A talented trio of Tavistock brewers are riding high at the moment after winning a clutch of awards for their beers.

Tavistock-based brewery Stannary Brewery won Best Cask Pale Ale for their ale Winnamucca at the prestigious Independent Beer Awards hosted in Liverpool by the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA).

Then brewery founders Garry White, Chris John and Mark Stephens had further success at the Indie Beer Awards at MaltingsFest in Newton Abbot in April, again hosted by SIBA.

Stannary’s 4.2% ABV session pale ale All That Jazz took gold and was overall champion in the Cask Session Pale Ale category, while silvers were awarded to the 4.5% ABV lemon sherbert sour Laughing at Clouds (Keg Sour & Wild Ale) and the 5.8% ABV New England IPA Shine On (Keg IPA, 5.6% and over).

Meanwhile the Shine On was also awarded a bronze in the Cask IPA, 5.6% and over category. All three beers won their categories.

 ‘When we won gold in Liverpool with Winnemucha it was amazing,” said Garry. “Chris John and I were in total shock. It is one of our mainstay beers, hop forward and hazy, and it is great to win with one of the mainstays rather than a special.

“To say that we were chuffed to follow up our success in Liverpool with more medals is an understatement, particularly with All That Jazz which has been a Stannary mainstay since the very beginning.

“We first brewed All That Jazz to give us the big juicy hop flavours we love, though without the ABV strength of an IPA, and it is our bestselling beer both in the taproom and with our regional and national customers.”

 As with Winnemucha when it won gold at MaltingsFest last year, All That Jazz, Laughing at Clouds and Shine On, will now go through to the finals at next year’s Independent Beer Awards after winning their categories at MaltingsFest.

Stannary Brewery has come a long way since it was opened in 2016 producing beer on a small scale for its taproom in Tavistock as well as a few outlets in Exeter. It now has a purpose-built brewery on Pixon Lane.

Garry said: “Mark Stephens, Chris John and myself started the brewery because our local pubs and bars didn’t stock the hop-forward beers we loved to drink so we started making them as home-brewers and then one night over a few IPAs we decided to start up a brewery of our own and from that moment the brewery was born, named after Tavistock’s historic status as a stannary town.”

In late 2017 an opportunity came up for them to find a permanent home for the brewery and in January 2018 they moved out of a small garage, where they had been brewing, into their current premises.

This contains their taproom, which has developed a strong local following, an ambient warehouse and chilled store, while in October in the following year a new state of the art brewhouse and fermentation system was finally commissioned allowing them to make a name for themselves supplying their beers throughout the SOuth West.