Hepworths through to Sussex Food & Drink Awards finals
Two of West Sussex’s favourite blondes were united recently when Olympic Champion Sally Gunnell OBE was presented with a bottle of Hepworth’s Blonde Organic lager by Andy Hepworth, founder of the Horsham-based craft brewer.
Hepworth & Co is one of the finalists in the Sussex Food & Drink Awards 2013/14, having won the Best Local Producer title in 2007/8 and 2009/10. Sally Gunnell, who lives in Steyning, West Sussex, is a patron of the Awards and a supporter of locally produced food and drink.
Andy Hepworth, founder of Hepworths, with Sally Gunnell
Andy Hepworth said, “We’re pleased to be short-listed again in the Sussex Food & Drink Awards, which this year received a record number of entries.
“We’re proud to be part of a competition which recognises genuinely local producers. Hepworths is very much a Sussex brewer: we brew with barley and hops grown in the county whenever possible, and all our employees live in or close to Horsham.” Organic barley is grown to Hepworths’ specifications on the Goodwood estate near Chichester and hops are provided by award-winning grower Chris Dawes in Bodiam, East Sussex.
Hepworths is competing for the title of Sussex Drinks Producer of the Year against other brewers, vintners, cidermakers and soft drinks producers in the county. The contest is decided on customer vote followed by judging visits, , with the overall winner and runner up in each category unveiled in January 2014.
