News: September 2009

Broughton Ales has been boosted by the decision by Tesco to stock a new award-winning beer from the Borders brewery in its Scottish stores.

Tibbie Shiels Ale was the Scottish winner in the annual Tesco Drinks Awards competition, which seeks to find fine-tasting beers that are new to the market.

Broughton, which already supplies a range of ales to Tesco, anticipates that sales of the new beer could reach 250 cases a month.

Alastair Mouat, managing director of Broughton, said: ‘We were delighted to have won the Tesco Drinks Awards challenge, especially since we were up against stiff competition from many other Scottish breweries. We experimented with a number of blends and mixes until we came up with a beer that offers a complex, dark malty flavour and subtle hop aftertaste.’

The ale is named after Tibbie Shiels, who in the 19th century was the landlady of a renowned local inn frequented by Sir Walter Scott, Robert Lewis Stephenson and other literary figures. The Tibbie Shiels Inn, by the shores of St Mary’s Loch, near Selkirk, is still in existence today.