Their beer Hawse Buckler, which was originally produced as a one off as their annual special for Peterborough Beer Festival 2006, went through stages of blind tasting by a selection of leading journalists, retailers, brewers, and other qualified tasters from around the world to become the best in its style. They were up against hundreds of entries from the UK, Europe, United States, Australia and were victorious in the Best Overall Strong Dark Ale with their black beer of 5.6% a.b.v.
This then placed them in the running for World Best Ale 2008 for which they came a very close second to Tripel Karmeliet from Belgium.
After its success and popularity in cask form, Head Brewer and Partner John Bryan thought its strength, ingredients, and packaging imagery made it perfect for bottling and produced the first batch in September 2007. This, along with yet another extremely popular and successful Oakham beer Bishops Farewell increased their bottle range and accompanied the ever popular JHB. All 3 beers are available in local Tesco’s, Budgens, Threshers, and some Londis stores plus Waitrose Peterborough, St Ives and St Neots.