Beer52 Awards 2022

Each year, finding an awards list we can all agree on feels like an insurmountable task. Obviously, that’s partly because there are so many great beers out there, but the main problem is that getting craft beer people to agree on anything is effectively impossible. At one point during the judging process, two of my colleagues spent a good five minutes arguing about whether or not they were arguing. And, of course, the first person to say “but really, these days, what is an IPA?” had to buy the first round.

It's a fair point though, and an exercise like this always reminds us how difficult it is to categorise some of the best brewing out there, let alone attach some sort of qualitative value to it. Sure, most people are going to love getting a big, sweet NEIPA in their box, but West Coast IPAs are making a real comeback, and when you have a great example of each, from breweries at the top of their game, how useful is it to play one off against the other?

Then there was the circular ‘conversation’ around dark beers. Are we basically talking about stouts and porters here, or should we include black lagers, dunkels?... After one of the team (who shall remain nameless) said “can we at least agree that stout and porter are the same thing” we decided to narrow this category right down to avoid physical violence. I’m sure it will change again in 2023.

So, somehow we’ve ended up with a list of categories that’s broadly the same as last year, and a roster of winners that we’re all very proud of. Or at least that we’d never disagree with publicly. As well as the beers, we’re also celebrating some of our favourite corners of beer culture, with awards for books, blogs and those individuals who’ve really set out to make a difference.

The most important thing from your perspective though is that we have some brilliant and exciting brews in the box, from timeless classics to the faddiest trendbait. We’ve also had the opportunity to catch up with some of our very favourite breweries, and ask why they’ve put forward this one beer from their line-up with which to impress you.

We hope you agree with all our choices, but are also very confident you won’t. And there’s something infuriatingly wonderful about that, isn’t there?

Find out the winners of 2022

• • •  Best IPA • • • 

• • •  Best Session IPA • • • 

• • •  Best Lager • • • 

• • • Best Porter • • • 

• • • Best Artwork • • • 

• • • Member’s Choice • • • 

• • • Best Newcomer • • • 

• • • Best Taproom Event • • • 

• • • Best Collaboration Award • • • 

• • •  Sustainability Award • • • 

• • • Innovation Award • • •  

• • • Heritage Award • • • 

• • • Creative Community Award • • • 

• • • UK Champion Brewery • • • 

• • • EU Champion Brewery • • • 

• • • Best Beer Books • • • 

• • • Best Beer Blog • • • 

• • • Keep the change • • •