A KEIGHLEY brewery has enjoyed heady success in a national beer contest.

Timothy Taylor scooped a gold award for its Boltmaker brew, which was crowned best bitter at the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Champion Beer of Britain awards.

The accolade was handed out at an awards ceremony at the Olympia Hilton Hotel in London, next door to Olympia, which is staging CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival.

Boltmaker was previously crowned the Champion Beer of Britain in 2014, when it also won best bitter, and picked up a bronze award last year.

Taylor's chief executive, Tim Dewey, said the brewery was delighted to regain gold.

He added: "Winning a gold medal is a great achievement.

"Competition is fierce as there are so many excellent breweries in this country with new ones popping up all the time.

"We pride ourselves on taking extra time and care in traditional hands-on brewing and making no compromises when it comes to the quality of ingredients."

Head brewer Andrew Leman said all the staff at the Knowle Spring brewery were pleased to have won the gold award and picked up accolades three years in a row.

He said: "It's great to see a traditional Yorkshire bitter being a consistent medal winner in what is a very strong category."

Beers are put through nearly a year of tasting panels and regional heats to compete at the festival.

Final judging was held at the event, which attracts over 50,000 people.

CAMRA's national director responsible for the competition, Nik Antona, said: "This year all the judges commented on how high-quality the beers were in the final stages of the competition and what a wide range of styles they had to try and choose between."

The organisation's chairman, Colin Valentine, praised Boltmaker as "a classic example of a Yorkshire-style bitter".

Also successful in the contest was Saltaire Brewery, which earned a bronze award for its Triple Chocoholic.

It was up against tough opposition in its category, with Berkshire-based Bingham Brewery’s Vanilla Stout claiming the gold award as well as the top prize of Champion Beer of Britain.

Managing director Ewen Gordon said the brewery was happy and humbled to be recognised in the awards.

He said: "It is fantastic to achieve such industry recognition and an award that has been judged by CAMRA.

"It is a great endorsement of the work that the whole team puts in to create some of the best beers in Yorkshire."