A fruity beer produced by Elgood’s Brewery tasted like gold to competition judges as it was named the best in its class at an event in south east England.

The Wisbech brewer’s Coolship lambic-style fruit beer won the gold medal in the speciality beer category at the Society of Independent Brewers’ south east beer competition – and won the bronze medal overall.

The beer was selected by 90 judges as the best in its class at the event, held in Tonbridge, where brewers from all over the south east region competed.

Coolship Fruit, which has an ABV of five per cent, is light purple in colour with a sparkling finish.

Blended with raspberry and a hint of blackberry, the sweet flavour is offset by smooth sourness of the lambic-style beer.

Elgood’s is the only regional brewer in the country able to produce a lambic-style beer, due to owning a unique pair of open cooling trays known as ‘coolship trays’.

These allow the beer to cool naturally overnight, attracting a range of wild yeasts and flavours dominant in the area.

The beer then undergoes a spontaneous fermentation over a period of six to nine months.

Claire Simpson, Elgood’s marketing director, said: “It’s fantastic to be receiving such accolades for our new lambic/sour beers.

“We are now brewing at full capacity for our sour beer range and due to increasing demand, plan to install a further two tanks later this year.”

The range of Coolship ales are available in 30-litre kegs. Coolship Fruit is also available in 330ml bottles.