Pints mean prizes!

Our Boutique Beers range has capped off a stellar year by scooping over 75 awards in the past few months.

With judging commencing in June and continuing throughout July and August, it is certainly a long and arduous road discovering the world's best beers. That was the task that faced the assembled groups of judges overseeing entries from Europe, Asia and the Americas on behalf of the World Beer Awards, an annual endeavour with the aim of selecting the best from internationally recognised beer styles.

All that hard work though seems to have paid off as the results are finally in. 27 beers in our range took home a medal, with the picks including the Best UK IPA for Brewdog Punk IPA & Best UK Wood Aged Beer for Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 Year Old. 

But it wasn't just in the World Beer Awards that the range triumphed. The International Beer Challenge handed out a whopping 49 medals and trophies to our beers, including golds for Bellerose and Mateo & Bernabe.

It's a tremendous testament to the fine brewers that we have the chance to work with, the dedication and passion of many of the world's smaller brewers really seems to be paying off. Our Boutique Beers range, which contains a over 130 products, has seen great growth over the past year with sales of these SKUs seeing 45% YOY* volume increases.

It is fantastic to see this sales growth backed up by awards success and it is an important tool in helping you market your selection. This year alone, 1/3 of our Boutique Beers range can be termed 'award winning'. Matthew Clark beer Category Manager, Justin Wylde said of the success, "Its great to see so many of our range win awards recently, it confirms the belief we had when we put this years Boutique Beers together, that we had amazing tasting beers that are worth stocking!"

If you like the sound of our Boutique Beers range, we would love for you to try it for yourself. In October we will running our final two beer events of the year in Birmingham and Edinburgh. You'll get the chance to talk to the brewers and discover more about how a Boutique Beers range can diversify your offering.

• *CGA Strategy P02 2015 to 21/02/15