AddThis SmartLayers

Daily Post man Mike lifts beer writing prize

Liverpool Daily Post journalist Mike Chapple has won a prestigious national award for his weekly column At the Bar.

The news feature writer received The Cains Finest Lager Award for Regional Journalism at the British Guild of Beer Writers Annual Awards.

Judges praised Mike for his down-to-earth, passionate and witty writing as he was presented with his £1,000 prize by celebrity chef Brian Turner.

He also received an engraved silver tankard and a busman’s holiday weekend for two in Liverpool.

Mike said: “Everyone laughed but I’m quite looking forward to it!”

He added: “This is a great honour not only for me but should be for all the great people and pubs of Merseyside who have been featured – we couldn’t wish to live, eat and drink in a better place.”

Chairman of the judges was Alastair Gilmour from The Journal, who last year won the Beer Writer of the Year prize.

He said: “Mike’s writing is down-to-earth, passionate and witty. I think we all went back to his entries to read them again for sheer pleasure.

“His enthusiasm makes his work seem effortless, but that’s the trick of being an acute observer and putting in genuine hard work. One judge said ‘these wonderful columns are so very readable that if I was a local, I’d buy the newspaper just to read him’.

Another judge commented: “If anyone still thinks writing about beer is a hobby or not to be taken too seriously, they should think again. The quality of this year’s winners was outstanding.

“Writers like Mike have a passion about beer and an ability to communicate this in words that can only turn the tide further away from the focus on wine.”

Yorkshire Post journalist Simon Jenkins was runner-up in the regional journalism category and received £500.

More than 170 journalists, brewers and pub operators attended the British Guild of Beer Writers Annual Awards Dinner at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in South Kensington, London.

The overall Beer Writer of the Year award went to Ben McFarland, who writes for various trade and national titles including The Guardian and Independent on Sunday.

Back to the awards index


Have you won a press award? We’d love to hear from you. E-mail [email protected]