Stone’s multi-award winning Lymestone Brewery is celebrating a fresh clutch of awards.
Two of the Stone brewery’s keg beers won regional gold medals at the 2019 SIBA Independent Beer Awards at the end of last week. And their brewery tap in Stone, The Borehole, was named pub of the year by the Heart of Staffordshire Camra group on Friday.
Judged by brewers and industry experts and organised by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) at their flagship BeerX UK event in Liverpool on 14 and 15 March, the Independent Beer Awards cover a huge range of beer styles.
Dad-and-daughter brewing duo Ian and Sarah Bradford from Lymestone were at the event, where they won a Midlands region gold medal for their Waterstone Wheat ale in the keg speciality light beers category. And there was a gold medal for Stray Cat Milk in the keg British dark beers (up to 4.4%) category. The milk stout is produced by Sarah at the brewery, but under the Stray Cat brand.
Head brewer Ian Bradford said:
“We’ve been brewing Lymestone beers for over 10 years and the industry is almost unrecognisable from when we started. The demand for new beers and new flavours is stronger than ever, so I’m delighted that two of our newest keg beers have been awarded regional gold medals.”
Daughter Sarah, who started brewing with her dad in 2017, added:
“The Stray Cat range is deliberately different from the Lymestone beers, and it’s been fantastic to experiment with different beer styles. It’s really important to develop new beers and to push what we’re doing.”
The SIBA regional gold medals weren’t the only awards for Lymestone Brewery last week – their brewery tap in Stone, The Borehole, was also named Heart of Staffordshire Camra’s pub of the year, the latest in a long line of awards for the community pub.
Director Vivienne Bradford said:
“We opened The Borehole, our second pub, in March 2015 and it’s gone from strength to strength. It’s a real community pub, with lots of events and support for local groups and charities, and we continue to develop it. Last year we launched The Borehole Tasting Club, with regular tasting nights covering beer, spirits and more.”
Lymestone Brewery was founded in 2008 by Ian and Viv Bradford. The brewery – based at Mount Road, Stone – employs six people at the brewery and also has two pubs: The Lymestone Vaults in Newcastle and The Borehole, a stone’s throw away from the brewery in Stone. A real family business, Ian and Viv’s daughter Sarah is a brewer at Lymestone, and son Harry manages the brewery’s pubs.
