The Stag Beer Voted Best for Quality
A judging panel has decided that a Forfar pub serves the best quality pints in Scotland.
Castle Street establishment The Stag scooped the prize at the Scottish Licensed Trade News Awards.
Event host Martin Compston and guest speaker James Corden presented the award at the Glasgow Hilton ceremony.
Stag owner Susan Campbell said: “It’s a great achievement. We’ve been in the top three for the last four years and this year we won it for a second time.”
Susan revealed that it takes quite a lot of effort to produce the country’s best pint.
She said: “We’re quite stringent in keeping everything in order. We’ve got processes and procedures for everything.
“We keep a timescale as to when it gets done, which is very frequently. We don’t let the quality of our beer slack.”
The awards are based on feedback from a judging panel appointed by Scottish Licensed Trade News.
Susan said: ” They generally judge on Tennent’s, but they also judge on the entire pub. It’s the building, the cellar, it’s the pipes and how you clean.
“There’s a whole big list they go through, they’ve got pages of checks to go through. There’s a lot to it. We have to keep records of things.”
Susan said that being away from the big cities limits the beers The Stag can stock.
She said: “We cater for who the people are in the town.
“The best-selling beer we have is Tennent’s but we’ve put some different ones on for a change. If anyone asks for a specific beer, we’ll give it a try.
“Our kegs aren’t different to anyone else. it’s the quality we put in. With Tennent’s it has to be done properly.
“If the temperature or the cooler isn’t right, you’ll get a rubbish pint.
“How you look after everything goes towards making a good pint.
“That’s what we’ve been recognised for, the overall care of everything we do. From the time the keg is delivered to when we serve it to the customer.
“It’s the overall package.
“We’re constantly doing it and customers can tell the difference.”
Susan was joined at the ceremony by colleague Kim Henderson.
Susan added: “It was a really good night.”
This article appeared in The Courier on 9 November 2024.
