The success at the prestigious International Beer Challenge in London also secures placings for the Cawdor based firm’s two winning brews – Red MacGregor ale and Latitude Pilsner – in a special top 50 beers of the world listing.

Sinclair Breweries Ltd operates the Orkney Brewery – producers of Red MacGregor – and Kinlochleven’s Atlas Brewery, where Latitude Pilsner is made.

The International Beer Challenge is the largest packaged beer competition in the world. Each year the event discovers and rewards the finest beers from across the globe and, in association with Off Licence News, publishes its list of the world’s 50 best beers.

The competition, in which beers are judged on both packaging and taste, attracts international entries and is supported by some of the world’s biggest brewers.

Red MacGregor won first place in the “Ales up to 4.2% abv” category, with Latitude Pilsner taking top honours in the “Lager up to 4.2% abv” section for the second year running.

Sinclair Breweries Ltd was the only Scottish brewery to win awards at the competition.

Norman Sinclair, managing director of Sinclair Breweries Ltd, said: “We’ve enjoyed some success at this event before, but this is the first time we’ve ever won two of the categories. That’s a major achievement for everyone in the firm, but it’s also a significant result for Scottish independent brewing as a whole, demonstrating that our beers can hold their own on the international stage. Needless to say, we’re absolutely delighted.”

Mr Sinclair, who travelled to London last week to receive the awards, added: “Naturally we have total belief in our products, but it’s vital that we keep putting them out there to be measured against the best beers in the world. In a way, these awards confirm what we already know about our beers, but it’s a massive boost to have them judged independently by leading experts and placed ahead of what is some very stiff competition.”