IBD British Hop Competition 2019 – The Results!

Each year, the Institute of Brewing and Distillation (IBD) hold a competition for British Hop growers. This year, there were over 200 samples from more than 40 growers – including Stocks Farm.

The seven judges met in December at the Charles Faram showroom with the prepared samples laid out ready for judging. The main criteria they look for are:

• Trueness to variety type
• Quality and intensity of aroma
• Disease and pest free
• Presentation of sample

With a wide range of varieties, including traditional and brand new varieties to sample, there was a lot of work to be done by the judges before they were able to come up with their top three for each of the 7 categories.

We attended the ceremony on 21st February with bated breath. We knew that there were some fantastic samples from our 2019 crop but we also knew that competition was stiff! Overall we came away with THREE awards:

• 3rd Place for our Phoenix Hops in Class B, Category C: The best sample of hops, bought on the basis of their aroma character: Delicate aroma intensity.
• 2nd Place for our Endeavour Hops in Class E: The best sample of a Dwarf/Hedgerow variety
• 2nd Place for our Jester Hops in Class F: The best sample of a new English variety

We are thrilled to have placed in so many categories. The judges comments on the aromas of our Endeavour Hops: “they presented as spicy earth and pepper” and of the Jester Hops: “stone fruit, pineapple and fresh cut grass.”

You can get your hands on our award winning hops by visiting our Online Shop.