Swannay beers picked out as some of the best in the UK

Swannay Brewery has triumphed at a prestigious competition involving the best beers in the UK.

The Orkney craft beer maker won two golds and two bronzes at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) annual UK-wide competition, held on Thursday night in Liverpool.

After regional heats, the national competition is a true test of some of SIBA members’ best beers from throughout the country.

Judged as part of the BeerX conference, by chosen industry professionals, winning beers are rightly recognised as excellent examples of their style.

The golds went to Banyan in the Cask Session IPA category and Orkney Blast in the Cask category.

Orkney Blast picked up another gong, winning bronze in the Overall Cask section and Muckle IPA completed the quartet of wins with a bronze in the Keg Imperial IPA section.

The awards have come at a time when the brewery has been contending with producing world-class beers while undertaking a £1 million overhaul of its Swannay premises, transforming farm buildings, sheds and cold stores, into a high-quality tourist attraction in the West Mainland.

The project is expected to be completed in June.

Lewis Hill, general manager at Swannay Brewery, congratulated the dedicated Swannay team on the latest awards, taking the brewery’s haul of national and international accolades to over 150 since brewing started in 2006.

He said: “We’ve been in the midst of a major building project for over a year now and to win such awards at this time is testament to our pervading focus on making world class beer, no matter what. We cannot wait to continue to build on our successes in our high-spec, upgraded brewery.”