Greene King Brewery is celebrating multiple wins at the World Beer Awards this year, including Country Winner and a Gold award in the Session IPA category with Prior Life.
The leading cask brewer in the UK has secured seven awards across its strong beer portfolio with Belhaven Brewery and the Old Speckled Hen brand also scooping up awards for their much-loved beers too.
Each year the World Beer Awards selects the very best in all internationally recognised styles and selects country and world winners as well as awarding gold, silver and bronze awards in each style category.
Securing top results in England’s Session IPA category at the awards, Prior Life is a 3.4% easy drinking all day IPA with mellow tropical notes and citrus aroma. Launched earlier this year, the sessionable ale is a tribute to the original Bury St Edmunds master brewers, the Benedictine monks, whose ghosts are said to still walk the brewery’s hometown Abbey today. Prior Life was only one of two English beers to secure gold in the Session IPA category.
In 2022, Greene King launched its craft portfolio including Level Head, a session IPA, which embodies Britain’s eccentric past, but is designed for the modern-day drinker. The legendary beer has also secured bronze at this year’s World Beer Awards in the Session IPA category as well, meaning that Greene King scooped two of the eight awards that were given to the whole of England for Session IPAs.
Greene King’s craft portfolio plays homage to centuries worth of brewing heritage and continues to bring to life the historical legends and myths of Bury St Edmunds. Both Prior Life and Level Head are available in multiple retailers and venues across the country.
Following the brand’s success at the Great Taste Awards last week, Old Speckled Hen has gone on to secure a further two silver awards this week for the refreshing flagship beer itself and also Old Crafty Hen, a 6.5% strong fine ale.
Old Speckled Hen became part of Greene King 25 years ago and has gone on to introduce numerous new styles of beer into its portfolio, including two new beers this year – Old Session Hen and Old Midnight Hen. Old Speckled Hen is available across many retailers and venues across the world and Old Crafty Hen can be found in multiple retailers across the UK.
Belhaven Brewery has also scooped two awards this year, securing bronze for both Belhaven Best and Belhaven Black. The brewery has been a part of Greene King since 2005, however has been brewing beer for over 300 years and is Scotland’s oldest working brewery. Belhaven offers a range of delicious Scottish beers, including Scotland’s favourite ale and stout with both Belhaven Best and Belhaven Black available across multiple retailers and venues, with a strong share in its homeland.
Matt Starbuck, Managing Director for Brewing and Brands at Greene King said: “We are thrilled to have received such impressive results for our beers this year with such a prestigious body. Greene King and Belhaven are passionate about making great beers and these results are a testament to our brewers and teams that work hard to create the portfolio that we have.
“We are incredibly proud of our beers, and we continue to invest and develop in all areas of our portfolio providing consumers with a wide range of quality styles and flavours to enjoy.”
To find out more about Greene King’s portfolio go to: https://www.greeneking.co.uk/our-beers.
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Notes to editors
For further information, please contact hollysmith@greeneking.co.uk.
Notes to editors
Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland.
At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire we employ around 39,000 people across the group with four divisions: Greene King pubs, Destination Brands, Partnership and Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.
- Greene King pubs is our mainstream pub brand located where people and communities come together; pubs enjoyed in cities, towns and villages throughout the country with clear ambition to be “The Nation’s Most Loved Pub Brand”.
- Destination Brands is a portfolio of distinct brands which includes Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Flaming Grill that bring friends and family together, delivering great service, quality and value for money for a range of eating out and drinking occasions.
- Partnerships & Ventures includes Pub Partners, which runs our tenanted and leased pubs business and Hive Franchise pubs, and our Ventures Brands which is made up of Metropolitan Pub Company, Hickory’s, Hotels Group and Crafted Pubs.
- Brewing & Brands covers the brewing sides of the business. Quality ales are brewed at the Westgate brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Our industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Ice Breaker and Belhaven Best and our premium beers, Level Head and Flint Eye, brewed for the modern-day drinker.
For further information, please contact hollysmith@greeneking.co.uk.
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