Gluten-free brewer is DEFRA’s exporter of the year

The event, held at the Foreign Commonwealth Office in Westminster, was a showcase of the best British food and drink has to offer.

First Chop, which was founded by Richard Garner in 2012, brews about 10 gluten-free beers that are distributed across the world as well as in the UK.

Capacity increased​

The production of the beers, which takes place in Manchester, started at 400 litres a month before capacity was increased to 5,000 litres a week in 2013.

Production will begin at a new brewery this month, capable of producing more than 20,000 litres a week.

It is the brewer’s evolution that impressed the judges, as well as its dedication to gluten-free.

Garner told The Morning Advertiser ​(MA​): “We started making good craft beer more than five years ago when I was having lots of great beer but it wasn’t from the UK, and I wanted to have the same great beers but from Britain.

“We didn’t set out to make gluten-free beer either, it just happened by chance that we used an ingredient that made the beer gluten-free.

Lot more to achieve​

“It is great to have won this award and it really means a lot, but we have a lot more to achieve this year and in the future. We’re just a craft beer brewer that wants to produce great beers and they just happen to be gluten-free.”

British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) chief executive Brigid Simmonds told MA ​it was great to see a beer winning the award as beer is worth £583m to the UK economy.

She added: “We are up over 6% in beer exports this year alone and the BBPA is playing its part engaging with and working with DEFRA to encourage more exports of beer.”