Ludlow brewers bag beer awards

One of the Ludlow Brewing Co's lower strength ales, the 4 per cent Blonde, was awarded gold in the hotly contested cask best bitters and pale ales category, earning its place in the national finals.

And the independent sustainable brewery picked up silver in the strong ale category for the 5 per cent Stairway, the highest strength craft beer brewed at the converted railway shed in Ludlow.

The competition judges a huge range of beers from across the region in a number of styles.

Ludlow Brewery founder Gary Walters said: “We are absolutely delighted with this achievement. Any SIBA award represents industry recognition – blind judging is conducted by industry peers and trade sponsors.

"To receive gold and silver reflects a continuation of our high standards. We are guided by a core principle of quality above all.

“I would like to thank all of my family and everyone at the brewery for all their support and hard work. Our successes are testament to our amazing team’s hard work and effort over the past few years.”

As a gold winner of the awards, the Blonde ale is automatically entered into the National Independent Beer Awards 2018, which will take place at SIBA Beer X in March 2018.

The overall competition champions were a beer called Afghan Pale Ale by Grey Trees Brewery, taking an overall gold in the cask beer competition, and Chocolate Moose by Purple Moose took home the overall gold in the small pack (bottle and can) competition.

SIBA currently represents more than 825 independent craft breweries and their vision is ‘to deliver the future of British beer and become the voice of British brewing.’

Gary and his wife Alison Walters launched Ludlow Brewing Company in May 2006, rekindling an industry which had been dormant in Ludlow since the last brewery in town, the Ludlow and Craven Arms Brewery shut up shop in the 1930s.