Thornbridge Brewery

on Oct 21 in Breweries, JOGLE 2010 by Sam

Friday 24th September (the whole week in fact) was all planned in order to get to the highly regarded Thornbridge Brewery for as early as possible. Getting to this Brewery was our motivation in the previous hard days endured on our journey, and needless to say we were not disappointed.

‘You must be Sam and Luke. What would you like to drink’ was the warm (and perfect) from Alex at Thornbrige when he greeted us as we arrived tired, but in high spirits at the brewery in Bakewell. A chilled bottle of Jaipur was presented to us like a trophy for enduring everything we had encountered so far on our journey and quenched our thirst better than any water could do. As the hoppy, grapefruit taste hit my mouth instant relaxation was achieved and we both slumped down on the sofas in the new Brewery shop and had a chat with Alex about our trip and the experiences we had had along the way so far, as well as a general chat about the recent changes at the brewery and the rise and further rise of Jaupur and other Thornbridge beers.

We learnt that the main brewery had recently moved from the Thornbridge Hall grounds to the larger Brewery site where we were sitting due to the demand for the beer (the old site is now being used for Research and Development of new beers), a common trend that we amongst the smaller successful breweries. Alex also introduced us to Kelly, one of the head brewers from NZ who I had met from the Thornbridge tour to London a few months previous and he also talked to us about the brewery.

Both myself and Luke were aware of the ‘Knowledge, Passion, Innovation’ claim that Thornbridge make, the application can be applied to most industries but when applied to brewing it produces spectacular results as we found out when we were showed around the this Brewery. From the Lab, to the Doctors working in them, to the state of the art brewing equipment and techniques as well as the attention to every detail, this brewery certainly seemed to be a step up from any other we had visited, and the passion for good beer was prevalent. It’s quite easy to see how Thornbridge are renowned for producing award winning beers.

Funny thing about Bakewell is that it is so hard to get Thornbridge beers in any of the pubs (they only sell one type in a local hotel). This is a massive shame. However Thornbridge have a Brewery tap in Sheffield (the Sheffield Tap) and we both became very jealous of those who were able to sample the hundreds of other beers that Thornbridge have brewed over the years that would never pass our lips. However, Nicholson pubs have started to stock Thornbridge beers so it’s not so hard now to get a pint of Jaipur, Wild Swan (a pale ale with the taste of light bitter lemon and a hints of herbs and a subtle spices) or Lord Marple (a tasty Best Bitter) in London, hopefully they will start getting some other Thornbridge beers too, one I am particularly intrigued about is Raven, a 6.6% ABV dark IPA.

We would like to thank the guys at Thornbridge (especially Alex) for taking the time to show us around the Brewery and show us the process by which they make the beers as well as the Bottles of Juipur and the ‘Passion, Knowledge, Innovation’ T-shirts that were generously given to us.

Thornbridge we salute you, you did not disappoint (I’m sure we will meet again!)