Shoppers are going for Gold

BOTTLES of Lincolnshire's newest beer have hit the shelves.

Lincoln Gold, the latest addition to the Tom Wood's range, went on sale at Lincolnshire Co-operative stores across the county last week.

The light-coloured beer, which has been available on draught in pubs since the end of last year, was launched in bottle form to mark Lincolnshire Day – toasted on October 1.

It was one of three new local products launched in Lincolnshire Co-op stores to celebrate the county's rich food heritage.

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And it marks the latest step in the Melton Ross brewery's bid to make its ales the drink of choice for beer-lovers across the county – 18 months after it was rescued from liquidation.

The focus of the new company – Tom Wood Beers Ltd – which emerged from the demise of Highwood Brewery, has been very much on quality rather than variety.

Following the takeover by a six-strong consortium, the range of six beers was reduced to two – Bomber County and Tom Wood's Best Bitter – before the launch of a third new ale, Lincoln Gold, at the end of last year.

Brewery manager Tom Wood said the deal with the Lincolnshire Co-operative – which already stocks bottles of Best Bitter – tied in perfectly with the brewer's ethos of "supplying local beer for local people".

He said: "We have an affinity with Lincolnshire and we're fiercely proud of our English ingredients, traditional methods and supplying local beer for local people.

"Lincolnshire Co-op is a really fitting partner. It is very supportive of what we do and it is absolutely great to do business with. It is great at promoting local suppliers and covers the perfect geography for us. We are not interested in selling our beers in London. Our plan is very much to increase our customer base for the three products within the local area."

Mr Wood believes that increased exposure in local shops will only help raise the profile of the beer across the county – crucially, to licensees in particular.

He said: "This creates a great opportunity for the forward- thinking licensee to say to customers 'Come to our pub and try this in cask form'.

"The message we are trying to get across is when you go to a pub, you should be able to have a local beer that's employing local people and putting money back into the local economy.

"Local pubs are very proud to advertise that they are using local butchers and rightly so. They should be equally proud of serving local beers.

"We are confident that once a consumer tries this they will realise that this is as good as any other beer in the UK.

"Our aim is to get to the position where when someone walks into a pub in northern Lincolnshire, they know they want to be drinking one of our beers."