We move down south this time around and as is quite fitting with the warm weather we’ve been having we’re visiting one of the UK’s biggest tourist / holiday spots in Cornwall and more specifically Padstow Brewing.
In their own words Padstow Brewing Company: an award-winning micro-brewery found on the rugged North Coast of Cornwall.
Fresh, exciting and fiercely independent, we are a true small-batch brewery, with no computers or accountants to run the show.
As a minor spoiler I’d say that statement is bang on the money, there’s a really nice in-depth about us feature on their website as well which I highly recommend.
https://www.padstowbrewing.co.uk/about-us/
As a final mention, a lot of their cans have featured artwork from Falmouth University students, which for me added such a lovely personal and homely touch to the brewery and really hammered home the uniqueness and pride that the brewery has in itself and its county.
At this point I normally breakdown how many beers I ordered and the cost, but I’ll be honest with you I cannot find the confirmation email or invoice at all. My internet banking shows a £53.93 purchase from the Brewery but I’m not sure what the delivery was if at all, I’ll ensure I keep all emails moving forwards.
At the time of writing some of the seasonal beers I ordered aren’t currently available as there has been a two-month delay in me getting this blog out owing to personal circumstances of work, business and a dislocated shoulder combined with very strong painkillers. (I was tempted to put a picture of the injury in here, but don’t want it flagged NSFW).
https://www.padstowbrewing.co.uk/shop/beers/
I've also realised that there was a breakage part way through the beers as such the glass changes in the photos.
I always feel a bit off trying to review lagers as “generally” there isn’t an awful lot going on with them. It’s not like the world of craft IPAs were there are a variety of hops and flavour profiles really kicking on as such a standard lager is pretty much a lager.
As I poured it, I will say on a hot May’s evening as I watch the football it looks like it’s going to do the job exactly it looks refreshing and crisp and will be a perfect accompaniment to me wondering if Huddersfield Town are going to win the second half and get to Wembley.
To the nose I’m getting nothing that would distinguish it from a lager I’d have in a pub, don’t get me wrong I like good lagers so I’m not saying that this is something grim I’m just not getting thing overtly OOMPHY in the nose.
Oh…oh oh oh. Oh wow.
Ok…I was not expecting this and my excitement for the brewery has gone up already and just seeing the beers it was reasonably high anyway.
Right how do I explain this adequately. This is not your pub lager. I’d go as far as to say that your average lager drinker might not like this, but only because there is actually a lot going on. There is a fruity tingle across the mouth which carries the standard lager flavour and enhances it.
Every sip reveals a bit more of the flavour profile. If you search it out there is a slight hint of bitterness there, but there is an undeniable slight tropical twang undercutting the lager which elevates the profile and initiated that oh oh oh oh oh wow reaction, which is as close to typing as I can do to replicate the noises that came from my mouth.
I am incredibly impressed by this beer and am very much looking forwards to the rest from Padstow.
This looks like it’s going to be very light and refreshing and has a light amber hue to it. I think based on the previous drink there is going to be a lightness, however as it pours and settles it takes on the hazy nature of the beers as advertised
The nose of this is getting me salivating a little bit, the fruitiness and freshness really sings through and dances around the nose.
The first sip I had of this I thought of this actually might be a little bit bitter, but the second my palate adjusted the nuances of the beer started to sing through. There is an almost velvet like quality to the beer, which coats all of the mouth.
I would be tempting to advertise this as a tropical IPA rather than a session IPA as an incredible amount of flavour really starts to kick through the mouth. I really wish that I had more than one of these. There is something truly joyous wit this beer, once the fruitiness subsides there is that slight bitterness which you associate with an IPA just so you remember that you’re dealing with a beer.
I’m making a bold call now that Padstow is going to feature very very high when we get to the end of the journey.
I’m a little dubious about this one, mostly because West Coast IPA’s typically have more of a bitter finish to them and I’m in unfamiliar with Amarillo hops. It has poured beautifully.
There is a very slight hint of citrus but even just in the nose there is the bitter after.
Ok hmmm, this is very hop heavy and takes a little bit to adjust to but once you’re able to strip back the flavour profile it’s quite a complex and tasty beer which grows on you the more you have it. The initial flavour is citrusy, but this is quickly replaced by the hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste. It isn’t as bitter as I was expecting though and whilst it does linger it’s not oppressive in how it does so.
What I have noticed is as the drink has settled a little post pour is just how hazy it is, in the initial picture it looks akin to a light ale, but now has the look and consistency of a tropical fruit juice which light doesn’t permeate.
This is a beer on a knife edge of flavour and I think it’s down to the drinker to see where they fall. I believe that if you gave this to ten people you would have a 50/50 split about whether this was a fruity or a bitter drink, which in itself is a fantastic act of tradecraft by the brewer.
As those that have followed my journey so far, I am particularly partial to a NEIPA and based on the quality of Padstow up to now I have to admit that I am quite excited by the potential of this one. It was a little bit lively on the pour but we won’t hold it against it, as you can see from the photo though there is quite a bit of a head on it.
This does smell a really deep tropical citrus notes to it that hits the back of your throat through the nose and as someone being entirely objective, got my saliva already prepping in the mouth for the amber nectar (what beer was that the slogan of again in the 90’s? something like fosters….bleh).
Ah the good old involuntary OHOHOHOHO that the truly great beers instigate from myself. This is a really rich and fruity beer which coats the inside of your mouth. If you close your eyes there could almost be fruit juice in your mouth, possibly a mesh of mango and pineapple, but all delicious. If you want to get the beery taste to bring you back to where you’re drinking it instead of a nice beach all you need to do is give it a quick swill around the mouth.
This is a really really good NEIPA, deceptively strong too. Looking at the 6.8%abv there is very little indication of the true strength. All in all, this is a refreshing flavoursome beer and certainly up there with the best NEIPA’s I’ve ever had.
I have to be honest that as I poured it, I was quite shocked. It’s been a good few weeks since I had Sundowner (owing to work, holiday and a subsequent shoulder injury) and for some reason I had it in my head a Dunkel was a Weiss beer and the confusion resulted in a pleasant one as I’m really not too keen on Weiss beers.
This poured very very thickly and gives the impression of a stout even more than just a dark beer, as such I expect that rich molasses type flavours kicking through and the syrup like nature meaning it’s going to coat the mouth and lips.
To the nose there is that strong beery like smell, with an undercoating of sweetness to it.
Ok this is a strange beast and I’m not too sure on it. It’s a lot lighter than I was expecting and as such doesn’t carry through flavour as well as a stout does. If anything, there’s almost a watery aftertaste which is not what I was expecting at all. (Though thinking of it as a Dark Beer / Dunkel maybe that is to be expected I don’t know).
Ultimately, I’m not getting a huge amount of flavour in this beer, with only the slightest beery taste remaining on the palate other than it it’s a bit of a nothing beer in my opinion. The more you have the more the aftertaste lingers and the more flavour profile there is with the faint molasses flavour, so maybe it’s a beer you need to have all of for the full effect, but it’s still not got much oomph.
The first one of the lot which has left me a bit underwhelmed, drinkable sure but the high bar already set was not matched by this beer.
I approach this beer with a lot of trepidation. By my own admission I’m not a huge fan of stouts, although recently I have been turning more and more to them. However, I am not a huge smoked fan either in any variety so this could well be the worst of the bunch on paper for me.
With the pour it was quite lively but didn’t have the overt thickness that you can often associate, especially with the higher ABV stouts. To the nose, you certainly have the molasses smell and the richness of a stout but I’m not picking out anything overt Smokey…on the first sniff at least. I then really leant into the drink and it’s all there attacking the back of your throat…ah well bottoms up let’s get this over with.
Well…the one thing I can say is they’ve certainly not pulled any punches with the smokiness. Wow. So, if we look at this beer as just a critique it does exactly what it says on the tin. You have that initial burst of sweetness with permeates briefly at the top of the mouth and the centre of the tongue and sits for just a second before the double bombardment of richness and smokiness overpowers the palate and takes up residence and claims squatters’ rights.
The trouble I have here is it’s a flavour I don’t like so I can’t even say if this is fundamentally a good or unbalanced beer, my brain says it could be too Smokey, but then again, it’s the beers selling point it’s a Smokey stout. I just think it’s a bit too much, even if I strip back my own lack of enjoyment for the flavour profile.
For context it’s been around five minutes since my last sip (still working through it) and the smoke is still in my mouth, but now at a much manageable amount. It’s a no-win scenario, because others may well say “Oh it’s not Smokey enough” if it was dialled back from 11 to say 7, however for me this one’s a pass, I think it needs something sweeter with it possibly to cut through the profile and add a bit of a respite for the tastebuds.
What I will say is that I did drink it all, as such it hasn’t joined “Trawlers Dread” in infamy in the undrinkable category.
I’m a firm believer that there’s a place in the world for your low alcohol beers, but they have to be done well otherwise you may as well have something else. This seems to the eye and pour at least like it’s going to be very light and refreshing. It hasn’t maintained a head at all on pour and is quite translucent, owing I’d imagine to the lower ABV.
It smells absolutely delightful, with light fruity notes that instantly made my taste buds tingle in anticipation with the tropical nature of the drink powering through the nose.
Oh, now this is nice for the most part. When you have the
first drink it’s fruity, bubbly and as anticipated refreshingly light. You get the instant tropical hit of refreshing
citrus flavours and it sits nicely in the mouth with a nice tingly sensation
heightened by the drink being chilled and you just think it’s a lovely drink.
Then…every now and again the metallic taste hits. It’s not every sip, but
occasionally that odd metallic taste will kick through from out of nowhere,
which I just can’t place which distracts from the original niceness that you
experience in the drink. As I said it’s not every time which is the most
confusing aspect of it 70% of the time it’s a really light refreshing fruity
beer, the rest of the time however there is just that hint of metallic, which
makes no sense and stops it being a truly lovely beer to just an ok one.
Incredibly dark to pour where very little light actually breaks through the drink leaving a low red hue in the background to direct torch light and yet a quick swirl of the glass hints at a certain lightness as it flows freely around the glass rather than being heavy set.
The nose doesn’t give too much away, other than a rich caramel flavour with a slight hint of coffee in the background, that idea of lightness being a direct opposite to the heavy flavours that slowly start to break through the sinuses.
Interesting (in a good way) beer this one. First off it sits far heavier than I expected proving once again I have a real bad grasp of this sort of thing a year and a bit down the line. It’s what I want from a Porter though, after the first sip as I’ve mentioned in the past your upper lip is coated in a sweet vanilla stickiness which refuses to dissipate. A rich dark chocolate flavour sits in the back of the mouth and throat, without being oppressive and like the smart kid in class. It doesn’t have to shout and scream to get your attention; it just gets its head down and cracks on with what it needs to do.
With every subsequent mouthful there is consistency in flavour and the cocoa being accentuated by the coffee smell more than taste, used a vehicle to push the rest of the drink along.
For me it’s a one drinker as in I wouldn’t want more than one in quick succession, just to the relatively high abv, but also the heaviness as the drink progresses, however as a moment of indulgence this is bang up there to sit back and sip away for a while.
I’ve been impressed by a lot of the background of Padstow, as noted a lot of the cans have art from students at Falmouth University and the name of this beer ties directly into a charity supported by Padstow.
The beer was developed for the national lobster hatchery charity based in Padstow. 10p from each can will be donated to help conserve vulnerable lobster populations, and safeguarding the future of our seafood industries and the many livelihoods and coastal communities it supports.
The beer poured how it smells, very light and fresh with a proper beery smell at the back of it, unfortunately I really don’t like Wheat Beers as such it’s unfair for me to properly delve into this as I’m unable to provide a fair assessment in “liking it or not”.
There is a slight peppery after tone, which offsets a fruity initial burst in the mouth. It’s incredibly light and actually for a Wheat beer I do find it quite drinkable, with the elements which normally set my mouth on edge seemingly dialled back a little bit.
You know what, it’s actually quite good this. I’m not saying this will be the turning point for my love of Wheat beers, but I can actually appreciate that this is very good and I am enjoying drinking it. It’s obviously not in the usual realm of what I like, but this may well open the door to me to check stuff out a little more. Interesting stuff.
As I type this it’s about 26 degrees and essentially very hot for the United Kingdom, I’m sure other places laugh at 26 being hot, but as a country we are not set up for any level of heat. The reason that I mention this is that as I poured all I could think of was just how good this could be if I added a bit of ice to it. It carries that fruity hue where it’s a little cloudy but also appears to be incredibly refreshing.
To the nose it’s smelling incredibly tart, it’s going to be one of those where I think it’s going to be mouth smackingly sharp and will take a little while to get used to it, but ultimately, I think it will be worth it.
Oh, very nice indeed. Firstly, it is far from the sharp I was expecting and is actually quite a restrained sour, where all the flavours are readily available and perfectly balanced and it is also incredibly refreshing. This is one of the sours that I would recommend to people that were a little bit on the fence, didn’t “like beer” and didn’t have any knowledge about the wide range that beer encompasses now. There a slight earthy after taste, which I love because it conveys the idea that you’ve literally picked the fruit right off the hedge.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t often go straight in with a “try this brewery” recommendation, but I feel I have to in this instance. Padstow was everything that I love about craft beer. A solid core range, something a little bit adventurous and out there and remaining very true to who they are and where they’re from.
Even the drinks that I wasn’t keen on, most notably ‘The Smoke’ it just wasn’t to my personal taste and the quality that is seen across the rest of their range shows that they know how to put together a good beer.
For me to say it’s one of the finest NEIPA’s I’ve ever had, is the biggest praise that I can possibly give with the NEIPA being my absolute favourite type of beer. The sour was near perfection as well, the Porter was rich, indulgent and luxurious. An absolute belter of a brewery and somewhere I’d revisit in the future to see what their new season beers bring to the table.
Next County: Somerset (Free Hit)
Next Brewery: Electric Bear Brewing*
*We’re in another free month next time round as the
random generator pulled out Na h-Eileanan Siar in Scotland, which didn’t meet
the criteria for the blog. As such a free hit month was declared.
Free hits are essentially, I still want to do 94 breweries, but substitute in a
brewery that has interested me from another county. As the whole process is random,
sometimes there are breweries I really like the look of that don’t make the
cut. As such I simply pick one of these to keep the blog going.
