The International Brewing Awards celebrate a long and successful history. Established in 1886, and judged blind by a panel of working professionals in brewing, they are often dubbed 'the Oscars of the brewing industry' and with good reason.
This year, Ossett Brewery achieved a remarkable milestone with Hell Rat winning Gold in the category of Keg Lager - Class 1 (ABV 2.9% - 4.7%). With our brewery and 'Rat' brand firmly on the international stage, we spoke with our Head of Brewing, Gary Farlow, about the story behind this award-winning lager, the brewing process, and what this global recognition means for the team.
Q. Congrats on winning Gold for the best lager in the world, how did it feel when you heard the news?
A. Thank you! I was genuinely delighted when I received the call, and as that call came through at the very end of the day on Friday, it was also a fantastic way to finish off the week!
Q. What makes this beer stand out from the others around the world?
A. The obvious or expected thing to say here would be the recipe itself, or highlight a particular ingredient we use, but the way I see it is that it’s more down to our own controls, processes, and the teams involved; specifically, the level of care, consistency & attention to detail everyone shows from start to finish. Everything we brew is monitored, analysed and scrutinised from brew day to packing and beyond, always striving to improve in even the slightest way from the last time round, and never settling for second best within our own work.
Q. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the beer?
A. I’ve been fortunate to work on a fair few different lager styles and recipes over the years, and when I heard that the “Rat Range” was going to include a brand-new lager I was thrilled! It’s a point of pride for brewers to be able to consistently produce a clean, polished and “true to type” lager, and to be able to build this one from scratch was the perfect way to take what I’ve learnt from those previous recipes and utilise that experience! I wanted to build on what is recognisably a traditional Munich-style Helles, with modern ideas, methods and ingredients to create something truly unique to us.
Q. What does the award mean for the team at Ossett?
A. It means everything. The level of dedication, drive and passion from everyone here is second-to-none, and when that is recognised and celebrated like this, it reinvigorates everyone’s love for the industry, and reminds me personally of why I do what I do! We’re all passionate about all our beers, and we all think they’re worth celebrating, so to have others agree with us reinforces that feeling.
Q. Finally, what would you say to people who haven't tried this beer yet?
A. What are you waiting for?! We're all immensely proud of all our beers, this one is no exception. Give it a go next time you see it and you'll see why we're so proud of it.
If you haven't tried the best lager in the world yet, head to our webshop to grabs cans of Hell Rat & the beer merch to match here: ossett-brewery.co.uk/collections/hell-rat
For any marketing/PR enquiries, please contact marketing@ossett-brewery.co.uk
For any trade sales enquiries, please contact sales@ossett-brewery.co.uk
