WHAT a result!

No sooner had the Yorkshire Day celebrations subsided, than we got the best beer news possible.

Rudgate, in Tockwith, this week did what no York or North Yorkshire brewery had ever done before, when it won the Grand National of the beer industry.

At the Great British Beer Festival in London, the brewery’s humble Ruby Mild (4.4% ABV) was named the Champion Beer of Britain, becoming the first brewery from our region to scoop the title since the competition began back in 1978.

Brewery owner Craig Lee was ecstatic.

“'It’s an excellent achievement,” he said. “We’ve come close in previous years and we are really proud to have won.

"It’s unbelievable, and we hope our beer helps popularise the cause of real ale.”

No sooner had news of the award made it back to York, than I was on the phone to the brewery, to find where it was available.

Here’s the vital lowdown… KoKo International Bar in Goodramgate should have some in next week, but the only place in York to have it at the moment seems to be the Guy Fawkes Inn, in High Petergate.

Outside York, you can head to the Royal Oak in Dacre or either Blind Jack’s or The Mitre, both in Knaresborough.

For me, it was just a short stroll through town to the Fawkes to see whether it really was as good as it had been claimed.

I was a little early, as the Ruby Mild was still waiting to be connected to the tap when I arrived. The good man on the bar agreed to set it up in the cellar though and, after whiling away the wait with a pint of Nick Stafford’s Hambleton monthly special – a pale ale called Yorkshire Lager (4% ABV) – the wait was over.

The judges described a “nutty, rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild” and – as you’d expect from the experts – they got it spot on.

It’s very rich and, while probably more appealing in autumn or winter than summer, it was a truly cracking pint.

One of these days, technology will be so advanced that we’ll be able to include some form of “scratch and sniff” facility alongside this column.

Until then though, get yourself along to the Guy Fawkes or KoKo’s, and celebrate a true Yorkshire champion.