A crafty trifecta for Lion

Lion has scooped three medals at the prestigious International Brewing Awards across two categories for three of its craft beers.

The International Brewing Awards are often dubbed the Oscars of the brewing industry and with good reason.  First held in 1886, the 35 judges are all practising brewers and recognise beer that is an outstanding commercial example of its style.

The wins for Lion are as follows:

Class 1 for Lager 2.9%-4.4% ABV:
GOLD Speight’s Triple Hop Pilsner
SILVER Crafty Beggars – Good as Gold

Class 2 for Ale 4.5%-4.9% ABV:
GOLD Mac’s Sassy Red

Brewing Manager Nicola Kay comments, “We are over the moon with this result as these are the brewing awards we all aspire to achieve.  To get two medals on two relatively new brews – Crafty Beggars and Speight’s Triple Hop Pilsner - is a real pat on the back to the brewing team.  Mac’s Sassy is such a distinctive New Zealand beer so to achieve a gold medal is an international thumbs up to the Motueka hops!  Being recognised from 100s of beers from across the world is very motivating at such a dynamic time for the craft beer industry.”

“We are so thrilled to have the quality of our beers acknowledged.  The skill and the passion of our incredible team of brewers is something we are very proud of, so its terrific to receive an external accolade,” say Rory Glass, Managing Director for Lion.

Over 900 entries were received from 199 breweries, with Awards announced last week and the Awards ceremony to be held in London in April.