Last week we went to the 'West Regional' round of the Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt 2013 Regional Heats.
The competition (in its 3rd year) was held at the Bristol Hotel and was a unique opportunity for us to gain an insight into the way customers approached our beer. The event was judged by Sainsbury's customers, selected via the Nectar Card buying trends. 200 of Sainsbury's regular beer buying customers were invited along (with a plus one) to judge the beers and meet the brewers.
Today we can reveal that Gower Gold was selected as a finalist beer. You can expect to see it on the shelves in Sainsbury's in September.
Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt regional finalists announced
We met a load of great people, spent all day discussing our beers, and listening to feedback. It was a truly great day. 
How the Beer Hunt works
The search begins with four regional beer hunts and at each event, Sainsbury’s customers have the chance to sample all of the beers entered in their region and pick their favourites. Winning at this stage leads to an immediate regional listing or a place in the month long in-store round which is held in around 300 Sainsbury’s stores nationally in September.
The top selling three beers from each region during September are part of the grand final in London where two of those 12 finalists will be selected for a minimum six-month national listing.
Jack Rutherford, Sainsbury’s Beer Buyer, says: “At the regional beer hunt heats this year, we were really impressed with the high quality of British beer on display, which received excellent feedback from the brewers, beer experts and customers alike. The competition is a fantastic opportunity to put these beers in front of our customers and in the coming weeks we will be working with breweries to get them on shelf at the beginning of September."