Milngavie brewery strikes gold in prestige ale Awards

The business, run by Alison and Mark Hazell, won a gold medal for its 4% abv beer Fathom in the Cask Standard Mild Ales and Brown Ales category, a silver medal for the packaged version of the same beer, and another silver for its 4.7% abv beer Spinnaker.

It also won bronze for both its 4% abv beer Hardtack, and for its 4.6% beer Wave.

Quality cask and other craft ale variants have surged in popularity in recent years, spurring what is often described as a “cask ale renaissance” in Scotland.

However while dozens of new breweries are working hard to make the most of consumer enthusiasm for quality products only a relative handful are judged good enough to gain an award from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA).

The honours were presented during the SIBA annual awards ceremony at the Drygate Brewery in Glasgow, after beers from the country’s most respected producers were judged by the association’s experts.

For a family business launched just three years ago the industry accolades amount to a strong endorsement of Jaw Brew’s product quality across a range of categories – putting the Milngavie brewery firmly in the same league as leading players such as William Bros and Orkney.

Mark Hazell attended the awards with two of his sons, Alick and Dougie - who also work for the family brewery - and said later: “We were particularly thrilled with wins in this competition as it is judged by our peers in the brewing industry”.

SIBA competitions committee chairman Guy Sheppard, who presented the awards, said: “Scottish beer continues to go from strength to strength, and these awards really were a representation of the very best independent craft beers the country has to offer – the standard was especially high”.