A silence befalls the judging panel of qualified beer drinkers. One lifts his glass to the light to examine hue and clarity. Another examines the slippage of the head down the side of the glass. Others sniff, swill, quaff and smack their lips before cleansing their palates with water biscuits.

The ritual for choosing the Champion Beer of Britain, at the Great British Beer Festival in Earls Court, West London, is as serious as it is long-winded, but after several hours a winner emerges. A baritone cheer erupts from the crowd of barrel-chested beer enthusiasts as Rudgate Ruby Mild is named the victor. Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide, says: “I’ve just come from tasting nine beers. I’m astonished I can actually speak.”

Equally astonished are Craig Lee and Jamie Allen, in charge of the seven-man brewing operation in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, where Ruby Mild is made. They have been brewing the beer to the same recipe for 14 years — to little interest, with the exception of a silver medal in the mild category last year. Suddenly they will face a surge in demand that will stretch their capacity to the limit.

At present they produce 40 barrels a week — the equivalent of 11,520 pints — and have the capacity to produce 20 more. Previous winners such as the Coniston Brewing Company in Cumbria had to get a larger brewery to help to make their Bluebird Bitter, because demand outstripped supply.

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Mr Lee, brewer, administrator, hops masher and delivery man, said that he hoped that orders would not all come in at once. “We're only working a five-day week at the moment, so we can work a seven-day week, although I don’t know what some of the lads will say about that,” he said. “There may be an initial demand that could be difficult to keep up with. We may have to say, ‘You’ll have to wait a couple of weeks’.”

The beer, which is described in the Good Beer Guide as a “nutty, rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild”, won by the biggest margin in living memory. One judge remarked that it “stood out a mile” from its nearest competitor.

Mr Lee is bemused by his victory, given that mild beers, which were originally created to slake the thirst of miners, are unfashionable compared with golden ales. “We’ve certainly not changed our tastes. Perhaps tastes have caught up with us.”

He believes that the sweeter taste could also attract “the lady drinker” — those who, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), have recently embraced real ale. A survey suggests that 30 per cent of women drinkers have tried it, compared with 16 per cent in 2008.

The real ale enthusiasts at Earls Court, however, appeared to be mostly white, middle-aged men who would be an asset to any tug-of-war team, and occasionally their wives, who could intervene if proceedings became rowdy. Stalls selling “fresh pork scratchings” and pork pies seemed to be beating the credit crunch. The Camra shop was selling an unusually large number of XXXL T-shirts.

Kirrily Waldhorn, one of the judges, and editor of an Australian real ale magazine, observed: “Beer isn’t particularly friendly to women. You get a pint glass with beer slopping over the side. Women don’t want that.” But selling beer to women in Britain may still be an easier task than selling real ale in Australia. “When you talk about beer in Australia they think, ‘Chuck it down your throat and get drunk’. Things like milds and bitters are not really drunk. Anything served above 5C does not go down well.”

And the winners are . . .

Champion beer of Britain Rudgate Ruby

Mild bitter Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale

Best bitter Southport Golden Sands

Golden ale Dark Star American Pale Ale

Strong bitter West Berkshire Dr Hexter’s Healer

Speciality Nethergate Umbel Magna

Winter beer Oakham Attila

Thirst for knowledge

— Beer has been brewed since Neolithic times, when Man began harvesting cereals. Britain now has 660 breweries producing real ale, the highest number since the Second World War. Between them they brew approximately 2,500 different beers each year.

— Seventy breweries were founded last year alone, but harsh trading conditions mean that 57 pubs are closing every month

— 24 million pints of beer are consumed in Britain every day Four men founded Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale, in 1971.

— This week it enrolled its 100,000th member. Its Good Beer Guide was first published in 1974 and sold 30,000 copies within seven months

— Camra has 647 overseas members in countries including New Zealand, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Saudia Arabia and Taiwan. More than 1,600 of its members are doctors and at least 80 have been ordained

— Peterborough is Camra’s largest branch, with about 2,500 members

— BrewDog, the Aberdeenshire brewery, last month introduced Tokyo, Britain’s strongest beer at 14 per cent. Only 3,000 bottles were made

The Great British Beer Festival runs at Earls Court until Saturday

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