Award-winning Shropshire brewery celebrates after scooping national title for beer

The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) held its Independent Beer Awards, in Liverpool earlier this week. 

With awards running across a huge range of categories, including pale ale, IPA and lager, this is one of the industry’s biggest nights celebrating all things beer.

And this year, Stonehouse Brewery in Weston Road, Morda, Oswestry, took home the national silver award for its beloved Station Bitter. 

Shane Parr, a director of Stonehouse Brewery,  attributed the success of the business - and the prestigious award - to his dedicated team. 

Speaking to the Shropshire Star, Shane said: “For me and my wife, Alison, who is my business partner, we've always made it clear that the only way this survives is the great people we've got here that help make all that happen. 

“And so it's really all down to them. It's up to them to make sure these beers have the quality and the consistency that customers are going to keep wanting to drink. 

“We definitely were celebrating last night. It was a great feeling and we've all got a bit of a hangover this morning.”

It’s not the first time the beer has been recognised on a national level. In 2013, Station Bitter took home the national gold award. 

Shane said it was “unusual” for a beer to win twice - and 12 years apart - but the beer simply speaks for itself.

He explained: “Station Bitter is the perfect strength at 3.9 per cent - it's not too dark and not too light.

“It's what a lot of people would call a session beer. So if you've got lots of choices and you just want something to come home to that you know is familiar and comfortable, it's the one you want.” 

Stonehouse Brewery is now in 18th year. The business had started out as a brewery and has expanded over time due to demand to now feature a distillery, bar and restaurant in its Oswestry site. 

And Shane said there are definitely plans for future expansion, despite the difficult times independent businesses are experiencing. 

“We've always sold to pubs fairly local as and within 30 miles of the brewery, so pretty much around Shropshire, Cheshire, and mid Wales,” Shane said. 

“But we've just started expanding recently. And even though it's a fairly challenging time for breweries, we're seeing a lot of growth so that's really good for us.

“The industry is changing. While we've got our regular beers, we now sell lots of different ones and because we're doing a lot of those, we're seeing expansion. 

“We are anywhere between 20 and 35 per cent up on sales the same time last year.” 

Find out more information about Stonehouse Brewery via the official website and social media channels.