The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) recommends 12 award-winning stouts for pubs to stock instead of Guinness this Christmas
As the clock ticks closer to the merry day and the Christmas spirit is everywhere we look, CAMRA has been reflecting upon their award-winning beers to help stout fans through the ongoing Guinness shortage.
This list showcases just some of our recent winners from a range of CAMRA awards: Champion Beer of Britain, Champion Bottled Beer of Britain, Champion Winter Beer of Britain, Champion Beer of Scotland, and Champion Beer of Wales. All of the 12 stouts of Christmas are available in cask so your local can beat the Guinness shortage, and some can even be found as bottle-conditioned beers to pair with your Christmas dinner.
Here are CAMRA’s 12 Stouts of Christmas:
Hop Back Brewery: Entire Stout (4.5%)
Champion Beer of Britain Stout Category Bronze award 2013.
Entire Stout is a smooth, rich, ruby-black stout with strong roast and malt aromas and flavours. This stout will leave a long bittersweet and malty aftertaste this Christmas.
London Brewing: 100 Oysters Stout (4.6%)
Champion Beer of Britain Stout Category Silver award 2017.
This Session Stout welcomes a dark chocolate and raisin smell and taste, with roasted notes of liquorice, dark plums and a hint of sweetness.
Loch Lomond: Silkie Stout (5.0%)
Champion Beer of Scotland award 2017.
This award-winning cask Stout is filled with chocolate and orange spicy notes; perfect flavours to mix with Christmas.
Siren Craft Brew: Broken Dream Breakfast Stout (6.5%)
Champion Beer of Britain award 2018.
This breakfast cask stout has a gentle touch of smoke, coffee and chocolate. Judges had commented that Broken Dream stood out for its superb aroma, taste and finish.
Tudor: Black Mountain Stout (4.0%)
Champion Beer of Wales Silver award 2015.
Black Mountain is a traditional stout, with malts and roasted barley brewed into the mix, along with the finest quality hops.
Fixed Wheel Brewery: Blackheath Stout (5.0%)
Champion Winter Beer of Britain award 2020.
Fixed Wheel Brewery’s full bodied fruity cask stout is dedicated to the home of their Blackheath Brewery, and is brewed with New Zealand Pacific Gem and English Bramling Cross hops to give an oaky bitterness and dark fruits finish.
Beer writer, Roger Protz, once described this cask stout as “a very fine example of a stout” and noted that judges were “very impressed by its rich malty flavour, its fruity hop aroma and the overall flavour of the beer.”
Thurstons Brewery: Milk Stout (4.5%)
Champion Beer of Britain award 2023 Silver winner for the Session Stouts and Porters category.
A chocolate and sweet malt flavoured Milk Stout, this pint is incredibly smooth and leaves a pleasant sharpness as lactose comes through leaving a slightly dry finish.
Dancing Duck: Dark Drake (4.5%)
Gold winner of the Session Stout and Porters category for Champion Beer of Britain award 2023.
This Session Stout has lovely malty caramel liquorice flavours that combine into a smooth drinking of velvety oatmeal stout, with a freshly roasted coffee and tea finish.
Cairngorm’s Brewery: Black Gold (4.4%)
Champion Beer of Scotland award 2005, 2015, 2023 and 2024. Won Gold in the Stouts category for Winter Beer of Britain award 2012.
Cairngorm’s Black Gold Session Stout is packed with a roasted malt flavour, with a slight smoky aroma leading to a liquorice and blackcurrant sweetness background taste. This stout leaves a long, dry and bitter finish.
Incredible Brewing Co: Milk Stout (4.6%)
Champion Bottled Beer of Britain Bronze award 2024.
Incredible’s Milk Stout is a bottled Session Stout with a chocolate sweetness and a slight vanilla finish. Incredible offers delivery of their cans and bottles, but cask is brewed on demand only so make sure to try a pint if you see it!
Lancaster Brewery: Lancaster Black Stout (4.5%)
Champion Beer of Britain award 2024 Gold winner of the Winter Round.
Lancaster’s Black Session Stout has hoppy roast bitterness, coffee and a hint of caramel.
Five Kingdom’s Brewery: Dark Storm Stout (6.9%)
Champion Bottled Beer of Britain award 2024 winner. Champion Beer of Scotland Silver award 2024.
Dark Storm is a smooth, rich and creamy bottled Strong Stout with a long and dry finish.
CAMRA Chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said: “Christmas is a truly wonderful time of the year to spend time with loved ones, and what better way to top it off with a well-brewed stout. Our award-winning breweries work exceptionally hard to bring a variety of beers to pubs and consumers; so please do raise a toast to them whether you are drinking a bottled or cask stout this Christmas.
“Pubs, social clubs, breweries, and taprooms have faced an array of difficulties this year and have been forced to tackle excruciating financial restraints. Popping into your local for a pint will make a huge difference for these pub businesses, who will all be working tirelessly around the festivities.
“While Christmas brings a lot of joy to many, we know that loneliness can be a significant challenge at this time of the year. Pubs bring more than beer to the table; they offer a great meeting space and provide social benefits, so make sure visiting your local is on the list to do this Christmas.”
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