I have been waiting for a couple of weeks to find out who won "best of the fest", Cain's website told me today (Liverpool CAMRA's site has a 'details to come' bit on the fest page).
Not a great surprise, for various reasons - e.g. the press & PR push & the 8 or so badged handpumps serving no other beer from the first bar that you saw when you walked into the fest.
I thought it was a good beer, but best of the fest? Not even close, almost all of the other beers I tried were better; & it's not even the best of Cain's range IMO. Ho hum.
We've prev mentioned here the mildly dodgy claims surrounding the beer, I wonder of here's another one? - "It's thought to be the first ever that a lager has won a CAMRA festival best beer award" surely Schiehallion has won a Best of Fest before? cheers, MikeMcG.
from -
Liverpool brewery Cains has achieved what its owners Ajmail and Sudarghara describe as "the biggest ever win for Cains" - by scooping the coveted Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Liverpool Beer of the Festival award for its premium British lager.
It's thought to be the first ever that a lager has won a CAMRA festival best beer award - a major achievement given that the organisation is dedicated to championing real ale in the face of the growing popularity of mass produced lager.
But the Dusanj brothers have won round real ale fans by brewing a cask-conditioned lager that is packed full of flavour and has a creamy head. The cask lager has been in development for over six months. It's brewed using Maris Otter barley malt from Norfolk, widely considered by brewers to be the best quality in the world.
Cains is the first brewery to use Maris Otter in a lager. Sudarghara Dusanj said: "We've proved that lager can be taken seriously and enjoyed by real ale fans.
All the way along, from the first time we tasted the lager, we knew we were on to a winner. The feedback from beer experts has been amazing and we've even got the support of Roger Protz, Britain's top beer writer.
"It just proves that Cains is a world-class brewery with the passion, technical expertise and focus on quality to take on the big hitters in the industry. "Before we took over at the brewery, we were lager drinkers. But soon after we arrived at Cains, we began to love the taste of traditional beers.
"Then we thought that we should try to brew a lager that had the same level of flavour as real ale, rather than the thin and mass-produced gassy lagers sold under the big brands. Now we've achieved this and won the backing of CAMRA members."
Pat Williamson, chairperson for CAMRA's Liverpool branch, said: "Our Liverpool Beer Festival, in its 30th year, was extremely successful. We had over 5,000 people attending over four days.
With a choice of over 220 other real ales to choose from Cains lager got the backing of our real ale drinking supporters and was voted beer of the festival.
A very good result for Cains and we hope to see the cask lager in Cains pubs in the near future."