VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 8, 2012) - Russell Breweries Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RB) -

Russell Brewing Company, a Western Canadian craft brewery, won a silver medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup 2012 for its Russell IP'eh! India Pale Ale. This is the second time this beer has been honoured with a medal at the World Beer Cup - in 2010 it won bronze.

"The scope of this competition is huge", said Andrew Harris, President, Russell Breweries Inc. "There are so many amazing breweries, of all sizes, from all over the world being judged and we are thrilled that Russell Brewing was one of the eleven Canadian breweries honoured with medals. Congratulations to our entire team and a special thank you to our loyal supporters and customers at home".

The Brewers Association (BA) World Beer Cup 2012 is an international beer competition that evaluates and recognizes the most outstanding beers being produced in the world today. It is the world's largest and most prestigious beer competition. This year, an impressive group of 3,921 entries from 799 breweries from 54 countries entered into the competition. Gold, silver and bronze medals in the competition's 95 beer-style categories were awarded on May 5^th, 2012 during the World Beer Cup Gala Awards in San Diego, California.

Russell Brewing Company is a small-batch brewery located in the Strawberry Hill area of Surrey, British Columbia specializing in brewing high-quality flavourful ales and lagers. Russell Brewing Company and the Fort Garry Brewing Company in Manitoba are wholly owned subsidiaries of Russell Breweries Inc., a public company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RB" (TSX VENTURE:RB). [ www.russellbeer.com ] / [ www.fortgarry.com ]