Hucknall home brewers encouraged to enter local competition that sees winner's beer served at Nottingham Beer Festival

Amateur Hucknall brewers who want to showcase their beers have an opportunity to enter a local competition that will give the winner the chance to brew their creation on a bigger scale with the help of a Nottingham brewery.

'Hop Idol' is the brainchild of Lucy Simons, who runs The Abdication Micropub in Arnold along with her partner Matt, and is run in partnership with Craft Beer Week.

Now in its second year the competition invites amateur brewers from Nottinghamshire to enter their best Bitter, Amber ale, Porter, Stout, Fruit/Wheat Beer, IPA, Mild or Smoked Beer to be taste tested by an expert panel of judges.

The brewer with the winning entry will then get to work with The Black Iris Brewery in Basford to produce it on a bigger scale so it can be served at the 2022 Nottingham Beer and Cider Festival.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, Ms Simons said: "I've run The Abdication micropub with my partner Matt, it's coming up for eight years later this year. We do a little bit of brewing ourselves but it's for a bit of fun on the side. Because it's not really on a commercial scale, we've just got a very small kit that we use at the pub, we're kind of more aligned with the home brewing community than we are with the microbrewers and craft brewers in Nottingham.

"It was the beginning of 2020 that I had the idea for a home brew competition, so it got delayed for a little while.

"I'm more happy setting it up and enabling others to join the competition and get their name known as a good brewer.

"The point of the homebrew competition is really that the brewer who wins the competition gets to brew with an actual brewer. It's a way for them to develop their experience and do something on a commercial scale."

The deadline for submitting a paper entry to Hop Idol is Sunday 15 May. Image courtesy of The Abdication Micropub.

Last year's competition attracted 40 entrants in its opening year. The winner was Craig Sallabank, brewer of 'Sarcy Twit', a 4.9% Belgian Witbier with coriander, juniper berries and pink peppercorns.

The victory helped launch Mr Sallabank's name in brewing circles and within six months of his victory he'd been employed as a brewer by Magpie Brewery.

In order to enter the competition, each brewer must complete this form by Sunday 15 May. They will then receive an email with further instructions. The beer needs to be with The Abdication Micropub by Friday 10 June so that it can be judged the following week which is Craft Beer Week.

The Abdication is open from 4pm until 9:30pm Wednesday-Saturday and 2pm-6pm on Sundays.

For further information about The Abdication, visit their website by clicking here.