AN AWARD-WINNING brewery has opened its doors to a brand new visitor centre.

Based near Montgomery, The Cottage is a place to experience Monty’s Brewery, with experienced workers on hand to talk about how everything is made.

The Cottage is situated just a short walk from the main Monty's production facility and marks the first phase of a plan to create a destination venue for real ale fans and a main attraction in Mid Wales.

Monty's sales director Russ Honeyman said: “It’s the ideal spot to enjoy a pint of your favourite Monty's tipple, learn about the brewery and how we brew."

Following their participation in a Welsh Government Trade Development visit to Finland and Sweden at the end of September, Monty's then hosted their first visitor tour.

The tour enabled them to showcase and sample beers in a comfortable and professional environment, which resulted in a new European export order, and pallets of the Welsh beer were sent to the Netherlands.

Mr Honeyman said: “The Scandinavian visit opened up new opportunities for us with regards to developing new business contacts and gave us ideas of how to develop the centre.

"All this would not have been possible without support from the Welsh Government and we hope that we can help by putting the excellent quality of Welsh beer on the global map.”

In addition to the visitor centre they also have a brewery shop, and a small meeting room to hire, with the main bar also available to hire for private functions.

Monty’s Brewery was awarded two stars in this year’s Great Taste awards for their Moonrise ale, as well as a Bronze Medal at the International Beer Challenge for their gluten-free beer Masquerade.