ST AUSTELL Brewery is celebrating the work of its environmental evangelists with a special green brew for this year’s Celtic Beer Festival, crafted by Alison Williams and Mike Goff from the Port William hotel at Trebarwith.

Green Hopped Pilsener was made using First Gold hops freshly picked and still green from Stocks Farm, Worcestershire, for the occasion and Alison and Mike won the chance to create the special brew after picking up first prize in a brewery-sponsored ‘Green Champions’ competition.

Run across the summer, the competition tasked all the company’s managed pubs and hotels to record their environmental activities on social media and Alison was nominated by Mike, her manager at the Port William, after dramatically reducing the amount of food waste sent to landfill from the pub by as much as 1,200kg in the busy tourist month of August.

Thanks to her efforts, Alison and Mike joined St Austell brewing team leader Rob Orton in the ‘Small Batch’ for a day to remember at the mash tun and the result of their efforts, the flavoursome Green Champion Pilsener lager, will make its debut at the Celtic Beer Festival on November 25.

Delighted with their day’s work, Mike said: “It’s been brilliant to be involved with the brew from the ground up. Selling great beer to customers in the pub is one thing but to know that you had a hand in making the beer they are drinking is just great. We’re really looking forward to trying it out at the beer festival.”

Rob said: “Our green champions really are at the heart of everything we do to be more sustainable in our operations and form a fundamental part of our corporate social responsibility to look after our countryside and our local environment. As the Celtic Beer Festival is another way for us to give back to the community through charity it was the perfect place for our green brew to get its first outing.”