Neal Biddle of Alkrington, near Manchester created the pie using Badger’s Poacher’s Choice and topped it with a puff pastry crust.
The brief for entering was to design a pie based on the entrant’s favourite Badger beer. The finals were held at the Hall & Woodhouse Bath where eight competitors faced judges including food and drinks writer Fiona Beckett and chairman of Hall & Woodhouse Mark Woodhouse.
The winning pie will be professionaly produced and served in selected Hall & Woodhouse pubs this autumn and Biddle will also enjoy a two-night beach break at the Lulworth Cove Inn, a VIP brewery tour and £200.
Brains behind the pie
"I entered the competition purely out of love for Badger beer," said Biddle. "It was a real honour to have my pie concept put through to the finals, where there was some serious competition and it will be great to see my pie served up on the menu at Hall & Woodhouse. I wanted to create a seasonal pie using my favourite ingredients and I knew the sweetness from the fig and Poacher’s Choice would perfectly complement the pheasant."
Anna Corbett, brand manager at Badger, said: "Neal’s pie was glorious, the combination of pheasant, fig, shallot, beetroot and Poacher’s Choice created a deliciously rich, slightly sweet filling with a lovely puff pastry crust – no soggy bottoms for us! This is the first year of our Pie Awards and we are delighted with the number and quality of entries we received. Judging was tough and a lot of pies were eaten along the way."