The Best Drinks Producers in the Lake District
We found the best drinks producers in the Lake District. And we know that they are the ones our guests love. Because they come back time after time, for another glass. So if your favourite tipple is gin or whisky, beer or lager, we can share our top tips with you.
Hawkshead Brewery
Our ales and lagers come from the Hawkshead Brewery. It was one of the first Cumbrian micro-breweries, set up on a small scale back in 2002 in a barn just outside the village of Hawkshead in the Lake District. They were among the new wave craft brewers, creating highly hopped, flavoursome beers, which till then were rarely seen in a cask.
They grew from micro status, and relocated to the Mill Yard, beside the River Kent at Staveley, brewing in a new 20-barrel Brewhouse and they built what’s become a hugely popular brewery tap - The Beer Hall.
The range is an eclectic mix of beers inspired both by the flavoursome hops of the new world and classic European styles and flavours. They include big hopped Pale Ales, classic British styles, juicy IPAs, crisp lagers, stouts and porter. Just the thing for a warm summer evening.
Windermere Brewing
Not far along the road from the Cedar Manor is a well established favourite Lakeland real ale pub, the Watermill at Ings. But it’s also a brewery, and we love their beers so much that we stock them here. In fact, they are definitely in our list of the best drinks producers in the Lake District.
There's a delightful story of how the landlord dreamed of brewing his own beer. It took many years to develop, against all the odds. But the 5-barrel micro brewery was eventually started, with the use of some kit which was bought on the web from Atlanta, Georgia in the USA! (Originally it was housed in a Hops Bar & Grill brew pub in Daytona Florida.)
Now it’s helping turn out some wonderful local beers made from only the finest ingredients. We have guests who pass the Watermill on their way here, not knowing they can have a glass of their finest when they unpack and wind down with us.
Lakes Distillery
The folk at the Lakes Distillery don’t just make amazing gin (and whisky and vodka). They have created a fabulous and popular tourist destination. And along the way won fans all around the world. So we are proud to list them among the best drinks producers in the Lake District. And we serve their drinks here in the lounge bar or out on the patio.
The Lakes Distillery win awards by the bottle-full. The Lakes Pink Grapefruit Gin has received the Gold Outstanding award at the 2022 International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC). And their Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 has been named the Category Winner for Best English Single Malt at the 2022 Icons of Whisky / World Whiskies Awards.
They wax lyrical, justifiably, about their products. They say that Faith, Hope, Luck and Love are the compass points of their journey, and guests who want to know more about a tour of the distillery can just ask us.
Bedrock Gin
They get all poetical over at Bedrock Gin, another of our favourites that’s in our list of the best drinks producers in Cumbria. Perfected through the patient craftsmanship of a master distiller, Bedrock is a unique blend of botanicals distilled with Cumbrian kiln-dried oak bark.
Drawn back to the magnetic landscape he loved as a young man, Vince Wilkins was inspired to create a gin that captures the enduring beauty of the Lake District. Bringing “exceptional smoothness and clean, accessible warmth to the vibrancy of its botanicals”, it is a gin to underline and elevate the moments you drink it in.
And what we love...and our guests love, too...is their rhubarb gin, a premium London Dry gin blended with the fruit taste of rhubarb. A glass on a summer evening out on our patio under the Cedar tree, and heaven is all yours.
Damson Gin
One of the most prolific fruits of the Lake District is the damson, and in the autumn this is one of our most prized crops. (Earlier in the year entire festivals are dedicated to the beauty of the blossom of the damson trees, particularly in the lush Lyth Valley to the south east of Windermere). And the genius who realised that damsons and gin were made for each other is a creature of legend now.
We have a couple of favourite suppliers. Strawberry Bank Damson Gin is made from pure damson juice, gin and cane sugar. The fruit is grown in the orchards of Strawberry Bank Brewery at The Masons Arms, a very popular pub in the Lyth Valley. The colour of Strawberry Bank Damson Gin is reddish brown, almost maroon and reminiscent of Vermouth. And the experts say it has a bright nose— rich cherry juice, hints of very ripe fruit, plum and berry with some hints of citrus. We say it’s a perfect base for cocktails.
Our other favourite damson gin is Cowmire made at Cowmire Hall, set in the beautiful Winster Valley, also close to Windermere. This is made to a traditional recipe from local damsons, rich, ruby red and a perfect aperitif or digestif refreshment. The damsons are picked at exactly the right moment and crafted in the traditional way, with cane sugar and London Gin. We say: cheers!