WYE Valley Brewery, of Stoke Lacy and Hereford-based Spinning Dog Brewery are celebrating winning the silver and bronze medals respectively, in a competition to find the best beer in the Midlands.

Over 400 beers from 67 different brewers of all sizes from across the Midlands were judged in the annual CAMRA competition.

Wye Valley Brewery has been awarded the silver medal for their Hereford Pale Ale (HPA). It is a light-coloured well-balanced beer, with an alcoholic strength of 4%. An ever-popular beer in and around Herefordshire pubs, Hereford Pale Ale (HPA) has been supplied to more and more pubs across the UK in recent years, and like Wye Valley Brewery itself, is no stranger to awards.

Mark Haslam of Herefordshire CAMRA states: "Wye Valley Brewery has been expanding year-on-year. Their business plan very much focuses on quality first, as a way of attracting more people to local beers. HPA is considered to be at the vanguard of this strategy, and this prize appears to justify what they are doing. It appears that its many drinkers can't be wrong!"

Bronze medal went to the Spinning Dog Brewery. Located behind the Victory pub in St.Owen St., brewer, Jim Kenyon, prides himself on brewing unashamedly distinctive beers, many with unusual names. Also no stranger to awards, Spinning Dog won the bronze medal with their Mutleys Revenge - a stronger beer at 4.8% alcohol; it is an amber-coloured, smooth dry and hoppy beer with a citrus aftertaste.

Mark Haslam adds: "Spinning Dog is now the sole brewery in the city itself, and this prize will further assist in raising awareness of what it has to offer from its varied and interesting beers. Hopefully, this prize will give them the confidence to keep experimenting with different beers. Well Done!"