Ayr Brewing Company has picked up the award of Beer of the Year, as voted for by Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

The brewing company’s Rabbie’s Porter beer picked up the award and adds to the business’ growing list of accolades.

The Ayr Brewing Company brewed its first ales in October 2009, and in a short space of time gained numerous awards at both local and national level.

As a five-barrel micro brewery they are currently producing around 60 casks of ale a week and supplying pubs throughout the UK.

Operating out of the Glen Park Hotel, the firm is the first brewery in the area for more than 80 years.

Anthony Valenti from the company said accolades like this. show that all of their hard work over the years is paying off.

He told the Advertiser: “We’re always delighted to win something like this, it really is quite humbling.

“We don’t enter competitions, but when one comes out of the blue like this one and people are judging your beer behind the scenes and you end up eventually winning the prize, it’s amazing”.

CAMRA are constantly judging beers for the Champions Beer of Britain, and from there, the company decides to pick a winner of their for Beer of the Year.

With the company having to change their approach during the pandemic, Anthony says it will give the team a lift in moving forward and looking ahead to next year.

He added: “It gives us all a lift when we get something like, for moving forward.

“Once we’re out of this lockdown we can start planning forward ahead again so it’s always a proud moment to be recognised.

“We had to change what we were doing because of the pandemic, but that’s been the same for a lot of businesses and and I think we’ve dealt with it pretty well.

“Before this, our main business was selling to pubs, but with lockdowns and stuff like that, we had to change.

“We started a free local delivery service for most of Ayrshire, so that has kept us going throughout most of the pandemic.

“We’re brewing and most of it is now going toward bottles and cans. We are still doing some pubs, but we’ve seen how our operations have changed over this time, and I guess it’s just something we’ll have to keep an eye on to see if we need to change it further in the future.

“The way I see is that people haven’t stopped drinking, they’re just having to do it in a different way.

“Looking ahead to next year, I think it will be a tough time, especially over the next few months.

“Obviously we don’t know exactly what the future will hold with restrictions and so on, but we’re hoping it can be another successful year.”