THE finalists in this year’s Scottish Beer Awards will be unveiled next week after a marathon judging session took place at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange.

After a 70 per cent increase in entry numbers, 270 beers were assessed in 12 taste ategories and 39 brewers had there business performance examined by 26 judges. The judging panel was chaired by industry expert Hilary Jones, a former technical and quality boss at Scottish & Newcastle.

The 89 entries to this year’s competition covered topics such as innovation, marketing and product development.

The winners, from 12 taste and seven business categories, will be announced at a gala beer and food matching dinner at the Corn Exchange on September.

Ms Jones said: “Judging this competition is a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

“We agreed as a panel the guiding principle of the judging is to ensure a rigorous and robust debate that reaches fair and reasonable conclusions and based on the evidence submitted. This ensures breweries of any size are judged equally.

“We have assessed a large volume of entries written in support of 39 breweries in Scotland that are working with passion, innovation and excellent technical skills to create some incredibly high quality beers.

“In the taste session, we have further strengthened our technical team to ensure entered beers are treated equally and in the proper environment.”

Organisers said the high number of entries allowed for the creation of new categories this year.

The speciality beers category was split into four sections: amplified beers, fruit forward, barrel aged and sours.