Stroud Brewery wins top sustainability award at the 'Oscars of beer'

Gloucestershire beer brand Stroud Brewery has been recognised for its lasting commitment to the environment with a top award from the UK society for independent brewers.

Owing to its use of organic ingredients, a plastic-free push and efforts to support wildlife, amongst other measures, the brewery received the Sustainability Award at the SIBA Business Awards this March 2025, as part of this year's BeerX UK event in Liverpool.

The award is the latest in a long list of accolades achieved by Stroud Brewery over the years, from multiple gold awards for its beer, to recognition of the sustainability of both the business and its taproom.

Organised by SIBA — the Society for Independent Brewers and Associates, which works to promote independent brewing in the UK — BeerX is the country's biggest beer event, bringing together independent brewers, pubs and retailers from across the UK to showcase products and celebrate achievements, with seminars, talks and panel debates about all aspects of the industry.

Founder and managing director, Greg Pilley and a small delegation from the brewery attended the event to accept the award.

With a background in wildlife conservation, Greg says the brewery’s role within the local community, its ethics and its impact on the environment mattered to him from the early days of starting the business over 18 years ago, when sustainability in the beer industry was thought of as 'a bit weird'.

The brewery says that today, it serves as 'an inspiring business model' for how the corporate world can combine commercial activities with 'responsibility towards people and the planet'.

Its sustainability practices include using organic ingredients to make its beer and food, helping wildlife while also supporting local farmers; sending its spent malt to be recycled locally as cattle feed; and putting bat roosting and bird nesting boxes under the eaves of its building.

In addition, 70 per cent of its suppliers are located within a 50 mile radius; and the business has been given the title of 'Plastic-free Champions' by environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage, for its efforts to reduce single-use plastic.

The team is constantly trying to think of 'imaginative' new ways to support the environment, from donating beer slops to make organic slug traps to help gardeners protect plants, to making beer with nettles.

Greg added: 'I want people to know that sustainability can be fun and a win-win for everyone.'