Craft Beers in the Lake District: A Tour of Local Breweries
One of the most fascinating developments in recent years is the expansion of craft beers in the Lake District. Brewing beer here in Cumbria is a relatively new art. But the revived interest in micro-brewing has led to some fascinating projects. And we have some of the best available for you here in our bar at the Cedar Manor. So we’re inviting you to raise your glass to the craft beers in the Lake District as we do a tour of the best breweries (with a distillery thrown in for good measure).
Windermere Brewery
Let’s start with one that’s almost on our doorstep. The Windermere Brewery is based at the Watermill Inn at Ings, just two miles along the road from here. It’s a five barrel micro brewery which produces a dozen fabulous beers with names like Bit’er Ruf, Bad Dog, Colly Wobbles, and W’ruff Night. Yes, there’s a dog theme going on here! The pub has been in the same family for more than 30 years, though it took a lot of hard work before they could establish a brewery on site. They shipped over some kit which was originally housed in a Hops Bar & Grill Brew Pub in Daytona, Florida. The brewery went into production in 2006, while the pub went from strength to strength as an excellent roadside venue. We like their beers a lot. Sante!
Bowness Bay Brewing
Here’s a brewery now based in Kendal which takes inspiration from the local legends of the Lake District. They have a Steamer IPA, clearly a homage to Windermere Lake Cruises, and one of the most popular pale ales, Swan Blonde. And as regular visitors will know, the MV Swan is one of the giants of the lake fleet. The beer is made at a semi-automatic, four-vessel steam-heated brewhouse which has the capacity to produce 30,000 litres per week. They make cask, keg and bottled ales and lagers, and the team say that they owe the consistency of their beer to two live strains of wet yeast: one for lager and one for ale. That, along with the ultra-soft Lake District water, is the secret to the exceptional smoothness of these beers.
They also have their own pub in Kendal, the Barrel House, where the decor is enhanced by some clever repurposing and up-cycling. The bar, for example, is crafted from a 200-year-old piece of oak from Bowness-on-Windermere, where the brewery was originally founded. The floor is made from reclaimed scaffolding planks, there are tables custom-made by Cumbrian artisan blacksmith and metalworker Ellie Barden. And out in the yard they have reimagined old horse field shelters to create cosy and comfy booths where guests can relax and enjoy their pints. Cheers!
Coniston Brewery
Legends are honoured here too with another of the craft beers in the Lake District, this time in Coniston. The Coniston Brewing Co make one of our absolute favourite beers of all time, Bluebird Bitter. This was once crowned Supreme Champion Beer of Britain. And of course it’s named after the water speed record-breaking craft of Donald Campbell. Bluebird itself is now restored and you can see her nearby in the Ruskin Museum.
Meanwhile, the place to go for a glass or two is the village’s Black Bull Inn. This is where the story began when Ian Bradley, son of the owners of the inn, decided to study the art of brewing. If his beers are anything to go by, he graduated with honours. Nowadays there are 12 beers in regular production with an output of some 1600 gallons a week for distribution to around 100 customer outlets across the world. Yes, you can drink their speciality ales in the U.S.A, Sweden and Hong Kong as well as right here in the shadow of Coniston Old Man. And yes, of course one of their beers is named after him. Prost!
Barngates Brewery
The pub came first here, long before the brewery, where the Drunken Duck Inn, a former farmhouse, has been serving travellers for around 300 years. It’s at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, a couple of miles from Ambleside, but has become famous as a chic pub and restaurant. And now brewery as well. This was a micro brewery started in 1997 just to supply the pub next door, but within a couple of years demand started to grow.
Now they have a purpose-built, 10-barrel plant which supplies more than 150 outlets throughout Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire. And though they don’t do organised tours, if you’re having a pint in the Duck you can always ask to have a look around. The beers they brew include the gloriously named Tag Lag, Goodhew’s Dry Stout, Red Bull Terrior, Cat Nap, Brathay Gold and Cracker. And we reckon they are all champions. Bottoms up!
Cumbrian Ales
Another of our favourite beers, Loweswater Gold, has been judged Champion Golden Ale of Britain. It’s a signature brew from a micro-brewery established out west, in an outbuilding at the Kirkstile Inn. It started life as just a three-barrel kit, and initially just supplied the pub there in Loweswater. Demand grew dramatically from other pubs and for festivals. Then in 2009, the Loweswater Brewery acquired Cumbrian Legendary Ales, a 10 barrel brewery on the shores of Esthwaite Water near Hawkshead and all brewing was transferred there.
Now known as Cumbrian Ales, their range is a mixture of modern and classic and the ales they produce are distinctive and carefully crafted. They now produce around 80 barrels a week for a large number of outlets in Cumbria and beyond. The team says, “We're not scared to use unusual hops or malts and we love to experiment. You can taste the difference. Try our Buttermere Beauty!” We’ll drink to that. And if you want to see the best of the west, head over to Loweswater and go for a pint or a meal in the lovely Kirkstile Inn. Your good health!
Lakes Distillery
To round off a great session, let’s get spiritual. The Lakes Distillery produces very distinctive gin and (don’t tell anyone north of the border) some really fabulous whisky too. Their limited edition Mountain Strength Gin celebrates the power of the Lake District landscape and at the same time helps the mountain rescue teams who keep us safe. From every bottle of this one sold, £5 is donated to Lake District Mountain Rescue teams. It’s strong stuff, with a peak volume of 51% which, they say, represents the equivalent increase in mountain rescue incidents in the Lake District in the last 10 years. Then there’s the whisky, a collection of seven exquisite wood-forward, sherry-led and flavour-packed single malts in the Whiskymaker’s Reserve series. Slàinte mhath!