Brewery which closed 8 months ago wins beer of the festival
Five Towns Brewery of Wakefield, which closed in July 2022, won the Best Beer award at this years, sell out, Bradford Beer & Cider Festival. Brewed by Malcolm Bastow (known in beer circles as The Guru) sometime before the closure of his brewery. It had been held back for a bottling run until Ricky Holden, the Beer Organiser at West Yorkshires biggest cask beer festival, asked Macolm if he was able to supply beer for this years event.
Ricky says Five Towns beers have always been very popular with festival customers and it was a privilege to get the last ever beer brewed at the now, sadly, defunct brewery. He added, we can only hope Malcolm might reconsider and once more open the Five Towns operation which was sited in the garage behind Malcolms home.
Malcolm is curently restricting his brewing genius to occasional brews in collaboration with Chin Chin Brewery in nearby South Kirkby.
All the category winners at the event were as follows:
Best Mild - Sunbeam Brewery, Bramley, Parachuting Hedgehog
Best Brown Ale - Roosters Brewery, Harrogate, Distant Sun
Best Pale Ale - Ossett Brewery Silver King Gluten Free
Best Stout - Darkland Indie Brewery, Halifax, Paradise
Best IPA Chin Chin Brewery, South Kirkby, Simpleton
Best Strong Beer - Five Towns Brewery, Wakefield, Absolute Carnage
Best Keg Beer - Turning Point, Knaresborough, Coconut Enquiry