St Austell head brewer Roger Ryman with bottles representing the awards
It’s been raining awards at St Austell Brewery this year, with no less than 21 accolades achieved in 2014 for its beers.
Leading institutions across the local, national and international drinks industry have recognised St Austell’s ales for their quality, originality and the exceptional standards set by the brewing team.
The awards have been shared between some of St Austell’s most popular beers, like Proper Job, Tribute and Admiral’s Ale, as well as new and one-off brews including Big Job, 1913 Cornish Stout and Tamar Creek.
Among the awards received so far this year are three golds, one silver and one diploma in the British Bottlers’ Institute drinks competition, one gold, two silvers and four bronzes at the International Beer Challenge, three Taste of the West Gold awards, four Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) South West awards, a gold at the SIBA National Championship and a silver awarded by CAMRA for champion bottled beer at the Great British Beer Festival.
The raft of awards won by St Austell Brewery’s beers follows a £10m investment over ten years in the brewery, including brewing vessels, a bottling line and cask racking plant.
While the awards demonstrate the quality of St Austell Brewery’s beers, sales figures show their growing popularity. Over the past 18 months, sales of the brewery’s two flagship bottled ales, Tribute and Proper Job, have increased by 50%, thanks to the national growth of the brand, presence in major supermarket chains and awards recognition. Sales of beers in casks have also continued to grow, pushing production over 100,000 brewer’s barrels (29m pints) per year.
Roger Ryman, head brewer at St Austell Brewery, said: “The number of awards that we have received for our beers this year is a fantastic tribute to the whole brewing team and the values with which we brew our beer. St Austell Brewery is committed to brewing beer with individuality, character and flavour that is true to our vision of what good beer ought to be.
“We do not compromise — we invest in our raw materials, the brewing process and our people to produce the best beer that we can. The awards we have received are a reflection of the hard work and commitment of everyone at the brewery over a number of years.”
