Landlord bitter, brewed by Keighley-based Timothy Taylor, is the best cask conditioned ale in the country.

The traditionally brewed beer snatched the gold trophy at the Oscars of the brewing industry.

In doing so, Landlord became the first beer ever to hold the two top national brewing awards for cask ale.

Last August it won the Champion Beer of Britain award at the Great British Beer Festival, at Olympia, organised by the beer drinkers pressure group the Campaign for Real Ale.

The latest award for Landlord was announced this week at the Guildhall, in London, where 60 brewers from throughout the world were judged.

Landlord's victory was announced in front of 600 brewers and their suppliers, and it qualifies the brewery to brand Landlord a champion beer.

To add to the glory, Timothy Taylor's Golden Best - a mild beer - won a silver medal in the same category.

There were nine winners in the cask conditioned category, which was divided into three different strength classes, and each was awarded a gold, silver or bronze.

They then all competed against each other, and Landlord took the overall prize and was awarded the supreme gold trophy.

Only British breweries entered the cask conditioned ale section because it is exclusively a British product, said a competition spokesman. There were eight sections, including international keg ales, international lagers, bottled and canned beers, speciality beers, strong beers, keg ales, stouts and porters.

Breweries entered the competition, which is held every two years, from Sweden, South Africa, the USA, Jersey, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Germany, Ireland and Orkney.

Timothy Taylor head brewer Peter Eells was one of the judges who tasted the beers blind. None of the judges sampled their own beers.

He says: "It is a privilege to be judged best by our peers. Quality ingredients and consistency in the brewing process are keys to our success."

And administration manager Geoff Drinnan says: "It's wonderful news. It's quite an achievement for Landlord to get the gold award."

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