On the lager

A lunchtime pint or two of Wye Valley Brewery's lager. As golden as the locks of Dorothy Goodbody's hair and as full-bodied as well, this gorgeous pint of Herefordshire heaven is on top form in the Golden Hart in Newport today. Lager for ale drinkers or ale for lager drinkers? Who cares as long as it's a good beer?

Originally published last week when Blogger was down - this post has only just reappeared!

Wye Valley Brewery scoops BBC Award

The award-winning Wye Valley brewery whose fantastic beers are very popular here in Wales have won a major BBC accolade.The family-run firm has beaten off competition from across the UK to win the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Award 2010 for Best Drinks Producer.
The awards programme will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 9am today (November 26th.).
According to Wye Valley Brewery MD Vernon Amor, "At Wye Valley Brewery we’re dedicated to brewing the finest beers using top quality ingredients form local growers. These awards are a fantastic platform to help spread the word about our real ales and the passion and care that goes into them".

2010 is Wye Valley brewery's 25th anniversary year and to celebrate they realised our dream of a truly local beer using both our local Herefordshire hops plus, uniquely, Herefordshire Barley through a special project with a local farmer. This very special brew of Imperial Stout was launched in bottles as a limited edition from as part of the Dorothy Goodbody range.

The BBC team from Radio 4’s Food Programme was looking for inspirational drinks producers bringing new ideas to the market whilst keeping old traditions alive. As a traditional family owned brewery, dedicated to producing the finest quality cask ales yet none the less passionate about exciting new recipes and ingredients, Wye Valley Brewery impressed the judges and won the Best Drinks Producer category.

Hoppy 25th Birthday to Wye Valley Brewery!

Although based over the border in Herefordshire, the real ales from Wye Valley Brewery are widely available throughout South Wales. Probably the best pint of HPA to be had is in the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny. Added to that HPA is the fastest selling beer at the Gwent CAMRA beer festival at Tredegar House Folk Festival, the brewery has good connections locally and well done to their first 25 years in the business.

Press Release from Wye Valley Brewery below:

2010 will be the 25^th year of brewing for Stoke Lacy based Wye Valley Brewery, and they plan to celebrate by brewing even more excellent beer.

Wye Valley Brewery has come a long way since Peter Amor started brewing in 1985 in the old stable block at The Barrels, Hereford. Since then the brewery has moved to Stoke Lacy, increased its tied estate and invested in a state of the art bottling facility.

Wye Valley Brewery will start its 25^th year on a high, with the launch of its popular cask beer HPA, in bottled format. Numerous other events are planned including the release of a special Limited Edition bottled beer in March and a race night at Hereford Racecourse in August where customers and staff will celebrate the brewery’s 25^th anniversary in style with real music and real ale! Also, the brewery’s Herefordshire barley project will be realised and the first all Herefordshire beer will be produced, using local hops and local barley.

Fundraising throughout the year will benefit the brewery’s selected charity for 2010, Riding for the Disabled.

Said Peter Amor, Chairman and founder of Wye Valley Brewery, ‘It is obviously very gratifying to have come this far. It really is a collective achievement and our success is down to the dedication of the whole team at the brewery.’

St David's Day Beers

Popped into the Pen & Wig in Newport and had the choice of 2 St David Day beers from either Wye Valley Brewery or Brains, both very good but the one in Welsh, Cwrw Dewi Sant, brewed in England was the best. Well done Wye Valley!