He told The Morning Advertiser that the win for its Mild (3.6% ABV) was “completely unexpected” and “absolutely ridiculous.”
Elliott works in the five barrell brewery with Richard Hickman, who is training to be assistant brewer. It produces a range of beers including Potion No 9 (4% ABV), Crawlas Amber Ale (4% ABV) and Mild in a stable block at the rear of the Star Inn in Crowlas.
“It’s just two of us in an old stable in the wild West of Cornwall. We were in the final top 12 so that was big enough for us. We never thought would make it that far,” he said.
Phenomenal
“Mild is quite an old-fashioned style of beer, a very traditional low ABV dark beer and for it to be chosen was phenomenal. It just shows that on the day, any style of beer can win.”
Elliott said the phone has been constantly ringing and called the win great for Cornish breweries.
“There has been emails and phone calls from people nationally wanting the beer. We actually don’t have any which is quite funny. I’ve had a couple of wholesalers speak to me and ask me what we could do together. So the future is looking really bright and we just need to get brewing now,” he said.
“We’re a two-man army and will take it on.”
Loyalty to existing customers
But Elliott has vowed that the microbrewery will stay loyal to its existing customers, which includes 15 to 18 local pubs.
He said: “All of our local customers will always come first. I wouldn’t ever want to sell out all to national and let local people down. That’s not what we want to do. We don’t want to take over the world. We don’t want to become too big but we want to stick to our roots and what we know.”
The Penzance Brewing Co was established in 2008 by the late Peter Elvin who was landlord of the Star Inn at Crowlas, just outside Penzance. The pub was named Cornwall Pub of the Year by CAMRA in 2013.
The brewery is now owned by his partner Tracey Cornelius. The freehold of the pub, including the stables, has been sold to a new owner who is keen for the brewery to continue at the site.
