Fuller, Smith & Turner, the premium pub and hotel operator, has named Angus McKean and Claire Morgan from The Red Lion in Barnes as winners of the Master Cellarman of the Year Award 2019.
Claire and Angus have been recognised for the outstanding quality of beer in their pub. They impressed judges with the care they put in to their cellar and their passion for always serving the perfect pint. Claire and Angus joined six other pubs in the finals: The Berkley Arms in Bosham, The Crystal Palace in Bath, The Jugged Hare in Victoria, The Merchant in Canary Wharf, The Old Customs House in Portsmouth and The Stag in Leighton Buzzard.
The Master Cellarman of the Year Award celebrates those pubs in the Fuller’s estate that have consistent, high quality beers. Throughout the year, Fuller’s pubs are regularly visited by Trade Quality Advisors and given an audit score. During these thorough checks, the Trade Quality Advisors inspect cellar hygiene and dispense equipment. Samples of beer are also analysed to ensure customers are receiving the best quality product possible.
The pubs that average a score of 96% throughout the year during these visits are entered in to the running for the Master Cellarman of the Year Award. Trade Quality Advisors then re-visited the pubs and those that stood out due to their attention to detail went through to the final round of judging.
The final round judges were last year’s winner, Monica Lishman from The Beehive in Wandsworth and Trade Quality Team Leader for Asahi, Ashley Cherrett.
Regarding the decision to name Angus and Claire as the winners of the award, Ashley Cherrett said: “This was another well-deserved win for The Red Lion – the standards at the pub were fantastic. But we were extremely impressed with the consistently high quality maintained throughout the cellars and bars in all the pubs we visited in our final round of judging.
“It was a tough decision and all finalists should be proud to have made it that far in the competition – especially The Stag in Leighton Buzzard who came second, The Crystal Palace in Bath who came third and The Old Customs House who won Best Newcomer.”
On winning the award, Angus said: “We put a lot of time into staff training and cellar quality, and the award shows that paying attention to all the finer details comes together to form a bigger picture. Winning the award is recognition of all the hard work the team has put in.
“I think it’s important to note, if you are able to commit and have an eye for detail on what is a relatively simple process – beer and drink dispense – other parts of the business will also benefit from this mindset.”