The Spyke Golding Challenge Winner Announced at Hucknall Beer Festival 2026

The Spyke Golding Challenge Winner Announced at Hucknall Beer Festival 2025

The list of the brewers for the entries to the competition were confirmed as –

Voting closed on Saturday 14th early in the lunchtime session and the following was announced by Nottingham CAMRA –

“We can now announce the results of the 2026 “Spyke Golding Challenge Shield”

The winner was Magpie Brewery with “Without Prejudice”. [Beer I]
Huge congratulations to the Magpie Brewery team

The three breweries that are to be Highly Commended are:(in alphabetical order)

– Blue Monkey Brewery with “”Bebok” [Beer A]
– Lincoln Green Brewing Company with “Greenwood” [Beer B]
– The Grumpy Fish Brewing Co with “Spared No Expense” [Beer C]

A huge thank you to all those who judged and voted, and we really hoped you enjoyed taking part and to all of the brewery teams involved this year.
We look forward to seeing you all again in 2027

The annual Hucknall Beer & Cider Festival takes place between Thursday 12th and Sunday 15th February. The Festival is held at the John Godber Centre, a community venue at the heart of Hucknall, owned by The St Mary Magdalene Church and governed by the Church Council. The Hucknall Beer Festival is a charity fundraiser for the John Godber Centre which is a registered charity.

The 2026 festival hosted the Spyke Golding Challenge which involved ten Nottinghamshire breweries submitting new and original beers which would be judged by the paying public. To make it a fair and open competition, only the tasting notes for the beers were provided with the brewery and beer names being revealed on Saturday – after the judging had been completed.

Judges were asked to score out of 10 how close the beer matched the tasting notes and also a score based on: ‘Would they buy the beer in a pub?’. After extensive judging over two days the winner of the competition was:

Magpie Brewery with their entry – ‘Without Prejudice’

Imperial chocolate pastry stout, conditioned on roasted cocoa nibs. Complex grist, mashed hot and thick – comprised of chocolate, cara and dark crystal malts with a healthy dose of flaked oats for body. Deliciously chocolatey and warming.

The organisers wish to thank Beermats Brewing Co, Hollowstone Brewing Co, Lenton Lane Brewery, Castle Rock Brewery, Two Matts Brewing Co and Milestone Brewing Co for also submitting beers for the competition. All of the beers were well received.

Keep up to date with Hucknall Beer and Cider Festival news on these official links to the website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.