Here's to contest success!

10:14am Thursday 21st August 2008

Skipton brewery Copper Dragon is celebrating another accolade for its hand-crafted cask ales after reaching the final of the 2008 Sainsbury’s Beer competition.

The firm’s Scotts 1816 brew has been shortlisted with 14 other ales. The company will find out in October if it has won the supermarket giant’s challenge.

An initial order of 35,000 bottles of Scotts 1816 will also be distributed to Sainsbury stores across the country.

Steve Taylor, managing director of the six-year-old business which is one of the UK’s fastest growing breweries, said: “This is great news for our Scotts 1816 brew.

“It is a full-bodied ale that has a distinctive hoppy palate and aroma and is named in honour of Christopher Scott who opened a brewery in Skipton in 1816.

“We use only the finest British malt and continental hops to create this unique flavour and we hope to do well in the competition.”

Copper Dragon, the first brewery to be based in Skipton for more than 100 years, supplies its hand-crafted Best Bitter, Golden Pippin, Scotts 1816, Challenger IPA and Black Gold cask ales to more than 1,500 pubs across the country and supplies its bottled ales to a number of supermarkets as well as foreign markets as far afield as Australia and Russia.

Copper Dragon currently employs 27 with a further eight jobs expected to be created at its new £4 million brewery and visitor centre due to officially open in the autumn.

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