pubs is now open for entries until the closing date of 6 September. Submissions can be press articles in trade or consumer-facing publications, blogs, radio or TV broadcasts, podcasts or any other communication that reports on sustainability.

Entries can be made online on the Guild’s website https://www.beerguild.co.uk/awards/.  All submissions will be reviewed by judges and a shortlist announced in November before the winners are announced the Guild’s Annual Awards Dinner on 3 December. The new award comes with a £1,000 prize for the winner and £500 for the runner-up, contributing to a total prize fund of £13,500 – an all-time high for the competition.

Carlsberg UK Head of Corporate Affairs, Andrew Roache, said: “To secure a sustainable future for our industry, brewers and pubs must strive to have a positive impact on people and the planet. By sharing across the industry and learning from one another, we can progress faster.

“We are delighted to sponsor this new award to honour the writers, podcasters, filmmakers, journalists, and all those documenting the pursuit of better across the industry. It recognises their important role in sharing knowledge and ideas to build a more sustainable future.”

Guild Chair Pete Brown said: “Sustainability is one of the most important topics in our industry and likely to become even more so in the years ahead. It is absolutely right that we recognise and reward those writers who are contributing to greater awareness and sharing of best practice in the field, and we’re thrilled that Carlsberg UK are making this new award possible.

“We now have nine Awards sponsors and are immensely grateful for their support.  We’re very proud of our awards scheme, which encourages entries from a wide range of communicators, is robustly judged and offers a generous prize fund. We look forward to rewarding the best beer and pubs communicators at our Awards Dinner in December.”

Award categories, criteria and downloadable entry forms can be found on the Awards page. Entries must have been published between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 to be eligible.

Judging this year’s entries are: Laurence Creamer, Social & Digital Lead on industry campaign Long Live The Local; Tim Hayward, food & drink author, restaurant reviewer and regular on Radio 4’s Kitchen Cabinet;: Charlie McVeigh, founder of Draft House; Tony Naylor, food & drink writer contributing to The Guardian and BBC Good Food; Ross O’Hara, head brewer at Greene King; Kate Oppenheim, hospitality sector journalist and communications expert,  currently publisher and editor of BII News; Tony Sophoclides, Strategic Affairs Director at UKHospitality. The current Beer Writer of the Year, writer and broadcaster Emma Inch, chairs the panel.

Caption to attached image: Goodbye plastic rings. Hello Snap Pack. By sticking cans together, the Carlsberg Snap Pack helps to halve plastic use from brewery to store. Part of the brewer’s ambitious sustainability plan, Together Towards ZERO.

The categories:

  • Greene King Award for Best Beer Writer – National Media
  • Adnams Award for Best Beer Writer – Regional Media
  • Fuller Smith & Turner Award for Best Beer Writer –  Trade Media
  • Heineken Award for Best Beer Communicator – Online
  • St Austell Family Group Award for Best Young Beer Writer
  • Asahi Award for Best Beer & Travel Writer
  • Carlsberg UK Award for Best Writing on Sustainability in Beer and Pubs
  • Long Live The Local Award for Best Writer about Pubs
  • Guild Award for Best Beer Broadcaster
  • Guild Award for Best Beer Writer – Corporate Communications
  • Guild Award for Best Beer Citizen Communicator
  • SIBA Brewer of the Year Award (by member vote)

The Guild is grateful to the following sponsors, whose support makes possible our annual awards and dinner:

Adnams

Established in 1872, Adnams combines innovation with tradition. Behind the walls of its Victorian-looking building, it has some of the most advanced and energy-efficient brewing equipment in Europe and constantly experiments with new, innovative techniques.  Adnams brews a range of quality beers which reflect its heritage but also challenge conventions. The brewer uses locally-grown East Anglian grains of malted barley, rye, wheat and oats wherever possible and deploy a number of different hop varieties from Britain as well as across the world – all of which contribute to their beers’ individual characters. Adnams retains the values of an independent, family run business with a strong commitment to and leadership in sustainable business practice.

Asahi Europe Ltd

Asahi Europe’s beer portfolio includes beers brewed in unique ways and with unique histories, from medieval Belgium and Netherlands to modern day Japan, Italy and Great Britain. Crafted from a long tradition and rich heritage, our world-class brands continuously reinvent themselves as contemporary premium beers that travel the world and please discerning consumers in nearly 80 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art breweries, quality ingredients and a culture that fosters innovation, encourages collaboration and rewards high performance, we aim to bring the best quality of beer to life. Our variety of beers delight millions of people around the world with their top quality and uncompromising integrity.

Carlsberg UK

As part of the Carlsberg Group, Carlsberg UK has long been brewing and selling some of Britain’s favourite beers. Today, they include Carlsberg Danish Pilsner, Carlsberg Export, Poretti, Grimbergen and Tuborg. We also hold the UK brand licences for San Miguel, Mahou, and the Brooklyn Brewery range, putting them at the heart of our growing premium portfolio.

Our founders were driven by an ambition to brew for a better today and tomorrow. Over 170 years later, we continue to pursue the same purpose. We want to contribute to a better society wherever our beers are brewed and sold, and that includes taking a lead on sustainability. It is central to our purpose, and we also believe it’s the right thing to do – bringing clear benefits to our business and to society as a whole.

Fuller, Smith and Turner

Fuller, Smith and Turner P.L.C. is a premium pub and hotel business with just under 200 Tenanted and just over 200 Managed Pubs and Hotels. Fuller’s focuses on providing delicious fresh, home-cooked food, outstanding cask and craft ale, great wine and exceptional service and there are 817 boutique bedrooms across the Managed estate. The Fuller’s pub estate stretches from Brighton to Birmingham and from Bristol to the Greenwich Peninsula, including 173 locations within the M25. Fuller’s also owns Bel & The Dragon, six stunning country inns across the Home Counties, and The Stable, a craft cider and gourmet pizza restaurant business, with 17 restaurants in England and Wales. In April 2019, Fuller’s sold its beer business to Asahi Europe Ltd.

Greene King

Brewing in Bury St Edmunds, the home of Greene King, dates back 1000 years to the day of the Doomsday book and in 2019 our two historic breweries, Westgate in Bury St Edmunds and Belhaven in Dunbar will be celebrating a combined brewing heritage of 520 years. With a diverse range in our beer portfolio, from pale ales to craft beers and from bitters to stout one thing is for sure, our passion for brewing top quality, delicious beer is as strong today as all those years ago.

We are proud to sponsor the Guild of Beer Writers Awards, a wonderful celebration of our national passion for great quality British beer, the writers who challenge the brewers and the brewing industry who continue to drive innovation in beer.

Heineken

With over 2,000 passionate people, some of the nation’s most loved beers and ciders, 2,700 pubs, thousands of acres of orchards and three UK breweries, there’s more to HEINEKEN than the name above the door. Our portfolio of brands includes Heineken®, Lagunitas, Birra Moretti, Maltsmiths, Kronenbourg1664, John Smith’s, Amstel and Red Stripe, backed by a full range of niche and speciality brands.  We are also proud to work in partnership with Beavertown Brewery and Brixton Brewery.

As long term supporters of the British Guild of Beer Writers, we truly believe in the power of storytelling – whether that be through the written word, a podcast, or a photograph.  And we are proud to be sponsoring once again.

Long Live The Local

This campaign, backed by Britain’s Beer Alliance, celebrates the vital role local pubs play in our community, culture and economy whilst highlighting the jeopardy they face from a range of taxes including beer duty, business rates and VAT. Last year more than 116,000 people signed the petition and almost 50,000 people wrote to their MP asking for a cut in beer duty. In addition, more than 19,000 pubs supported the campaign. The Chancellor heard the voices of pub-goers, publicans and politicians and froze beer duty protecting jobs and future investment – but there is more to do

This year there is a further beer duty rise planned in the Autumn Budget, so we are encouraging everyone to sign a petition and email their MP to ask for a cut in beer duty at www.longlivethelocal.pub.

SIBA

SIBA represent around 750 independent craft brewers across the UK and are the voice of British independent brewing. With their ‘Assured Independent British Craft Brewer’ seal, SIBA champion quality, flavoursome beers from independent craft brewers, as well as protect the businesses of thousands of breweries across the UK through Government lobbying and campaigning in Parliament.

St Austell Family Group

In 2016, St Austell Brewery joined forces with fellow West Country brewer, Bath Ales, forming the St Austell Family Group.

Independent, family-owned brewer, St Austell Brewery has been brewing beer in Cornwall since 1851. Most famous for its flagship beer, Tribute Cornish Pale Ale, St Austell Brewery’s range of award-winning beers – also including Proper Job IPA and Korev Lager – are available in pubs and supermarkets nationwide.

Bath Ales opened the doors to its new four-vessel brew house, Hare Brewery, in 2018. Fronted by flagship beer, Gem, Hare Brewery has the capacity to produce over 50,000 brewers’ barrels of beer – doubling Bath Ales’ previous brewing capacity. An exciting schedule of new beers launched alongside the brewery opening, including a West Coast IPA – Lansdown – and premium English lager, Sulis.

The St Austell Family Group employs more than 1,500 people and runs over 175 pubs, inns and hotels across the South West.