My point of departure was Glasgow Central Station. My destination was Staveley in Cumbria. For a village of just over 1200 inhabitants, Staveley is supremely well served for beer. A historic village pub and the brewery tap of one of the UK’s most consistent and praiseworthy breweries means that it attracts many beer tourists drawn to the opportunity for a short alcoholiday.
With over an hour to kill between connecting trains at
Oxenholme, we were faced with a choice: hang around a train platform and endure
an icy wind that could cut steel in two or hop on a bus to Kendall and seek
warmth, comfort and a pint in a pub close to the station. It was an easy
choice.
The Castle Inn, Kendall
Arriving in Kendall with twenty five minutes to spare before
our train to Staveley, we found The Castle Inn. It was busy, given that it had
just gone midday, and seemed to be doing a brisk lunchtime trade in pub grub as
we settled down with our pints. Four ales were available (Spitfire, Loweswater
Gold, Doom Bar and Hawkshead Bitter) and all poured via a sparkler. Well, we’re
in the North. What else did you expect?
Perfect Lacing
I opted for the Hawkshead Bitter. It’s an often overlooked
and undervalued beer from Hawkshead’s core range. I’m a big fan of it. It is a
classic, traditional English Bitter, except for the use of Styrian over East Kent Goldings, that has a crisp
pepper hop spiciness beautifully balanced by a sweet malt backbone and gentle
lingering bitterness. It’s a delightful beer, up there with the likes of Bathams Best Bitter and Acorn’s Barnsley Bitter.
Staveley
The dry stone walls and slate roofs signify our arrival into
Staveley. It’s a picturesque, pretty little village that sits in a valley overlooked
by the rolling Reston Scar, Piked Howe and Lily Fell hills that are sprinkled along
their gentle inclines with the white dots of the hardy Swaledale and Herdwick
sheep varieties so common to this part of Cumbria.
The Eagle and Child
Aristocratic infidelities and male mendacity aside, The
Eagle and Child is warm, welcoming and a nice place to have a pint. Two real
log fires provide the warmth and the locals provide the welcome with a friendly
greeting when we walk through the doors.On the subject of very enjoyable session beers, my mind wandered to thoughts of my first beer at Hawkshead’s Beer Hall, our next stop and main event on our Staveley sojourn. It was time for some Windermere Pale and the best place to try it was its Brewery Tap.
Leaving the Eagle and Child, we pass Staveley’s other pub, The Duke William. Like Sir Thomas Lathom’s male offspring, it is often regarded as the bastard child that is best kept in the Staveley beer attic. No one tends to talk about it, or even acknowledge its existence. It’s not that it’s a bad pub. It is not. I stuck my head walking by to discover that it had a couple of solid Lancaster beers on. It’s just that it sits between two of the best beer drinking establishments in the Lakes and often gets overlooked.
Beer Sentries
At the back of the Mill Yard, overlooking the entire yard, sits
the spectacular glass frontage of the Hawkshead Brewery and Beer Hall. It’s an
impressive sight. Just inside the brewery is the even more impressive sight of
two 8 metre high stainless steel fermenting tanks, standing upright, guarding
the brews like proud beer sentries. Greeting us inside the Beer Hall were 16 cask lines and 7 keg lines dispensing Hawkshead’s greatest hits; NZPA, Cumbrian 5 Hop, Windermere Pale, Dry Stone Stout, Brodie’s Prime and the magnificent Lakeland Lager.
Citra hops that assault your taste buds and gives you a hop kicking that leaves you reeling and wondering if you’ve just been subject to either ABH (Amazing Beer Heaven) or GBH (Glorious Beer Heaven). Either way, I wasn’t complaining.
Between the various pints of Windermere Pale and the Beer Tapas, we managed to catch a taste of The Illusionist. A collaboration involving Hawkshead and Magic Rock. It’s a 3.5% dark coloured beer that wants to call itself a Black Pale Ale (BPA) but daren’t in case the Beer Style Police hear about it and, in a dawn raid, drag it kicking and screaming to the beer gibbet. I really liked it. It had a strong nose of grapefruit, lemon and pine which follows into the initial taste. Some roast and dried fruit that briefly holds its own before dissipating to reveal a long dry and bitter hop finish. Alas, I had to savour it as it was the last cask at the brewery and when it’s gone, it’ll be gone. Now you see it, now you don't.
Head Brewer, Matt Clarke and his team had just finished their shift and joined us for a couple of beers and in between discussions of hop harvests and the consistency of new start up breweries, he revealed that he is working on NZPA’s little brother, Iti. It’ll be a 3.5% Pale using hops from his New Zealand homeland. Iti is the Maori word for small and he hopes to be showcasing this beer at the Summer Beer Festival at the Hawkshead Brewery in July.
Thoughts turn to home and just before making our way to the
station, I pick up a couple of bottles of Windermere Pale.
It’ll remind me of a day spent drinking good beer in the company of good people.
Beer people.
It’ll remind me of a day spent drinking good beer in the company of good people.
Beer people.