Left to right: Brendon Dennett, Director of CAMRA Scotland Stuart McMahon and Nathan Wall. Photo by Ronnie Beveridge
Five Kingdoms, Scotland’s most southerly brewery, won both Gold and Silver in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Scotland competition at the Ayrshire Real Ale Festival in Troon
Dark Storm (6.9% ABV) and McGregor’s Mild (3.8% ABV) from Five Kingdoms, Isle of Whithorn have won Gold and Silver in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Scotland 2025 competition.
Gold winner Dark Storm was praised by judges as: “A smooth, rich and creamy stout with a long, dry finish.” The beer has previously won Silver in last year’s Scotland competition and CAMRA’s overall Champion Bottled Beer of Britain in 2024.
Silver was also claimed by Five Kingdoms, with their McGregor’s Mild. One of the few examples of the mild beer style found in Scotland, it is proving to be a very popular beer, renowned for its sessionable strength. No stranger to awards, the beer previously won Bronze in the Mild category of the Champion Beer of Britain 2024.
Judges commended the beer as a “traditional mild with low hop and loads of malt for easy drinking.”
Bronze was won by Cairngorm Brewery’s premium bitter, Wildcat (5.1% ABV). The beer was also awarded Gold in the Premium Bitter category in the overall Champion Beer of Britain 2025 competition at the Great British Beer Festival in August.
Judges described the beer as: “A full-bodied, warming strong bitter with complex malt and fruit flavours with an underlying hop character.”
The Champion Beer of Scotland is the highest honour that Scottish CAMRA members can award to a brewery. The Dan Kane Memorial Quaich was presented to Five Kingdoms’ brewers Brendon Dennett and Nathan Wall by Director of CAMRA Scotland Stuart McMahon during the Ayrshire Real Ale Festival.
Congratulating Five Kingdoms, Stuart said:
“All the judges were in agreement that Dark Storm was a worthy winner. It is rapidly gaining cult classic status at the brewery with its name reflecting its colour and strength, but is super smooth, rich and creamy on the palate. It was great to celebrate Five Kingdoms’ success at the Ayrshire Real Ale Festival.
“Scotland has some amazing beers of all styles being produced by independent brewers. It is worth seeking out our award-winning brews like Dark Storm, but with global brewers and pub companies having a stranglehold over the market, it is hard for Scottish pubgoers to access the fantastic beers on their doorstep.
"The new ‘guest beer right’ in the Scottish Pubs Code is a good start helping pub licensees to serve a beer of their choice from a local brewer, but we need the UK Government’s ongoing Access to Market Review to introduce significant changes to help provide true choice for beer and cider lovers by making sure local and independent breweries can get their beers on taps at the bar.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Photos of the award presentation are here.
CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Scotland winners are:
Gold - Dark Storm, Five Kingdoms
Silver - McGregor’s Mild, Five Kingdoms
The Champion Beer of Scotland winner is presented with the Dan Kane Memorial Quaich, a trophy named after the celebrated CAMRA campaigner who was lost to leukaemia in 1992, aged just 45.
More information about Champion Beer of Scotland here.
A further presentation with their certificates will take place at the Steam Packet Inn, Isle of Whithorn on Saturday 18 October at 2pm.
Ayrshire Real Ale Festival
CAMRA’s Ayrshire Real Ale Festival is Scotland's largest cask beer festival, showcasing almost 150 UK beers plus real cider and perry.
The 2025 festival took place at the Troon Concert and Walker Halls 2-4 October.
The event will return next year 1-3 October 2026.
More information about the festival is here.
