A NORTH Yorkshire brewery is celebrating after one of its beers was named as among the best in Britain.

Black Sheep Brewery’s flagship strong ale, Riggwelter, was named among "Britain’s Champion Beers" at the Great British Beer Festival.

The accolade builds on the Masham-based brewery’s success at last year’s World Beer Awards, with its bottled Riggwelter claiming a silver medal in the Strong Dark Beer category.

The Great British Beer Festival, which is held at Olympia in London, features some of the UK’s leading brewers of real ales, ciders, perries and international beers.

Black Sheep marketing director Jo Theakston said: “We are absolutely delighted and honoured to have Riggwelter recognised as one of the country’s best strong beers, which is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our brewing team.

“Riggwelter has grown to become one of our flagship ales and to make the final cut is something we are extremely proud of, given the esteemed competition we were up against, which follows on from Riggwelter’s previous award successes.”

Jo added: “Alan Dunn and Phil Douglas who head up our brewing team and their colleagues deserve a special mention and praise as they continue to produce great Yorkshire beers day in, day out.

“Hopefully their creations will be rewarded with further recognition in the future.”