A fruit beer has been named the winner of a national “Brewed for Morrisons Beer Festival 2017” competition. The competition, which saw the retailer stock a range of new brews throughout October, has awarded micro-brewery, St Peter’s, a national contract for its winning beer Plum Porter, a brand new fruit beer. Plum Porter is ready to go on shelves in 400 Morrisons stores nationwide. Steve…

The Benevolent has launched its new mental health awareness campaign #NotAlone, which aims to encourage members of the trade to speak freely about mental health issues within the workplace, creating a stigma-free environment. At the end of last year The Benevolent announced it would take on an active role in the social movement aimed at changing the perception of mental health difficulties. The campaign was…

Chris Porter is taking over from retiring incumbent David Cox as chief executive of drinks trade charity The Benevolent. Porter was chairman of the charity in 2013-14 and raised a great deal of funds for members of the trade that have fallen upon hard times. He notably raised visited all 91 of the UK’s league football grounds in 14 days without a car to raise money.

Diageo’s pipeline of innovation coming out of its Guinness Brewers Project has continued with the launch of a rye pale ale. The 5% abv brew uses crystal malt to balance a biscuit-like flavour with citrus and peppery notes, according to the brewer. The Guinness rye pale ale joins Dublin porter, West Indies porter, golden ale and Hop House 13 lager in the ever-increasing range, Peter…

Treasury Wine Estates boss Dan Townsend has been appointed the new chairman of drinks charity The Benevolent. Townsend, who has previously worked for Matthew Clark, Constellation Europe and Louis Latour Agencies, pledged to use his extensive contacts to raise the profile of The Benevolent and drive financial support from the trade. Townsend, who replaces outgoing Chris Porter and will hold the role for two years,…

Guinness has launched two porters inspired by 18th and 19th-century recipes discovered in its historic brewers’ diaries. Guinness Dublin Porter and Guinness West Indies Porter are the first releases from a new brewing project at the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, that gives the company’s brewers more licence to try out new recipes or reinterpret old ones. Guinness marketing director Stephen O’Kelly said: “As…

Box Steam brewery has released a dark porter called Evening Star in honour of the last steam train ever built in Britain. The 7.4% abv brew is nearly black in colour and has flavours of vanilla, chocolate and coffee. It comes in 75cl stoneware bottles designed to encourage sharing over dinner. It retails at between £10-14. Kevin Newbould, sales manager for Evening Star, said: “We…