The new awards, which aim to highlight the best and brightest of Scotland's brewing industry, saw breweries large and small gathered from across the country to celebrate at a sell-out beer-paired gourmet dinner, sponsored by Aldi, with 300 guests.
Small brewers such as Fallen and Windswept shared the limelight alongside bigger brands like BrewDog and Tennents who joined together to celebrate the booming beer business in Scotland.
The ultimate award of the night, Scottish Brewery of the Year, was presented to Tempest Brewing Co after they were also awarded 4 gold medals for their beers Old Parochial, Brave New World, Red Eye Flight and Mexicake.
The Borders-based brewer also collected the prize for Growth Business of the Year after increasing their sales by over 200 per cent.
Hardeep Singh Kohli hosted the evening and had the audience in fits of laughter throughout the event. Picture: Scottish Beer Awards
Ellon-based BrewDog celebrated winning two business awards including Excellence in Marketing for their Equity for Punks IV and Innovation of the Year for their DIY Dog recipe manual. They also collected Silver and Bronze medals for their beers 5AM Saint and Punk IPA respectively.
The vast range of exciting new beers created and produced in Scotland was celebrated, with a tough judging process seeing 31 breweries and 73 beers going head to head as finalists on the night.
Stirlingshire brewer, Fallen, won the highly contended Best Lager award for their blonde ale, New World Odyssey. Meanwhile, higher volume producers also collected prizes with Williams Bros. presented Gold for Pavlov’s Dog while Caledonian Brewery’s Coast to Coast won Gold in the popular Pale Ale category.
Hilary Jones, chair of the judging panel, commented: “The Scottish Beer Awards recognises the fantastic range of beers now brewed in Scotland. With such a large amount of high quality premium product available, the brewing industry in Scotland can continue its growth in the UK and internationally with great confidence.
"Winning a Scottish Beer Award is a tremendous badge of honour and we wish all our winners and finalists the best of success.”
Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, ALDI Scotland, said: “At Aldi, we’ve been big fans of Scottish brewing for many years and craft beer is an integral part of our range.
“It’s a great pleasure to be the headline sponsor of the first ever Scottish Beer Awards. Scotland’s beer industry is booming and we’re incredibly proud at Aldi to have worked with so many of the amazing breweries shortlisted at these awards.
"The success the industry is experiencing has been a long time coming, and the quality of the beer produced in Scotland is truly world class.”
GOLD Williams Bros. Pavlov’s Dog
SILVER BrewDog 5AM Saint
BRONZE Orkney Brewery Dark Island
GOLD Tempest Brewing Co Old Parochial
SILVER Fallen Brewing Local Motive
BRONZE Black Wolf William Wallace
GOLD Tempest Brewing Co Brave New World
SILVER Black Isle Brewing Co Gold Finch
BRONZE Brewdog Punk IPA
GOLD Fallen Brewing New World Odyssey
SILVER Edinburgh Beer Factory Paolozzi
BRONZE Williams Bros. Caesar Augustus
GOLD Caledonian Brewery Coast to Coast
SILVER Tempest Brewing Co The Pale Armadillo
BRONZE St. Andrews Brewing Co Crail Ale
Tempest took home the Best Porter or Stout award (sponsored by The Scotsman). Picture: Scottish Beer Awards
GOLD Tempest Brewing Co Red Eye Flight
SILVER Black Isle Brewing Co Porter
BRONZE Drygate Brewery Orinoco
GOLD Tempest Brewing Co Mexicake
SILVER Dead End Brew Machine Death One
BRONZE Orkney Brewery Dark Island Reserve
Winner: BrewDog
Winner: BrewDog
Winner: Caledonian
Winner: Windswept Brewing Co
Winner: Belhaven Brewery
Winner: Tempest Brewing Company
Winner: Tennents - The Tennent’s Visitor Centre
Winner: Ari Rovati, Six°north
Winner: Tempest Brewing Co
