A pale ale from an independent craft brewer in Cheltenham has claimed the heady prize of 2024's Number 1 British Beer in the Top 50 UK Beer Awards.

Just nine years down the road from inception, Lansdown Industrial Estate-based DEYA fought off 49 other entries to scoop the top award with Steady Rolling Man.

Described as "incredibly soft and delicate," the newcomer defeated some of the UK's best-loved beers and world's biggest beer brands to emerge triumphant, gaining the most votes from a panel of 150 beer experts.

The Top 50 UK Beer Awards celebrates the best-selling, best made and most influential beers currently available in the UK.

Theo Freyne, DEYA Brewing Co-Owner, said: "Steady Rolling Man is the first beer we brewed at DEYA and it remains our most important and potentially most delicious beer. We are so thankful that Steady has become a go-to beer for so many people - cheers to all our lovely customers!"

Greg Wells, co-founder of award organisers and beer speciaists We Are Beer, said: "We wanted to create an award that celebrated all beer styles and in which brewers big and small could compete on an equal stage. We created a panel of esteemed experts from across the industry and the voting process is as simple and transparent as possible.

"As a result, truly great beers from lesser-known British craft breweries, such as the DEYA Brewing Company, as well as great British classics such as Timothy Taylor's Landlord, have emerged triumphant and proves the skill and craftsmanship that lives on in the UK brewing scene."

He added that he hoped that by recognising and celebrating the best beers in the UK every year, the award will encourage more people to get down the pub or local taproom and try some of the new and exciting beers being produced every year "in support of Great British brewing".

The awards results also showed an increasing thirst for No and Low drinks, with three making the list, in the form of Suffolk brewery Adnams' popular Ghost Ship 0.5% beer, the alcohol-free Lucky Saint Lager, and the 3% abv Table Beer from London craft brewer, The Kernel Brewery.

At the other end of the menu, Tennent's Lager, meanwhile, made a surprise appearance at number 38, arguably the best-known big beer brand to make the cut. For the full list of the Top 50 Beers 2024 see below.

● Judges, comprising brewers, retailers and journalists, were invited to vote on their favourite. In order to register a vote for a beer, the judge had to have tasted it within the last 12-months, it had to be brewed in the UK, and guest beers could not be nominated.