Evan-Evans Top Welsh Brewer - Cwrw top Welsh Brand at British Beer Festival

Award winning Brewer Evan-Evans was voted the top Welsh drink at the True Taste of Wales Awards at Abergavenny last night (Nov 19). The award is the second major prize for the company’s brands in the last 12 months.The company was voted the third best brewer in the UK in the Best Bitter Category at the Great British Beer Festival, the UK’s leading consumer Beer Festival. Chief executive Simon Buckley said: “This year my family celebrate 240 years of family brewing in Wales. “We have had a record year for winning awards. Cwrw has been voted the best beer in Wales for draught beer, and now for the bottled version. I am extremely proud to win this award in this very special year for us as a family. I am also very proud to be carrying on the tradition of brewing great beers. We hope that Cwrw will now become the National Ale of Wales. This award is a huge credit to our brewing team in Llandeilo, and they are now unquestionably the best brewing team in the specialist market in Wales. We are now brewing for some of the biggest national and regional brewers in the UK, and hope to launch a series of new cask ale brands in the early spring. There is little question that the market is difficult and likely to get worse, but there is no doubt that winning these awards will keep us at the very top of Welsh brewing.” The brewery is based in Llandeilo West Wales. Some Facts About Cwrw Cwrw is Welsh for beer. Evan-Evans is owned by Simon Buckley, 51, whose family have brewed in Wales since 1767, Evan-Evans has a reputation for brewing the highest quality cask-conditioned beers. Evan-Evans is Wales’s largest specialist brewer of cask ale. The company started brewing in 2004 to produce specialist cask ales for the Welsh and national guest ale market. A few words about the Buckley brewing tradition The brewing heritage of the Buckley family stretches back to the early 19th century after the Rev James Buckley married the eldest daughter of Henry Child who had founded Childs Brewery in Llanelli. It was set up to slake the thirst of the town’s tinworkers, who were rapidly increasing in numbers. The clergyman’s 18-year-old namesake James Buckley is today part of the seventh generation and each one before him has been directly involved in the industry. His father, Simon, was the last Buckley to brew at Llanelli before moving to London in 1984. Buckleys Brewery had the distinction of being the only Welsh brewer to hold a royal warrant. In 1991 it became Crown Buckley when it was taken over by a subsidiary of Guinness. It was sold to Brains in 1997 and the Llanelli Brewery closed a year later. Evan-Evans was actually founded in Llandeilo in 2003 and began brewing in 2004. It is named after William Evan-Evans who married into the family four generations ago. This summer Mr Buckley acquired the remains of Archers of Swindon for an undisclosed sum. Archers, which until March this year brewed in Swindon, went into administration following a period of difficult trading. The brewery has been acquired by the Buckley family to extend its Welsh brewing operation, and to give it access to new markets in the South West along the M4 corridor into London. In July, Mr Buckley opened a new traditional pub in Cardiff - the first traditional pub to be built in the city for 25 years. The £1million development in the former RAFA club in Cathedral Road represented a significant investment in the capital city for West Wales-based Welsh Estates Ltd and the Evan-Evans Brewery. Mr Buckley was responsible for the development of the Cayo Arms in Cardiff in 2000. The pub was voted one of the top 50 pubs in the UK after its launch. The new pub in Cathedral Road is called Y Cadno (The Fox).