10:14am Saturday 26th September 2009
By Gavin Aitchison
BREWERS near York are rolling out the barrels after demand for their award-winning beer nearly doubled in the space of a few weeks.
Rudgate Brewery in Tockwith has been inundated with orders since last month, when its Ruby Mild was named the 2009 Champion Beer of Britain, becoming the first York or North Yorkshire winner of the award in its 31-year history.
The brewery is now producing 70 barrels, or 20,160 pints, of the beer each week – up from 40 barrels or 11,520 pints before winning the award – as pubs around the county and nationwide look to offer the beer to their customers.
Brewer Jamie Allen today said business had been “manic” since the announcement in early August, but said the team was hopeful it could be the springboard to further success and expansion.
“We have had huge demand nationally,” he said. “It has gone all over the country. We can hardly keep up with demand, but we do what we can. We’ve taken on another member of staff.”
Mr Allen said demand for Rudgate’s other beers, such as Jorvik Blonde, had also soared, with publicans keen to try the full range of ales. He said: “We have gone from being a small micro-brewery to the name on everyone’s lips.”
He said the brewery had recently built an extra cold-room for storage and said that if the recent success continued they may draw up new expansion plans.
The Champion Beer award, by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has proven a springboard for other beers such as Caledonian Deuchars IPA, and Mr Allen said they were upbeat they too could benefit.
Mr Allen said: “We want to see how it goes and ensure it is not just a one-year thing, but we could do with a bigger plant as we are on double-shifts and working overnight.”
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