Finchampstead has renewed its claims to be the centre of independent craft brewing after two beers brewed in the village were revealed as champion beers.
The winning beers are brewed less than a minutes’ walk from each other on an industrial estate in Finchampstead, part of Wokingham borough.
Last week, the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) announced that Siren Craft Brew’s Broken Dream Breakfast Stout, and Elusive Brewing’s Oregon Trail West Coast IPA, were champions of their categories at the 2025 Champion Beer of Britain competition.
While missing out on the coveted ‘Champion Beer of Britain’ crown that Broken Dream won in 2018, it does mean that visitors to Siren’s Tap Yard at the Hogwood Industrial Estate are spoilt for choice when it comes to great beer. Both breweries operate taprooms on-site, meaning visitors can enjoy a short brewery crawl with a huge and ever-changing selection of beers available at both venues.
Broken Dream was awarded gold in the Specialty, Differently Flavoured category, while Oregon Trail took gold in the IPA category.
Berkshire brewing has been well represented in the competition in recent years.
Siren’s gluten-free Session Pale Lumina – which celebrated five years in July and was listed as the 8th best beer in the UK by WeAreBeer in 2025 – was a finalist in 2023 with Windsor & Eton’s Best Bitter Guardsman winning a bronze medal in 2024.
Broken Dream has had multiple category wins since 2018 and the much-missed Bingham’s Vanilla Stout – brewed a few miles away in Twyford – winning ‘Champion Beer of Britain in 2016.
