Video: Champion Beer of Britain brewer hails win

Previous winners of the top beer award at the Great British Beer Festival say they're still reaping the benefits of the accolade.​

As Rudgate Brewery in Yorkshire celebrates its Ruby Mild being crowned Champion Beer of Britain on Tuesday, the MA spoke to winners of past festivals to gauge the award's long-term impact.

Crouch Valley Brewery now supplies roughly twice as many pubs, around 50, since its Brewers Gold was named Champion Beer of Britain in 2005 — it won the award again in 2006.

Crouch Valley currently brews 2,800 barrels a year. It's new brewery, built since winning the awards, enables it to produce 97 barrels weekly. The site is running at around 60% capacity.

"One good thing about the Champion Beer of Britain win is that we do get asked rather than having to chase business," said operations manager James Partridge. "It's definitely a good thing to have under our belt."

Danielle Bennett, marketing manager of Hobsons Brewery in Shropshire — which won the top prize in 2007 for Hobsons Mild - said new pump clips will allude to the win by including the word "champion".

"We are still mentioning it and wanted people to know we have won. It's definitely helped with sales."

Chris Western, general manager of Hampshire-based Triple fff Brewery, whose Alton's Pride was last year's Supreme Champion, said: "Our business was already growing steadily, but we have seen a 25% increase in demand over last year."

He said Alton's Pride "goes out as fast as we can brew it" and the win "brought us up on the radar with the bigger chains".