Redruth Stars Unveil New Shirt

Stars of Redruth Rugby Club took time off from normal duties to unveil a very special new rugby shirt that will raise funds for a two-year-old meningitis victim who has lost both his hands and both his legs. The Handstand Appeal is raising money to buy prosthetic limbs for Marshall Janson, of Carharrack in Cornwall and Redruth have “adopted” him and elected him honorary junior vice president of the club.

The new shirts, sponsored by Skinners Brewery as part of the Truro firm’s three-year support package, were unveiled on the club’s famous Recreation Ground by skipper Darren Jacques and first team colleagues Mark Bright, Sam Heard and Richard Carroll.  As well as the shirt sponsorship, Skinners are also producing a limited edition beer every year over their three-year sponsorship period.  The first, Handstand Hooch, went on sale recently. The new shirt, priced £39.95, is on sale in the Skinners Brewery Shop in Truro and through distributors Lovell Rugby (www.lovellrugby.co.uk).

“The design, manufacture and distribution of the shirt has been a substantial undertaking for everyone concerned and the brewery is delighted and privileged to be involved in such a worthy cause;  everybody is rooting for young Marshall,” said chief executive Steve Skinner.

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Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain

 A Cornish brewery has celebrated its biggest-ever competitive triumph with a return to London to collect its award at another famous venue. 

In August, Truro-based Skinners Brewery chalked up a Cornish first when its Betty Stogs won the Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain award in the 2008 Great British Beer Festival at Earl’s Court. 

The happy sequel saw a party of Skinners representatives, including the real-life “Betty”, attend CAMRA’s annual awards lunch at Lord’s, the home of cricket. A framed commemorative certificate and gold rosette were presented to managing director Steve Skinner by CAMRA chair Paula Waters.  Mr Skinner said he and all his colleagues were “fantastically honoured” to have their best-selling beer win such prestigious recognition. 

The lunch was attended by around 250 representatives and guests of breweries from all over Britain, along with top beer writers and experts.  It was served with a selection of this year’s award-winning beers, including Betty Stogs accompanying the main course.  The programme also included a tour of the iconic cricket ground. 

The Earl’s Court festival was a double triumph for Skinners, whose Cornish Knocker Ale won bronze in the Golden Ale category.  This and Betty Stogs had been competing against thousands of other beers from up and down the country. 

“Now it’s time for the hard bit – doing as well again next year!” said Mr Skinner.  “We have succeeded through rigidly adhering to our policy of brewing the best beer with the best quality raw materials, including Cornish barley, and that’s the way it will continue to be in 2009.”

Cornish Ale Triumphs at Devon Festival

Truro-based Skinners Brewery has clocked up another big festival success with its best-selling Betty Stogs being judged champion best bitter at the CAMRA South Devon Beer Festival at Newton Abbot Racecourse. It was the latest in a sustained run of successes for the brewery, which last month took silver in the best bitter category of one of the UK’s biggest festivals, at Peterborough, with its Cornish Knocker ale. 

Last year Betty was crowned champion best bitter of Great Britain. “We are thrilled with this latest win which once again reflects our policy of not letting up one iota in our commitment to the very highest quality ingredients at all times,” said brewery chief executive Steve Skinner.

Betty Stogs was competing against over a hundred other real ales at Newton Abbot. Ales brewed by Skinners have won more awards than any other Westcountry brewery over the past decade.

BIG Sister For Betty

A winter-warmer “big sister” for Betty Stogs, the consistent best-seller for Truro-based Skinners Brewery throughout its 12-year history, will be launched at the CAMRA Falmouth Beer Festival on October 23-24. At ABV 5.3%, Betty’s Big Sister will be the second strongest in the Skinners range, after Jingle Knocker at 5.5% but ahead of the established Betty Stogs at 4%.

“We haven’t done a winter beer for several years but we’ve had an increasing demand for one,” says Steve.  “So this is our response.  She will be based on her better-known sister but a lot stronger and we will be inviting our customers to keep warm with her in winter!” 

The Falmouth Beer Festival is one of the biggest in the South West, with a selection of over 200 real ales.   At the 2007 event, Skinners capped its tenth anniversary year by sweeping the board in the Cornish section and was the only Cornish brewery to win any award.

Skinners Hat Trick At Falmouth

For the third year running, Truro-based Skinners Brewery won the Cornish champion beer title at the CAMRA Falmouth Beer Festival to qualify once again for next year’s Champion Beer of Great Britain competition.

This time it was the turn of Ginger Tosser – originally created for Pancake Day but now a permanent fixture in the Skinners stable -  to take the honours at Falmouth. Ginger Tosser won the speciality beer class and Skinners were also in the limelight elsewhere at the festival. Their newly-launched Betty’sBig Sister, now the second strongest in the Cornish brewery’s range, was the first barrel to be emptied at the trade night.  

Ginger Tosser was second overall in the entire festival, while Pennycomequick took silver in the stout class.It added up to another outstanding festival performance for Skinners, whose Betty Stogs was judged champion best bitter at the CAMRA South Devon Beer Festival at Newton Abbot last month.“It all reflects a great team effort by everyone involved in our hard-working brewery team and our Cornish barley growers,” said chief executive Steve Skinner.

Skinners Renews Shanty Support

Cornwall’s Skinners Brewery has renewed its sponsorship of the world’s biggest free maritime music festival for another year. Skinners has supported the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival ever since its inception in 2004.

The event has rapidly grown in scale and popularity and last year attracted some 350 singers from all over Britain and abroad and an aggregate audience of around 10,000, resulting in a £4,000 donation to the RNLI. For the 2010 event, from June 18-20, all the singers will be regularly refreshed with the aid of 2,000 pints of beer supplied free as part of the sponsorship deal with Skinners, who will also pay for promotional posters and corporate clothing for the organisers. “Many other maritime festivals around the world are in decline, but Skinners have been right behind us from day one and their continued support in these difficult economic times is a massive boost for everyone concerned,” said John Warren, spokesman for the Falmouth Shout group, who organise the festival. 

Twenty groups have already confirmed their attendance – just three short of last year’s best-ever figure. Skinners chief executive Steve Skinner commented:  “If ever there was a success story to make Cornwall proud, this must be it. It has become a massive feature on the county’s events calendar and we are delighted and privileged to be involved.  The mood and atmosphere generated by the singers is quite stunning and simply incomparable.”According to Mr Warren, there will effectively be unbroken singing through the festival, with at least one group in action at some point, at one of the six locations, throughout the event’s active hours – from 6 pm to midnight on June 18, midday to midnight on the 19th and midday to 4 pm on the 20th.