Staggeringly Good is hailed dino-mite by CAMRA award team

DINOSAURS, vegan beer and planning pirate-themed festivals on a historic ship are all in a day's work for award winning brewery Staggeringly Good.
A previous WarriorFest run by the Staggeringly Good brewery in FrattonA previous WarriorFest run by the Staggeringly Good brewery in Fratton
A previous WarriorFest run by the Staggeringly Good brewery in Fratton

Founded by Joe Ross, Jon Chapman and Russ Cox in 2016, the group of friends have seen enormous success with their unique watering hole-cum-brewery, based in Fratton.

Since its launch, the company has featured in beer app Untappd’s top 20 breweries in the UK.

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More recently, the team scooped CAMRA’s Brewery of the Year award for the second time in succession.

From July 27-28, Staggeringly Good will celebrate its second anniversary with a two-day pirate and dinosaur-themed festival aboard HMS Warrior, dubbed WarriorFest.

Last year, the event hit capacity with 450 revellers.

This year, the team have invited 1,200 guests, with the first 1,000 tickets selling out in just 48 hours.

Joe said: ‘We’re thrilled to receive the award a second time.

‘It’s a big boost as we’ve been busy planning Warriorfest.

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‘The event was so popular last year so we’ve added new features including more live music, sea shanty singers, a magician and a Brunel bar, incorporating the heritage of Portsmouth and showcasing the places Brunel ended up in, including Bristol.’

Staggeringly Good is famous for its collaborations, its most recent being a team up with Bristol-based brewery, Good Chemistry.

Joe added: ‘The Bristol collab means we’ve got a lovely smoked stout that is currently ageing in oak whiskey barrells, ready for WarriorFest.’

A popular collaboration involved a pair up with Solent Oyster Restoration Project to create a ‘Bishops Slayer’ beer.

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Joe added: ‘We raised donations for the cause and raised awareness of the history of Havant’s connection with oysters.

‘We used oyster shells to enhance the flavour of the beer, a process popular back in the day.’

Cemented in the local community, the trio are also selling their hoppy brews as far out as Poland and Holland.

Joe added:‘There’s a lot of breweries out there but we work hard to make sure that we’re ahead of the game in all aspects.

‘We create a new beer every week to challenge ourselves.

‘It helps us to stay creative.’

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Tim Mathews, secretary of CAMRA Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Branch said: ‘I am not surprised that Staggeringly Good won again.

‘They are innovative and passionate about producing great-tasting beers, and it shows.

‘Personally, I buy more of their product than any other.’