The latest Iechyd Da beer column from brewer Simon Buckley

The Carmarthen Journal 'Iechyd Da' beer column by Simon Buckley, chief executive of the Llandeilo-based Evan-Evans Brewery. 
My brewing boots are back on the rack and the beers are ready to go to the International Brewing Awards. Now the nervous wait begins . . .
For the last two weeks there have been late nights and long brewing days, preparing the beers for the competition.
Hours have been spent in the lab checking and rechecking the beers to see that they fit the specification, and then tasting them as they mature.
We have been blighted by freezing weather, which has kept the ambient temperature at freezing or marginally above, which is hopeless for maturing beer.
So ‘Space’ heaters and lots of gas supplies were needed to bring the temperature back to eight degrees. The beers seem to be maturing well.
Some of you may ask why we bother? After all, it is only a competition.
The simple fact is that the International Brewing awards are the Oscars of the brewing industry.
They are the pinnacle of brewing excellence and are important. Not because they are something to brag about if you win, but more essentially because it gets the young brewers in my team to focus on what the difference between being a small-time brewer and being at the top of your game.
It hones their brewing skills and makes them think about detail and watching the finite fermentations.
Now, our customers expect it as well.
For both James and Sajan, my brewers, this has meant visits back to the brewery at three in the morning to check fermentations and to adjust the cooling.
Many people believe that as brewers, we pile in a load of malt, find some fancy named hops and then boil them up and out pops yet another brown beer.
Well, in the crudest sense, that is what happens; but to brew excellent beers of an international standard, it takes far, far more to get it right.
Put too much roasted malt and you get a thick cloying beer. Add the wrong hops in the wrong order and you end with tart and austere bitter beers.
It takes careful planning, with careful timing of what goes into the brew when (and the timely addition of some dry hops at the end of fermentation) to create beers with depth, that have long lasting flavour.
You create classic brands – and if you win they help you achieve international recognition.
The brewing awards are not just about the technical craft of brewing. They are about brewing beers that have a commercial life afterwards - and that is what I believe we have created.
So, will we bring any medals back to Wales?
Let’s hope so, but we are now in the waiting game and the truth is the 40-odd brewers from around the world, who form the judging panel, will judge the beers professionally.
What I do know is that two young brewers and the team working with them have done the very best to fly the great Welsh brewing flag at the top of the mast.
They are sending some truly great beers to Burton with great pride, and a determination to show that Welsh beer is definitely some of the finest in the world.