One of Cumbria’s newest real ale producers has won top prize at the Beer of the Year Awards run by the Solway branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

The Carlisle Brewing Company was set up three years ago by Alain and Alison Davis, who run The Spinners Arms at Cummersdale, as a way of boosting income.

Spun Gold was their second beer, produced in converted buildings at the rear of the pub. It immediately won Beer of the Festival at the 2013 CAMRA Beer Festival and has since gone on to be the brewery’s best seller.

It again took top honours at Carlisle Beer Festival held at The Venue last weekend.

Festival organiser Paul Claringbold said the beer was one of eight shortlisted from local breweries and then voted for by the Solway CAMRA members.

Mrs Davis explained why the couple had launched a brewery. She said: “Pubs were going through a difficult time then and real ale was the only major growth area that the industry was seeing.

“It was a natural process to start brewing ourselves.”


The couple applied for a grant from Defra, went on training courses and set up the brewery in September 2013. Mr Davis said: “We started brewing for the pub with the plan being to supply a few other places with the extra casks we produced.

“But things went really well and we found ourselves quite quickly at the point where demand was higher than the amount of beer we could produce.

“We were getting good feedback on the beer and were really enjoying developing new recipes.”

They made the decision to expand in 2015 and, with support from Cumbria LEP and Enterprise Answers, moved to bigger premises at Kingstown Industrial Estate.

Mr Davis added: “We now have a core range of 11 recipes covering hoppy blondes through to an oatmeal stout that we produce on a regular basis.

“Spun Gold is our best selling beer – it has a distinctive red-gold colour, which comes from the Maris Otter and Crystal malt used, and a sweet, balanced flavour.

“We are very proud of it and we’ve had great feedback from people drinking it.”