NO SMALL BEER AS ALLGATES’ COMPETITION SUCCESS
SECURES 40,000 BOTTLE SAINSBURY’S ORDER

A classic style porter, dark and rich,
bursting with roasted malt flavours.
ABV 4.4%

Press Release

Wigan’s award-winning microbrewery AllGates has won through to the final of Sainsbury’s British Beer Competition 2009 – with a brand new brew it had only produced for a taste test!

 The company entered one of just 70 test bottles it had made of the classic draught porter, Porteresque. But now it’s got all its hands to the beer pump after landing an order from the supermarket giant for 40,000 more bottles!

 Having beaten off competition from 114 other bottled ales and 57 breweries to reach the finals, brewers John Woodhead and John Spedding now hope the great British beer drinking public will literally drink to its success. “Having reached the final Porteresque will now go on sale in hundreds of Sainsbury’s stores with the first two to sell 40,000 bottles being named winners and winning a further supply contract.  That would be brilliant as last year’s winners are still stocked and selling well at Sainsbury’s,” explained AllGates’ director Ian Thorpe. “It’s a lovely dark rich porter, bursting with the flavour of roasted barley, British chocolate and crystal malts and English and American hops. It goes down a treat!” 

Ian continued “This is a great achievement for the AllGates Team and we are proud to be the only North West Brewer in the Sainsbury’s Final. As AllGates family of beers has expanded, with great results in sales and tastings across the North West, we hope this opportunity with Sainsbury’s will start to showcase the taste and quality of AllGates throughout the UK”

 The huge order is by far the biggest secured by AllGates since it started brewing its own traditional ales in 2006, having restored the listed tower brewery on Brewery Yard, off Wigan’s Wallgate. Formerly the brew house for the Dog & Partridge pub it now provides pale, mild and golden ales to five Allgates pubs in Wigan, Aspull, Crooke Village, Hindley and Mow Cop. It also supplies guest beers to pubs across the North West.

Richard Morrice, who helped to organise and judge the event, said “We had an exceptional range to choose from this year,” and explained the rigorous judging process: “We judged the beers first on appearance, aroma and flavour and then a separate team evaluated their presentation in terms of bottle style and labelling.”

Porteresque will square up to its rivals when it goes on sale as part of Sainsbury’s Summer Beer Festival which runs across July and August.