A WELL-KNOWN name in Cumbrian beer has been sold to a Scottish distiller and brewer.

Penrith's Eden River Brewery - formerly known as Eden Brewery - has been acquired by Guardbridge based Eden Mill for an undisclosed sum.

Eden Mill said the move would allow it to bottle and can its range of products in the North of England, making for quicker and smoother distribution.

Eden River is home to a state-of-the-art bottling plant.

It is hoped this will enable Eden Mill to increase production by an equivalent of 50,000 nine litre cases per year – more than doubling its current capacity - and create 12 jobs.

Eden River produces a range of traditional and modern craft beers which it sells to the Far East, as well as via retailers including Booths.

Jason Hill, director of Eden River, said: “When we were approached by Eden Mill, I knew immediately that this was the kind of company, and the right team of people we could work with.

"We all had a vision of the quality products and identified that highlighting the ‘craft’ aspects of our products would allow for us to expand yet stay personal to our customers.”

“Like Eden Mill, our company is very hands on and we are invested in making sure we are part of perfecting our products.”

Paul Miller, co-founder of Eden Mill ,said: “Thanks to a growth trend amongst our customer base and our ongoing partnership with big retailers such as, Aldi, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, our acquisition of Eden River Brewery will allow us to drastically increase our production on many of our products.

“Eden River Brewery is highly complementary to our business and we share commonalities in products and approach, making us hugely excited about our combined potential.”