Welsh breweries strike gold at Great British Beer Festival
TWO South Wales breweries scooped top prizes at the Great British Beer Festival and one of them was crowned the third best beer in Britain.
Newport’s Tiny Rebel and Aberdare’s Grey Trees both saw their beers pick up gold in their respective categories.
Tiny Rebel’s red ale Cwtch, which was named Champion Beer of Britain in 2015, won the gold award in the Best Bitters category.
Grey Trees’ Americanstyle pale ale, called Afghan Pale Ale, picked up the top prize in the strong bitters category.
And Cwtch also picked up the bronze prize in the overall winners category, which saw Goats Milk, from West Midlands brewery Church End, named the Champion Beer of Britain.
“We love a good cwtch at Tiny Rebel, and we’re not the only ones,” said Brad Cummings, cofounder of Tiny Rebel, which is in Newport.
He added: “After winning Champion Beer of Britain at GBBF in 2015 for Cwtch, our flagship ale is still doing us proud, with a Gold this year in the Best Bitters category and a bronze overall. The awards Cwtch has received over the years are the reason we package it in cask, keg, bottles, cans and sell it in over 25 different countries around the world”
And Tracey Davies, codirector of Grey Trees, said: “It’s a massive achievement and a very well recognised award in the industry. For us to actually win a gold – it’s tremendous with all of the hard work the team has put in.
“We are a small familyrun firm and from a business point of view, it puts us on the map and shows with a lot of determination, you can get there.
The awards, which are presented each year at the Great British Beer Festival, are organised by the Campaign for Real Ale.