Raise a glass to 45 years of brewery

Why, have a drink of course!

The Samlesbury AB InBev brewery has just celebrated its 45th anniversary.

On Friday, South Ribble Mayor Coun Linda Wollard cut a ceremonial ribbon and enjoyed lunch with some of the brewery’s 250 employees after a tour of the site.

And to mark the occcasion the brewery has produced a limited edition bottled beer – Salmesbeer.

Brewing manager Sven Kerstens said the limited edition beer was based on the brewery’s world famous Stella Artois.

But it was little fuller, and more bitter with its own distinctive flavour.

The brewery ran a competition among staff to design the label for the celebratory beer.

And the winner was Aleksandra Czupajlo, a lab technician.

The 23-year-old, from Blackburn, has worked at the site for one year.

She said: “It’s a good company to work for . I enjoy it.

“I saw the competition advertised and I love graphic design so I had to have a go.

“It took me about five or six hours to create it.

“I’ve tasted the beer – it’s nice.”

She won a pair of tickets for Wimbleton as a rewards for her efforts.

The first pint of beer was brewed at Samlesbury on March 31 1972.

Decades later and now with the capacity to brew a staggering 440 million pints of beer a year, The brewery produces 13 different beers in kegs, bottle and cans, including Stella Artois, Budweiser, and Becks.

Sven Kerstens said: “It’s a proud day for everyone.

“Although technology has moved on the brewing process is much the same. But the consistency and quality of the beers is superb these days.

“You can taste it time after time . We produce some of the best beers in the world and we are proud that this brewery has been recognised as producing the best Stella in the world.”

Part of reason Samlesbury was chosen as site for the brwery is the quality of water nearby and in particular the underground wells.

It is reputed that the water in the wells has been found to be 10,000 years old.

The brewery can produce 3.5 million bottles, 1.7 million cans and 17,000 kegs of beer in a single day.

The firm is committed to reducing its carbon footprint as well as evolving with the times.

Samlesbury Brewery says it expects exciting new brews and products in the future. Earlier this year, it began brewing Bud Light,

A spokesman said: “We expect that the range of beers we brew will increase over the next 45 years as the company seeks to provide customers with the widest possible range of choices.

“Another area that we see as ripe for development in the brewing industry is no-alcohol products.

“The category is growing in gin the UK and we don’t expect this to slow down for the forseeable future.”

AB InBev already produces Beck’s Blue in Germany. But it may also be produced at Samlesbury.