A LUDLOW business has made a big announcement, with an exciting new venture.

Ludlow Brewing Company has just launched Latitude 52, an English version of a premium pale Czech lager, takes its name and design cues from the brewery’s location, with Ludlow’s GPS coordinates being at 52 degrees north latitude, with Ludlow design company The Visual Works commissioned to create the lager's visual branding.

The launch marks a significant milestone for the brewery, which in the last two years has embraced the keg beer trend, while retaining a strong emphasis on traditional core cask ales.

Managing director Gary Walters said: “Latitude 52 is the first Ludlow Brewing lager to be launched since we founded the company in 2006. Launching our very first lager has been a huge new learning curve, but it’s been worth it now we have the finished result.

"I am delighted to be offering our own lager on tap here and to our on-trade customers; and couldn’t be prouder of our brewing team."Latitude 52 is everything a good lager should be: smooth, crisp and well-balanced flavours.”

Head brewer Cody Palin, who has overseen the project which has been in the pipeline since before covid, describes the beer as ‘a light, crisp session lager inspired by the original Czech-style Pilsner with a clean, refreshing palate. Crafted for timeless, exceptional refreshment.

He said: “We are thrilled to be offering a premium lager to our on-trade customers, and rolling this out later to off-sales. We are confident that Latitude 52 will become one of the stalwarts of our portfolio.”

The new lager plant has entailed the expansion of the cold storage warehouse, followed by installation of four steel brewing tanks; keg-filling machinery, and a state of the art CO2 recapture system. The new tanks have enabled the doubling of the brewery's previous capacity of 25,000 pints per week.

In line with the brewery’s planet-friendly pledges, the brewers use local ingredients where possible. The lager is no exception, brewed with nearly 100pc British Maris Otter, and British Magnum hops grown in nearby Stockton on Teme. Imported Czech Saaz hops and a small addition of German pale malt complete the ingredients.