Time for some beer on Retail Insider

Seven UK brewers have earned a place in the Top 100 World’s best brewers list compiled by the well regarded RateBeer website.

Congratulations are in order to BrewDog, Buxton, Fuller’s, Magic Rock, Oakham, The Kernel and Thornbridge who have achieved the honour of being listed among some of the world’s most illustrious and cutting-edge brewers [View the full list here]

The list has a high degree of credibility as it is based on the scores from the reviews of hundreds of thousands of beer enthusiasts from over 100 countries who have consumed many beers from the 16,000 breweries listed on RateBeer.

The seven UK constituents comprise a mix of brewers from small operators like Buxton and Magic Rock along with rapidly growing players BrewDog, Oakham and Thornbridge to the outlier on the list Fuller’s.

The London-based brewer is easily the largest and by far the longest established among this coterie. It is also predominantly focused on cask ale and RateBeer does tend to appeal rather more to drinkers of what could be described as ‘craft’ ales – that are increasingly sold in keg format under carbonation.

Fuller’s inclusion is no doubt partly attributed to its commitment to creating an increasingly varied and interesting mix of beers – from trawling through its archive to resurrect old recipes through to introducing new ingredients to well known styles.

This willingness to experiment is undoubtedly what links all these seven UK brewers. Their inclusion in the list highlights how the appeal and success of brewers today is increasingly linked to them balancing a pushing-of-the-boundaries with the production of drinkable beers.

The rest of the Top 100 list comprises mainly US brewers – not surprisingly as the country has been at the forefront of the rise of craft beer and rather obviously most of the reviewers are from the US.

The only other countries on the list are Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Germany and New Zealand.