YORK Brewery has won the cup. This handsome trophy was awarded to the Toft Green team after their pale malt beer, Guzzler, defeated all-comers in a prestigious contest.

It was entered into the bitter category of the Small Independent Brewers Association (SIBA) North Beer Competition. Despite being in the exalted surroundings of the Scarisbrick Hotel, Southport, the beer was not overawed and took gold.

Quite an endorsement in a field of 103 beers, particularly as Guzzler is not a one-off brew specially crafted for the contest, like many of its rivals, but a permanent fixture in all the York Brewery pubs.

Brewing director Andrew Whalley was exhilarated by the triumph. "I was quite pleased," he told Bar Talk.

Last year he travelled thousands of miles to the US and Europe sourcing the finest ingredients. The Slovenian hops he found for Guzzler give it a crisp taste often lacking in a session beer (it is 3.6 per cent ABV).

"It's a good-quality drinking beer that everybody seems to like," Andrew said.

Guzzler will now go forward to the national SIBA competition, held in Bristol in March.

Look out later in the year for York Brewery's summer special to celebrate Rooney & Co's inevitable victory in the World Cup. It's to be called England's Pride. Or Ing-ger-lund's Pride once the match begins.

QUOTE of the week: "Our report might suggest that the health benefits from drinking wine may not be there," says Professor Morten Gronbaek from Denmark's Public Health Institute. Stick that up your snooty hooters, plonkaphiles.

Updated: 10:16 Saturday, January 21, 2006