Cheddar Ales, a microbrewery based on the edge of Cheddar village, has won the bronze medal at the British brewing industry awards for its bottled version of Totty Pot porter.
The awards, the highest industry accolades in the UK, are organised by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and are voted for by a panel of brewing experts, trade media, CAMRA tasters and licensees. Entrants to the awards must first be regional champions and Cheddar Ales won three awards at the South West event, with Totty Pot scooping gold in the bottled beers category.
“I was overjoyed when the beer won gold in the regional finals last year,” says Cheddar Ales’ Head Brewer, Jem Ham “but to win bronze at the national finals is just fantastic for us. It means more people will get to know who we are and that there is something special about the beer we are producing.” And what is that something special? “There’s no secret ingredient. We use great raw materials and make the beers as distinctive and as drinkable as we can make them. It’s just beer made by beer lovers”.
Although it has already gained a strong following in its native Somerset, Cheddar Ales is still a relative newcomer to the brewing industry, and is little-known outside of the county. That is likely to change now that the brewery will be known for making one of the best bottled beers in the country but with only two full-time staff, there are no immediate plans to become a national brand. The other half of the Cheddar Ales team, John Magill, says “For now, we would be very happy for the local business to grow further. Hopefully the award will spur more publicans and beer drinkers in Somerset into realising some of the best beers in the country are being made right on their doorstep, and that they should be taking better advantage of the microbreweries in their area.”
As you might expect from brewers, Jem and John want to celebrate the award with a pint or two. But two men does not make for much of an office party, so they are instead busy making plans for a beer festival in June. The pair intend to pull together as many of the other championship beers as they can lay their hands on and have a festival in amongst the weird and wonderful vessels of the brewery itself. That alone is a rare and exciting prospect for anyone who is interested in beer, but there will also be other distractions to keep everyone entertained. They are hoping to get some local bands to play in the evenings and there will likely be games and other shenanigans during the day. There will also be camping on the farm for those who want to have a drink and stay the night. But that’s about as far as the planning has got so far. Jem and John are still a little fuzzy about the finer details, but they don’t appear too worried. “It’s the proverbial drinking session in a brewery,” says Jem, “apparently they’re quite easy to organise.”
Get more information from:
Jem Ham (jem@cheddarales.co.uk) and John Magill (john@cheddarales.co.uk)
Tel: 01934 744193
Or from the website at:
www.cheddarales.co.uk
