A Huddersfield brewer has lost out by by a whisker on grabbing the Beard of The Year title.
Stuart Ross, best known for his work at Magic Rock Brewery, has also proved a dab hand in the facial hair stakes.
He has already won an earlier award but has now been beaten into third place in the annual contest run by the Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers.
Bizarrely, the winning beard was grown by another brewer, Bryan Spooner, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn taking the runners-up spot.
England Test cricket star Moeen Ali finished fourth.
Take a look at our whacky Adam Clayton beard gallery below
Others in the contest included actors Brian Blessed and Ricky Tomlinson,
Contest organiser Keith Flett said: “There’s obviously a link between craft beers and beards, with two out of the top three engaged in that industry.
“The vote is about the person whose beard has had the most positive impact in public life during the year.”
Ross has been brewing craft beers for more than 10 years, first in South Yorkshire and now as head brewer of the Magic Rock Brewery, who recently moved to new premises in Williow Lane, Huddersfield, and opened up a tasting bar.
In his early days he sported a neat goatee bard but is now the proud owner of a monster beard. He was delighted with his showing in the beard stakes and has even started brewing a new beer for Magic Rock - appropriately named Bearded Lady.
The online poll results were:
Bryan Spooner (Weird Beard brewer) 27.2%
Jeremy Corbyn (Labour leader) 24%
Stuart Ross (Magic Rock brewer) 23.8%
Moeen Ali (England cricketer) 8.3%
Mr Flett said: “Beard styles are changing and nowhere is this better represented than in the field of craft beer where well brewed beer and carefully nurtured beards go together.”
Previous winners of the title include Rowan Williams, Tom Jones, Gareth Malone, Robert Plant and Conchita Wurst.
