The independently-owned brewery, rooted in Hebden Bridge, has seen a raft of its beers celebrated by judges from the Great Taste Awards, the World Beer Awards, the SIBA North West Independent Beer Awards & the SIBA Can & Bottle North West Region Awards.

Reflecting on the year’s achievements, Rob Beck, Head Brewer at Vocation Brewery, says: “As a brewing team, we obsess over getting every detail right – from hop composition and bitterness profiles, to fine tuning balance and the unique character of each style. To see our work recognised across such a wide range of respected competitions is incredibly special.”

“Our brewery’s journey started with a small team brewing in an old chicken shed perched 1,000 feet above sea level in the hills above Hebden Bridge, so to receive this level of national recognition across several competitions is something we’re incredibly proud of,” says Gail Lumsden, Chair & CEO at Vocation Group. “These awards are a testament to the dedication and craft of our brewing team – and it’s fantastic to see Yorkshire beer celebrated both nationally and regionally.”

In the highly coveted Great Taste Awards, Vocation earned five medals including the prestigious 3-Star rating for its signature IPA, Life & Death, for the second year running – an accolade awarded to fewer than 1.9% of entries across all food and drink categories. The brewery also saw stars awarded for its Crush Hour, Love & Hate, Naughty & Nice Chocolate Stout and gluten-free offering, Heart & Soul. The Great Taste Awards are one of the most respected and rigorous national food and drink accreditations in the UK, judged blind by chefs, buyers, food writers and industry experts.

Vocation’s success continued in the ‘England Category’ at the World Beer Awards, one of the world’s leading global beer competitions. The brewery achieved two Gold and ‘Country Winner’ titles – for Hop, Skip & Juice and Naughty & Nice Chocolate Stout – alongside Silver medals for Life & Death and Crush Hour.

Closer to home, the brewery also enjoyed a strong showing at the SIBA North West Independent Beer Awards, where Crush Hour secured Gold (Category Champion) in the Keg Pale Ale category and later earned Bronze in the ‘Overall Champion’ of Keg Beer competition – a result which now sends the beer forward to the national final at BeerX 2026. Plus, Naughty & Nice White Chocolate & Raspberry achieved Silver in the ‘Speciality & Flavoured Beer’ category.

Further success followed in the SIBA Can & Bottle North West Region Awards, where Love & Hate took Silver in the ‘Bottle & Can IPA (5.6%–7.4%)’ category – making it a ‘Category Champion’ and also progressing it to BeerX in March 2026. Naughty & Nice White Chocolate & Raspberry also received recognition, with a Bronze in the ‘Bottle & Can Speciality & Flavoured Beer’ category.