Fuggles - West Kent CAMRA Pub of the Year

Last night a group of around 15 local West Kent CAMRA members gathered at Fuggles Beer Café in Tunbridge Wells for the presentation of the bar’s  award for Branch Pub of the Year. The evening also coincided with a “tap takeover” from Gun Brewery.

Fuggles was heaving, and was probably the busiest I’ve seen it, but I managed to squeeze in, and after buying a glass of one of the Gun Brewery beers, I made my way to the rear of the bar where I found my CAMRA colleagues waiting at two specially reserved tables.

I thought I had missed the presentation itself, but as luck would have it, things were running late, so I was able to witness Branch Chairman Craig handing over the certificate to Fuggles owner and founder, Alex Greig. I was unable to hear the speeches, but I know that the award was well received and well deserved.

Fuggles’ success reflects the dedication, hard-work and commitment Alex and his team have put in since opening their door for the first time, back in 2013.. With 20 ever-changing draught beers, including 6 cask ales, real cider and over 100 speciality & rare bottles, plus over 100 gins and whiskies, together  with food & coffee served all day,  Fuggles is definitely one of the premier go-to places in Tunbridge Wells. Other operators have had to raise their game, in order to compete, so the overall effect has been a general raising of standards. As if that wasn’t enough, Fuggles will be opening a new outlet, under the same name, in Tonbridge, later this summer.

Things were a little hectic last night, but the company was good and so were the beers. I stuck with the offerings from Gun; themselves a successful and highly rated brewery specialising in small-batch, unfiltered beers. They are based on an organic farm, at Gun Hill, deep in rural Sussex, and brew a wide range of well-crafted and highly drinkable beers.

For the record I enjoyed Vermont Pale 4.4%, Hons the Serenity 4.4%, Zamazama IPA 6.5% and Imperial Stout 7.4%. All were excellent, and all were keg – if that means anything. There were several other Gun Brewery beers I would like to have tried, along with a cask session ale from Thornbridge. However, with a busy day of work beckoning the following morning, I resisted the temptation.

So an excellent, if somewhat blurred evening. Congratulations to Alex and his staff on this well-deserved award, and I look forward to being able to drink beers of this calibre, within walking distance of home, once Fuggles opens in Tonbridge in a few month’s time.

Acknowledgments

Photos courtesy of Fuggles plus Craig and James Beesom. I did take a few of my own, but the quality left much to be desired, so thanks chaps.

Dark Star Brewing Company

Dark Star are the second largest brewery in Sussex, after Harvey's, but they have humble beginnings which can be traced back to the Pitfield Brewery in the Shoreditch area of London. Back in the mid-1980’s, Pitfield’s brewer Rob Jones, developed a porter, which he called Dark Star. The name came from the title of a track by his favourite rock band, the Grateful Dead; the legendary laid-back West Coast counter-culture, rockers. In 1987 the beer was voted Champion Beer of Britain. The beer is still brewed and is now known as Dark Star Original.

Rob took the recipe with him in 1994, when he moved to the Evening Star pub in Brighton where, in the pub cellar, on a  brew plant only marginally bigger than an oversized home-brew kit, the Dark Star Brewing Company was born. As well as continuing to brew the original porter-style beer, Rob and his colleagues  developed the characteristic style of hoppy beers which the company is renowned for today.

In 2001 the brewery relocated to a new purpose-built brewery at Antsy, near Haywards Heath, and then in 2010, they moved again to their current home, a 16,000-square-foot unit in the village of Partridge Green. The new 45 barrel brew-house was officially opened by veteran beer writer Roger Protz, and straight away led to a fourfold increase in production,

I first visited Dark Star, back in 2011 with my local branch, West Kent CAMRA, and last Saturday  the branch was privileged to visit the brewery again. I of course went along, and the first thing which struck me was how much the brewery  has expanded since that initial visit. Six years ago there was a significant amount of empty space, but now virtually every square foot appears to have been utilised.

Our party of twelve travelled down to Partridge Green by mini-bus, through the attractive Sussex countryside. Our journey down from Tunbridge Wells took us first to East Grinstead, and then across to Turners Hill. From there we travelled in a south-westerly direction, towards Handcross and then Cowfold, through what I always describe as “rhododendron country”. Although a non-native and rather invasive species, these rambling plants which originated in the Himalayas, have a beauty, which really comes into its own at this time of year.

On arrival, we were ushered into the main brewery where a table, set out with jugs of several varieties of Dark Star beer, was waiting for us. We were met by Matt Gayley, who is one of several brewers at Dark Star.  After introducing himself, Matt told us to help ourselves to the the beers. He then went on to tell us some of the history of the company, before introducing us to  Dark Star’s Head Brewer, Andy Paterson. Carrying on from where Matt had left off, Andy told us all about the  brewery before showing us round the place. Both our guides were very knowledgeable about the brewing process and also extremely passionate about the brewery and the roles they perform there.

We climbed up on the gantry to view the large, stainless-steel brewing plant which, despite the Bavaria name-plates on the four main vessels, was actually built in Hungary. It is a typical continental-style plant, with a mashing-in vessel and a Lauter tun. As hop separation is achieved by means of a whirlpool, hop pellets are used, rather than whole leaf hops. One interesting fact which came out was that far more hops go in at end of boil, than at the beginning. This is to ensure those lovely hop aromas remain in the beer without all the volatiles disappearing up chimney. Some beers are also dry hopped

Dark Star crush their own malt, which comes in palletised in bulk bags from Simpsons Malt. The company are looking at installing a malt silo, which will be cheaper in long term and will take up far less space. There had been talk of a further move, but with these sorts of better space utilisation, they should be able to stay where they are, although they are considering moving the beer maturation and storage facility, to one of neighbouring units on estate.

Another improvement they are looking at is to switch from the use of dried yeast, which has to be added fresh to every brew, to “wet slurry” yeast, which can be re-pitched several times. The company have own laboratory, and also a small, pilot-scale plant which enables them to develop new beers. At present, Dark Star brew between seven and ten times a week, with the capability of turning out two brews a day.

We saw the impressive rows of fermentation vessels as well as the aforementioned maturation area. Dark Star are still primarily a cask-ale brewer, although they do also package their beer in key-kegs as well as bottles and can. Most of us bought some bottles from the well-stocked shop at the front of the brewery.

We also partook further of the generous range of beer supplied, which included Hophead 3.8%, American Pale Ale 4.7%, Revelation 5.7%, Festival 5.0%, American Brown 5.0%, plus of course Dark Star Original 5.0%. There was also a special brew in the form of Six Hop Ale; ABV unknown, but as hoppy as its name suggests. I sampled all the beers, apart from Festival which I am not particularly keen on, but before people’s imaginations start getting carried away, the glasses were only third of a pint.

The tour of Dark Star was definitely one of the best brewery visits I have been on for along time, especially as we had the opportunity to chat with and ask questions of the head brewer. I would put it on par with the tours I made a couple of years ago, in the Low Countries, where I visited Rodenbach, De Mollen and the La Trappe Brewery at Koningshoeven.

If you can’t afford the time for a tour, then a visit to the brewery shop is also well worth while. Alternatively, Dark Star’s excellent beers can be purchased on-line.

Some unexpected surprises

There were a couple of unexpected surprises to round off yesterday’s trip into darkest Sussex, and they made for a pleasant end to the day. I am sure retiredmartin will appreciate them, so it is with him in mind that this brief post is written.

We left Downland Brewery, slightly later than anticipated; what is it with blokes, their beer and their ability to talk the hind leg off a donkey? The idea was to stop off in the pleasant town of East Grinstead for both a "comfort stop" and for more beer – as though we needed any! Our tour organiser had selected  the Open Arms; a recently opened micro-pub, and the first such establishment in the town.

He had contacted the pub several weeks ago to make sure they could accommodate our party of twelve persons, and received a positive response. He also phoned last week, just to remind them and to check it was still OK for our visit. Again the response was positive, so imagine our dismay when our mini-bus pulled up outside at just after 5.30pm to find the place well and truly shut.

Keeping an eye on the visitors

The Open Arms, was anything but open and with no sign of life inside, we were left with little option but to find somewhere else. Our driver was contracted to be back in Tonbridge by a certain time, so we were short of options, until our chairman Craig, suggested calling in at the Queen’s Arms, Cowden Pound, aka "Elsie’s".

The pub was just a short detour off our way home, and being closer to Tunbridge Wells than East Grinstead, our driver agreed. The only question was would the Queen’s Arms be open? Our question was well and truly answered as we approached the pub, as there were people outside queuing to get in. The car park was also quite full, with a coach parked in the road at the side of the pub. There was our answer.

We squeezed our way inside and eventually managed to get served. Larkin’s Traditional was the only beer on sale, although with no pump-clips on the hand-pulls it was difficult to know this. Martin found the same on his recent visit, and I’m not sure of the reason. Unfortunately the landlord and his helper were far too busy to answer such trivial questions, so I will leave the mystery unsolved until a future visit.

The Larkin’s was in top form though and just £3.20 a pint represented excellent value. We only had half an hour before our bus was due to depart, but after the day’s earlier excesses I was happy to just have the one. A few hardy souls managed two, but their constitutions are obviously a lot stronger than mine!

We discovered that the coach party were on their way back to Egham, having travelled down to Sussex for the Downland Brewery open day. I hadn’t realised that the brewery had opened especially for the presentation of our certificate, but word had obviously got round and the group from Egham had taken full advantage of it. Two of our group knew the person in charge of the Surrey contingent, who was none other than the steward of the town’s United Services Club; a venue which is renowned for its beer festivals which feature a choice of “hard to get” beers.

It was good to see the Queen’s Arms so busy, although the handful of locals hemmed in at the far end of the bar, looked a little bemused. We noticed one gent who was drinking “Gold Label” barley wine, poured from a can. Was this the same individual who Martin noticed? One of our party remarked that it was precisely because she didn’t want the pub to be swamped by coach parties, that legendary landlady, Elsie Maynard had insisted the Queen’s Arms should not be included in the Good Beer Guide.

We departed on time and our driver dropped various groups of along the way. The four of us remaining decided that a pint in the Humphrey Bean, Tonbridge’s JDW outlet, would be a good idea. It wasn’t that any of us really needed more beer, although in my case the alcohol was helping to numb a particularly bad toothache.

The pub was quite busy, but we managed to find a table. My three friends opted for the Black Dragon Welsh Cider, but I had other ideas as soon as I saw the pump-clip bearing the famous Red Triangle. I knew I could leave the Bean without having at least one pint of Draught Bass, but unfortunately it wasn’t the finest pint of this legendary beer, which has crossed my lips.

I admit that my palate would have been a little jaded after a day on the beer, but the Bass was flat as a pancake and had very little condition. It was nowhere near as good as the Bass I’d enjoyed the previous Saturday at the Express Tavern. On the plus side, it was good to see this beer in our local Spoons so that, plus the unexpected visit to Elsie’s, was the icing on the cake for what had been a most excellent day out.

"Beer of the Festival" awards

As some of you may have gathered, from a comment made in the last paragraph of my previous post, West Kent CAMRA hit the road again yesterday in order to present another brewery with an award picked up at last October’s Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival. We actually visited two breweries;  Downland, who won the award  and Dark Star, who are based about 15 minutes drive away. The latter had extended an open invitation for us to tour their brewery so, whilst we were in the area, it made sense to visit them alongside Downland, and we actually called in at Dark Star first.

I will be writing about these visits in greater detail, later on, but it’s useful to know that yesterday’s day out, along with the previous Saturday’s trip to London, was the branch’s way of saying “thank-you” to the many volunteers who helped out at the SVR Festival; without whose assistance the festival could not have taken place. Using these “thank-you” trips as an opportunity to present the winning breweries with their awards, made perfect sense, and gave attendees the chance to view the breweries for themselves, and to meet some of the people involved.

As one of the helpers at the festival, I went along for the ride, as it is always good to experience the wide variety of brewing operations which exist in southern England today. Apart from choosing a handful of beers from London, the SVR Festival deliberately confines itself to beers from the south-east corner of the country. This not only helps to keep costs down, but also gives festival goers the opportunity to try beers they may not have come across before, but which are nevertheless available in their own region.

So I am quite comfortable in going along on these trips, as I am obviously pleased that the individual breweries did well. I also fully appreciate that these awards mean a great deal to the individuals concerned. What I am a lot less comfortable about is the process by which winners of  the Beer of the Festival Competition are selected; not just at our own but at other CAMRA events as well.

To elaborate, how is it possible to single out any one beer from the myriad of different styles, strengths and flavours amongst the large number on sale at your typical CAMRA festival? For example, how could you choose between a well-hopped, aromatic pale ale or a rich dark and fruity winter ale, given that both these complete opposites are presented in first class condition?

Winning “Beer of the Festival” is often little more than a lottery, in a contest which is anything but objective. If proof were needed, just look at the number of times a new brewery “start up”  wins this award at a local festival.

Bill Bailey has just installed a brewery in his garage or shed, and the local CAMRA committee is understandably keen to get hold of his beer for their forthcoming festival. Come the event, local branch members are keen to try the new beer. They all think it’s wonderful and Bill’s beer is the first to run out. The beer is fresh in everyone’s minds,  they all thought it was great, so come competition time, they all vote for it, and it wins the top award.

The following year, Bill’s beer is again on sale at the branch festival, but another brewer has appeared on the scene, and the whole scenario repeats itself. This this time though, it is Fred’s beer or Angie’s, which is on everyone’s radar, and sometimes it doesn’t even matter if it is inferior in comparison to last year’s winner. Because it is different and something new, people’s minds tend to become focussed on it and because of this increased awareness they all vote for it.

I can, say hand on heart, that I have never voted for any beer in any championship, or other awards,  organised by CAMRA. This is not some “holier than thou” stance; it is more a question of me having been round the block enough times to have observed these contests with the cold eye of detachment. “Beer of the Festival” is often nothing more than a lottery, where it is down to pure chance, and total randomness as to which beers win; or it is a re-run of the scenario just described above.

To add balance to the debate, CAMRA’s national festivals (GBBF and Winter Ales Festival), get round the problem of trying to compare, and judge, totally different beer styles, by having separate categories (mild, bitter, best bitter, golden ale, strong ale, porter, stout, barley wine etc), but this is not the case with smaller festivals. So, whilst it seems almost mandatory to run some type of “Beer of the Festival” competition, is there any real benefit in this, or is it just a case of going through the motions?

You could argue that these types of competition are just a bit of fun, but if this is the case, why does CAMRA attach so much importance to them? As proof of the latter CAMRA provides a service whereby branches can order certificates for whichever sort of award they wish to commemorate; “Beer of the Festival”, “Pub of the Year”, “Runner-up” in these categories etc. My own branch of course, takes advantage of this, and with a little forward planning we can order whatever certificate we wish; all we have to do is provide the frame and these can be picked up now in most Pound Shops for next to nothing.

I suspect CAMRA views these competitions and their attendant awards as a useful campaigning tool, which also provides the campaign with some welcome publicity. Winning these awards also represents an important achievement for the breweries concerned; so why deny them their place in the sun?

The answer is not to deny them, but instead to take them with a hefty pinch of salt and, if they provide the opportunity to forge closer links between the award winners and CAMRA, then that can only be a good thing.

I enjoyed yesterday’s trip, but for me it was a lot more than “just a ride”, with the chance of a few free beers thrown in. Instead it was the perfect opportunity to once again enjoy the company of friends and fellow branch members by spending a day out in the lovely countryside in the vicinity of the South Downs. To me these things are far more important than any award; but then I am not a commercial brewer, and neither am I a CAMRA committee member.

London brewery visits - Part Two - By The Horns Brewery

If Kew Brewery was compact, crowded and slightly chaotic, By The Horns Brewery was the complete opposite. The brewery is situated on  an industrial park, just off Garratt Lane, in the Summerstown area of South-West London, between Earlsfield and Tooting. It was founded in 2011 by Alex Bull and Chris Mills, and whilst it is still on the same site, the brewery has expanded into adjoining units on either side of the original.

Sharing the site with the brewery, is a tap-bar, open from Thursday through to Saturday, and a bottle shop,  open from Monday to Saturday. There is also a  function room, plus additional storage facilities. So all in all somewhat different from Kew Brewery, but despite the expansion experienced over the past six years, the brewery might still have to relocate to even larger premises, such is the demand for its beers.

All this is good news for local beer lovers, and By The Horns seems very much a part of the local community. Several of the beers have a London-themed name, and these include Diamond Geezer, Lambeth Walk, 2 Tone London Lager and Wolfie Smith. The later of course, is a reference to the 70’s sitcom, "Citizen Smith", which starred Robert Lindsay in the role of the self-styled Marxist leader of the Tooting Popular Front.

We arrived at By The Horns at around 4pm; after leaving the Express Tavern in Brentford, where we had stopped for lunch. Our journey involved taking a train from Kew Bridge to Clapham Junction, and then taking another for just one stop down the line to Earlsfield. It was then a short bus ride to Summerstown, although we could have walked it, as our chairman Craig and his son James did.

I know Earlsfield quite well; the result of a romantic attachment, back in my student days, to a girl who came from the area. Her parents lived locally, and I have fond  memories of Sunday lunchtimes spent at the Leather Bottle, in Garratt Lane, knocking back pints of Young’s Ordinary or Special. I saw the pub from the bus window, as we journeyed along towards Summertown, and had time allowed, it would have been good to call in to see what the Leather Bottle is like, 35 years on.

The brewery tap was ticking over nicely when we arrived, but we were earlier than expected, and  our hosts weren’t quite ready for us. Instead we ordered ourselves a beer each. There were three cask beers on sale, plus 11 craft-keg offerings. I went for a pint of the 3.8% ABV Stiff Upper Lip, a cask pale ale.

I don’t remember that much about the brewery tour and accompanying talk. I had stopped taking notes by then, and I confess I wasn’t overly interested in technical data, such as brewing capacity etc. I didn’t even note the name of the brewer who showed us round; but neither, it appears, did anyone else, as despite posing the question amongst our WhatsApp group, I drew a complete blank.

The presentation of the runner’s up certificate was made after the tour, and this took place outside for photogenic reasons.  I remained outside  afterwards, enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine. I parked myself at one of the bench-style tables and sat there finishing my beer. The combination of an early start, a busy day, lots of good beer and the warmth of the spring sunshine, was sufficient to send me to sleep. I don’t know how long I dozed for, but I don’t think anyone missed me; certainly no-one came looking! I awoke with a start, and after getting my bearings, wandered back inside to find my friends.

Deciding that more beer was in order, I opted for a three glass “tasting bat”, and selected Sour to the People (another "Citizen Smith" reference),  2 Tone London Lager and Lambeth Walk London Porter.  I enjoyed them all, including the Sour beer, but by the time I’d finished most of  the group were getting restless, and the consensus was we should start making our way back into central London.

We thanked our hosts and retraced our footsteps back to Waterloo. Several people wanted to visit the Waterloo Tap, so I tagged along. I didn’t really need any more beer, but I was curious to see what the place was like, and it was pleasant sitting inside the large railway arch, which is home to the Tap, watching the world go by outside, through the large, plate glass windows.

Waterloo Tap

A glass of 11º Bernard Lager 3.8% ABV, from the Czech Republic, was both refreshing and sufficient to keep me hydrated. The drinking rate of most of the group had also slowed down, so we made our way back to Waterloo East for the train home.

It was an interesting and most enjoyable day out, and this coming Saturday we are due to do it all again; with a further two brewery trip to hand out certificates for awards picked up at the Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival. The journey this time will be by mini-bus, so keep an eye out for details of yet another beery day out.

The Express Tavern - Kew Bridge

The Express Tavern, at Kew Bridge, was the ideal place to stop for a spot of lunch on last Saturday’s somewhat frenetic tour of south-west London. Our tour organiser had not only chosen wisely, but had done his homework by pre-arranging our stopover at the pub. The result being that we arrived to find the back room reserved for our party, and the tables laid out ready for dinner.

This was my first visit to the Express, although I have driven past it on a number occasions, in a previous life. I had done a little research of my own, by looking at the pub’s website, prior to our visit, and must admit I liked what I saw. I considered the menu, and selected several options which took my fancy. I was also impressed by the photos, which showed that the pub had retained much of what must be its original Victorian interior.

The Express Tavern is described by WhatPub, as a friendly free house, which is  thought to date from the 1860s. It has thus been a local landmark for more than 200 years.  The pub reopened  in September 2014, following redecoration and some tlc. There are two drinking areas, plus a rear dining room. The smaller of the two bars is on the right, and boasts 10 hand pumps, whilst the larger Saloon and Lounge bar  on the left, has five ciders/perries on hand-pump.

The pub is actually in Brentford, although Kew Bridge is the nearest station. We arrived by train, fresh from our visit to Kew Brewery,  and then walked the short distance along to the Express Tavern. I hung back and crossed the busy main road, so as to get some good photos of the pub, and seeing it from the outside confirmed my memory of having driven past when I was working in Hounslow, during the early 1980’s, whilst on secondment from my company in Tonbridge.

An enjoyable lunch

Hanging back, and letting my friends and CAMRA colleagues go in first, had the advantage that most had ordered their beer by the time I strolled in. I therefore had a clear view of the bar, and the selection of  ten different ales to choose from.  I started off with a pint of Daymer Extra Pale 3.8% ABV from  the Harbour Brewery Company. I’ve had good  experiences in the past from this Cornish brewer, and I wasn’t disappointed this time round.

I joined the rest of the party, most of whom were already sat down at the largest of the reserved tables, and were busy perusing the menu. The pie of the day had already caught my eye, and a friend, who knowing my preference for a “proper pie”, had already asked the waitress as to whether the pie had the right “credentials”. Fortunately she confirmed that the meat and gravy filling was indeed completely encased in pastry, and that Saturday’s variety was steak and ale. I duly ordered, selecting mash, rather than chips, to go with my pie.

Before the food arrived I made a trip to the bar, and ordered a couple of halves; Mad Squirrel London Porter 5.0 % ABV and an old favourite from the past – Draught Bass. The Bass was very good, and I’m pleased to report that I wasn’t the only person to go for it. Given the Red Triangle and the words “Draught Bass” in large letters, along the frontage of the building, I thought it only appropriate that we should be drinking this once legendary beer.

As I said at the beginning, the Express Tavern was an excellent pub for lunch, and it was also a real delight to the eye. The character of this lovely old Victorian building has been maintained, and original features such as the old fireplace and bar counter have not only been kept, but have been restored so as to display them at their best.

I am really glad that we stopped there, and I highly recommend a visit should you find yourself in the Kew Bridge/Brentford area of west London.

London brewery visits - Part One Kew Brewery

CAMRA Brewery visit - or pensioners' day out?

For anyone who enjoys good beer, what could be better than a brewery visit? Two brewery visits, perhaps? This was exactly what my local West Kent CAMRA Branch had organised for Saturday 29^th April, when a group of 15 of us travelled up to London in order to visit the Kew Brewery and also the By The Horns Brewery.

Both breweries had picked up awards at last year’s Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival; the event which is run jointly between ourselves and the Heritage Railway. Kew Brewery were awarded “Beer of the Festival” for  their Nightshade Porter, whilst By The Horns were runners up with their Old Smoked Tea Bitter.

It has become something of a tradition for the branch to visit those breweries which pick up an award at our festival, although preference is understandably given to those who worked at the event, or contributed to its success in other ways. Previous years have seen us making trips to Tillingbourne, Caveman and Black Cat breweries; although in the latter case, they ended up coming to us.

Our branch chairman arranged the visits, whilst our recently resigned social secretary (who still seems lumbered with the job), handled the logistics. The latter were slightly complicated in so much that they involved sorting out a suitable route which would allow us to visit both breweries, and also allow time for a spot of lunch in between. There was also the matter of train and bus times and, in the case of the latter, what particular bus route we needed to take.

By taking advantage of a London Travelcard, we were able to journey up to the capital, by train from West Kent (either Tunbridge Wells or Tonbridge), change trains, then hop on and off the relevant buses. Those of us above certain age and in possession of a Senior Railcard, were able to do this for the princely sum of £13.25, which was an absolute bargain given the amount of travelling we did.

So it was train to Waterloo East, then a short walk across to Waterloo mainline, followed by a train to Barnes. It was then a ride on the No. 33 bus through East Sheen in the direction of Kew. I must admit I would have walked straight past the brewery, as it is housed behind an anonymous looking shop front. Fortunately a couple of sharp-eyed individuals noticed the pallet leaning against the window, along with the boxes of bottled beers stacked the other side.

Kew's Dave Scott (right) receives his award from WK Chairman Craig

We were met by brewer and owner Dave Scott, who was expecting us, and ushered inside. There was only just enough room for us all to squeeze in amongst the fermenting vessels, stacks of boxes, casks and key-kegs, but we just about managed it. After a short welcome and introductory talk, Dave got straight down to the nitty-gritty. He rightly assumed, quite rightly,  that we would be thirsty after our journey, and with not much to look at in the way of brewing equipment, he told us there were two draught beers available for us to try, plus some bottles in the fridge for those wishing to sample something different.

There was a small pin (4.5 gallons) of Join the Kew; a 5.9% ABV IPA, plus on keg, Nightshade Chilli Porter 4.5% ABV. The latter was the beer which scooped the top award at our festival. I tried both beers, I found them equally enjoyable. Some members thought the Porter was on the cold side, which is because it was dispensed through one of those portable keg machines which are an increasing common feature at craft beer events. The unit does chill the beer prior to dispense, but I didn’t have a problem with this.

Kew Brewery is an award-winning new craft brewery, less than a mile from, and inspired by, the world-famous gardens at Kew. The company’s aim is simple – to make great tasting beer as sustainably as possible.

The brewery is owned by Dave Scott and his wife Rachel, both of whom are long-term Kew residents.  Brewing started in May 2015, so the brewery is now approaching its second anniversary. Head Brewer Dave hails from Kent, and had previously worked at Weird Beard Brew Co , as well as helping out at two breweries in Kent; Old Dairy Brewery and Canterbury Brewers.

Dave has created a strong and varied core range of beers at Kew, with occasional unexpected twists inspired by nature. He told us that he wants the brewery to act as a showcase English hops, in order to demonstrate they can compete with New World hops for both  flavour and aroma; if used the right way and in the right quantities. What few of us realised is the wide variety of new breeds of English hops which have been developed in recent years, and which are now coming onto the market.

Beer of the festival

All of Kew’s beers are unfiltered and unfined, keeping them as natural and  flavoursome as possible. With the exception of the milk stout, they are suitable for vegans. Dave did say that even if he were to fine his beers, the high-levels of dry-hopping, would almost certainly interfere with the action of the finings, and in many instances, the beer would still end up hazy.

We didn’t really see much of the brew-kit, which was behind the shop section, in what appeared to be an integral garage unit. A couple of colleagues and I walked through for a look, but like the rest of the set up it was very cluttered. I have to admit that the whole brewery was not at all what I was expecting, and without wishing to appear unkind, it did seem slightly chaotic. However, I’m sure Dave is in control and knows where everything is.

Several other members present were no doubt thinking the same, when they asked him about plans for expansion, and somewhere with more space. Dave replied that he would obviously like more room to manoeuvre, but industrial units in the locality were few and far between. He didn’t want to move out of the immediate area, as the name Kew Brewery, and its connections with the local area, were very important.

I’m not quite sure what time we left. A few brave souls were getting stuck into some of the bottles, but I quite wisely bought a few to take home with me. There was another brewery to visit, and a pub lunch in between as well, so I didn’t want to overdo things. Dave  was obviously pleased with his award, and we enjoyed meeting him and tasting some of Kew Brewery’s products. We thanked him for his hospitality and retraced our bus journey back to Barnes station, for the next stage of the day.

There will be a couple of additional posts to cover this, but on the way back a few of us had a chat about Dave and his situation with Kew Brewery. Whilst appreciating the importance of his connection with the local area, some of us thought he could perhaps relocate elsewhere, but keep the shop and expand that side of the business as well. That way he would have a guaranteed outlet for his beers, and still maintain the company’s links with Kew. 

We all wished him well, as it must be both lonely and vulnerable running an operation like this on his own. His father helps out with the odd delivery, with a wife  who has both a full time job, plus a young family to look after, it can’t be easy.

Having run my own off-licence business for six years, I know that it’s easy to feel isolated at times. However, with a shop I got to serve a variety of different customers every day, so still maintained social contact with the outside world.  Running a brewery single-handed takes a special type of person, so I take my hat off to Dave.

What I will say is do look out for Kew Brewery’s beers. They are available in cask, key-keg and bottle and, as mentioned earlier, they have impeccable green credentials. What’s more they are bittered entirely with English hops, and as someone who lives in a hop-growing part of the country, that's very important.