Multi-award winning St Austell Brewery has launched its eagerly awaited new beer today (Thursday August 13).

The first bottles of Smugglers Ale were opened by St Austell Brewery’s head brewer, Roger Ryman, just days after he was named the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Brewer of the Year at the All Parliamentary Beer Group Dinner.

The new ale will now be made widely available in select St Austell Brewery pubs and shops across the South West.

Evoking history and folklore of centuries of smuggling on Cornwall’s rugged coastline, Smugglers is a deliciously smooth, vintage ale with an abv of 6%. Created from unique blend of dark ale and oak aged barley wine, after brewing Smugglers it is racked into oak whisky casks in St Austell Brewery’s Victorian vaults where it is left to mature for a minimum of three months.

Roger Ryman, St Austell Brewery’s head brewer, said: “It was great to launch our latest ale at Moor & More Beer. Smugglers is a truly complex beer with hints of whisky, creamy vanilla, toffee and spice.

“Smugglers was an old favourite at St Austell and we are delighted to give it a modern twist by ageing it in Oak Whisky casks and we look forward to it being enjoyed by beer lovers across the South West.”

Smugglers is the latest ale to be released by St Austell Brewery and it is the first brand new bottled beer to be launched by the Brewery following the installation of a new £750,000 bottling line earlier this year.