SOARING DEMAND LEADS TO SECOND DAILY BREW

The unprecedented growth for the Brewery is being driven by the success of its flagship Tribute Ale - with sales in the South West and across the UK up 38 per cent on 2006. Sales of bottled beers - including the increasingly popular Proper Job IPA - are also up and Tribute was recently also launched in cans.

Last year the Brewery increased its brewing capacity by adding two new fermenting vessels but is again already at full production.

James Staughton, St Austell Brewery Managing Director, said: "Tribute's role in leading the renaissance of St Austell Brewery is an amazing success story and one which is entirely driven by customer demand.

"We've invested significantly in ensuring our uniquely Cornish ales are of a consistently high quality and this is paying off as we have branched out from our Cornish roots to become increasingly recognised on a regional and national level."

It continues an amazing year for St Austell Brewery in which Tribute was chosen as the top tipple in the South West region in the Best of British Beer Awards, following a ‘beer election' in pubs across the area by industry watchdog Cask Marque and the Daily Telegraph. Tribute also beat off competition from more than 250 beers from all 58 breweries in the South West to be elected ‘Supreme Champion' at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) South West Beer Festival.

St Austell Brewery head brewer and recently crowned UK Brewer of the Year Roger Ryman said: "Demand is up in all sectors - in our own 167 pubs, in the free trade and in pub companies in the South West and nationally. Tribute now accounts for 65 per cent of our production and the only way to cope with this increased demand for Tribute and our other ales was to change to two brews per day.

"Although these changes have required our team to adopt new working hours and practices, they have taken well to the changes. As well as giving existing staff the opportunity to broaden their roles and learn new skills, introducing the shift system has also resulted in our taking on four new people in the brewing dept.

"We all take a great pride in the beer that we brew, and the ongoing success of the Brewery. Our traditional hand-crafted brewing methods remain unchanged as does our commitment to quality ‘from grain to glass'."

The new shift system brings two added bonuses for staff and Brewery supporters. It means the Brewing team will no longer have to work on Sundays - which it had been doing to try and meet demand - and it also means that the St Austell Brewery interactive Visitors Centre and Brewery tours will be open later into the evening until 7pm.