UK: The Indian lager, which is brewed under licence in the UK by Charles Wells, was awarded two Grand Gold medals at the Monde Selection awards in Belgium. It was the only British brewed beer to receive the top award this year. Cobra also won four gold medals for its bottled and canned beer from the Browar Belgia brewery in Poland, according to The Publican report from July 16.

The brand recently expanded its brewing operations into Poland as part of its strategy to move into the worldwide market.

Karan Bilimoria, founder and chief executive of Cobra, said: “We are doubly delighted that our beer brewed in Poland has been recognised with four Gold Medals upon its first ever entry in the competition.”

The Monde Selection awards were set up in1961 by the Belgian government for universally maintaining high standards of food and drink. The Grand Gold medal is only awarded to products that score higher than 90 per cent in any one category.

21 July, 2004