SIBA craft beer finals fast approaching

A five-day celebration of the UK's craft brewing industry will be held by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) in Nottingham next month.

A Craft Beer in Keg competition will take place for the first time this year, alongside the annual national finals for cask and bottled beers and the SIBA Champions Beer Festival, which is open to the public.

SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock said: "Our National Beer Competition has become a 'must attend' event. This year, we are making it an even bigger occasion by adding a keg category in recognition of the growing number of SIBA members now brewing and supplying quality ales, stouts and lagers in keg."

SIBA is investing over £15,000 in staging the competitions at the Canalhouse, a Castle Rock pub which has hosted the event since 2009.

A specially-constructed bar will hold first 50 keg fonts, and then 56 handpulls for the national finals, making it the longest temporary bar in the country.

The keg competition takes place on February 8 with the 50 beers competing in eight classes. The winner will go through to the National Beer Competition where the Champion Keg Beer will be named.

The cask regional finalists going head to head on February 10 to compete for eight national titles. An overall winner will be named Supreme Champion Beer. Top bottled beers from each of the seven SIBA regions will also compete for their own national title.

All champion beers will be announced at SIBA's National Conference, held in Stratford-on-Avon in March.

Winners are guaranteed a place on the SIBA Champions Bar at the Great British Beer Festival in August.