The Champion Beer of Wales is a beer award presented annually by the Campaign for Real Ale at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival in Cardiff, Wales.
The award is selected by a multi-tier system. First, individual branches of CAMRA nominate beers that have been in regular, non-seasonal production for at least one year from Welsh breweries in a series of CAMRA-defined categories. The most commonly nominated beers in each category are then presented to tasting panels, with one panel consisting of four to six people tasting each beer in a particular style in a blind tasting. These tasting panels are selected from CAMRA members and other individuals, including members of the brewing industry (although representatives of nominated beers' breweries are excluded). The winners in each of these categories are then presented to a new panel consisting of local celebrities, politicians, and brewers, who, again blind tasting, selects an overall champion, silver medalist, and bronze medalist. Awards are given for the top beer in each category and the three overall top places.
Current & Previous winners are summarized:
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath | ||
| 1997 | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath | Bullmastiff | Tomos Watkin OSB |
| 1998 | Flannery’s Oatmeal Stout | ||
| 1999 | Bullmastiff Gold | Tomos Watkin Old Style Bitter | Pembroke Brewery Old Nobbie Stout |
| 2000 | Bullmastiff Gold | Warcop Pit Prop | Plassey Brewery Dragon’s Breath |
| 2001 | Tomos Watkin Merlin's Stout | Brains Dark | Swansea Brewery Original Wood |
| 2002 | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous | Bullmastiff Gold | Brains Dark |
| 2003 | Bryncelyn Brewery Oh Boy | Tomos Watkin Merlin Stout | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2004 | Breconshire Brewery Golden Valley | Bullmastiff | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2005 | Bullmastiff | Tomos Watkin Merlin Stout | Bryncelyn Brewery Oh Boy |
| 2006 | Otley O8 | Brains Dark | Otley OG |
| 2007 | Rhymney Dark | Bryncelyn Brewery Holly Hop | Bryncelyn Brewery Buddy Marvelous |
| 2008 | Otley O8 | Brains Gold | Brains Dark |
Famous quotes containing the words champion, beer and/or wales:
“Let’s not quibble! I’m the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, “I’d rather be strongly wrong than weakly right.””
—Tallulah Bankhead (1903–1968)
“Now your beer belly hangs outlike Fatso.
You are popping your buttons and expelling gas.
How can I lie down with you, my comical beau
when you are so middle-aged and lower-class.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I just come and talk to the plants, really—very important to talk to them, they respond I find.”
—Charles, Prince Of Wales (b. 1948)