Vertical tasting of St Austell Brewery’s 2026 Extra Special Tribute
If there is one way to truly get under the skin of a beer it is through a vertical tasting.
It was therefore a great pleasure to take part in such a tasting of St Austell Brewery’s 2026 Extra Special Tribute beer with brewing director Georgina Young.
She guided guests from the British Guild of Beer Writers through an online tasting and pairing notes for the 2024, 2025 and newly-released 2026 vintages to identify their characteristics and how they are ageing.
Extra Special Tribute is brewed at 7.4%, each year with a novel twist – through the use of different hops and/or additional ingredients such as rye – then bottle conditioned and matured before release.
Across the three beers we identified underlying flavours of orange and marmalade as well as a distinct hop character across all three beers despite the ageing that often softens the sharper edges of hops.
The first iteration of Extra Special Tribute was created in 2023 to celebrate the coronation of HRH King Charles III in his 74th year. It is based on St Austell Brewery’s flagship pale ale Tribute that itself is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.
It started its life in 1999, first brewed by Roger Ryman as Daylight Robbery, before becoming a permanent fixture under its new name, Tribute, in honour of those who had helped the business grow to its landmark 150th anniversary.
The 2026 version of the beer will be available in Waitrose stores from November 9.
Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider