Castle Rock Harvest Pale crowned Champion Beer of Britain

Castle Rock Harvest Pale has been named the 2010 Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF).

The 3.8 per cent ABV blonde beer, brewed by Nottingham-based Castle Rock, was crowned the overall winner during the festival's trade session today.

Silver went to Timothy Taylor Landlord and bronze to Surrey Hills Hammer Mild.

The individual category winners were:

Mild​ - Surrey Hills Hammer Mild

Best Bitter​ - Timothy Taylor Landlord

Golden Ales​ - Castle Rock Harvest Pale

Strong Bitter​ - Thornbridge Jaipur IPA

Speciality Beer​ - Amber Chocolate Orange Stout

Bottled Real Ale ​- St Austell Admiral Ale

Chris Holmes, Castle Rock's chairman, paid tribute to the company's head brewer, Adrian Redgrove, saying the best moments have come since he started four years ago and "began producing high quality, consistent beer".

In the last 18 months Castle Rock has been brewing at capacity due to the popularity of Harvest Pale, he added, and a new brewhouse will open in two weeks time, which will treble capacity.

Judge John Porter, who sat on the Golden Ales panel said: "As soon as we tasted the Castle Rock beer, we knew that it would be a hard beer to beat. It's an astonishingly well-balanced beer, which anyone would be happy to sit outside a pub on a summer's day, and quaff."

Tory MP Nigel Evans, who also helped with the judging process, officially opened the festival. He attacked the government for its constant beer tax hikes, claiming beer was used as a "whipping boy".