Raise The Bar – the 2018 Winners

Introducing the 2018 Raise The Bar winners – the four very best new breweries in the country:

Boxcar;

Burnt Mill;

Unity;

and West by Three.

When we began our journey to throw the best festivals we possibly could, our mission was to support young and up and coming breweries. At that time these were breweries such as Beavertown, Kernel, and Camden.

To stay true to our roots in supporting start-ups, we started Raise The Bar – a national new brewers competition judged by industry leaders, into which any UK brewery less than two years old could enter.

We had over 40 breweries enter from all over the country. The competition was tough, but four breweries rose to the top – Boxcar, Burnt Mill, Unity and West by Three. We’re sticking our flag in the ground, and we think these are the most exciting new breweries out there:

Boxcar Brew Co, East London

With IPAs being packed with more and more flavour, balance is key, and Boxcar have certainly found that. Could they be London’s answer Verdant?

Burnt Mill Brewery, Suffolk

Their Green Path IPA and Steel Cut pale ale exude class and execution. This brewery have hit the ground running with confident, wonderfully characterful beers, and show no signs of slowing down soon.

Unity Brew Co, Southampton

Belgium is a huge source of inspiration for many breweries, and this is very much true for Unity. They consistently nail interpretation of Belgian styles, and their saison brewed with rye and juniper was potentially the beer of competition.

West by Three, Swansea

This brewery caught our eye from the off. It was so exciting to see such wildly ambitious flavour combinations from such a young brewery, and the beers were delicious, and really blew us away.

Check out all the breweries – and drink their beers – at the London, Edinburgh and Bristol Craft Beer Festivals, and find out more here. We’re so excited by this competition, and can’t wait for it to return in 2019!

Big thanks to all the breweries who entered, and to Jenn Merrick, Ben Freeman, and Jonny Garret for joining our expert panel.