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| At the Brewery |
Disclaimer: I have had a lovely visit
to the brewery and had every question I asked answered, I am also
proud to be selling their beers where I work.
Adnams is superficially an unassuming
seaside brewery on the East coast of England. Much of its branding is
quaint; lighthouses, tall-ships, sailors and clam shells- it is bad
poetry old men write on deck chairs.
Their core range is, as a rule, very
satisfying. Their Broadside a dark ale, has just enough fruity punch
to carry the malt and if you are lucky a pleasant hoppiness will come
through, their Southwold Bitter, when in good form is effortlessly
drinkable- with a delicate and nourishing mineralism and a fresh sea
air saltiness that you'd only expect advertising to lie about. Aside
from these they offer 3 other mainline beers with a hoppy focus. Fat
Sprat, an amber, and Ghost Ship, a luminously pale ale. They share a
moderate fruitiness and spicy hoppines as well as naff names. Their
Wild Hop Amber is also notable, the green hops are almost buttery but
quickly off set by a tobacco spice bitterness.
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| View from the Brewery |
These hits aren't without their misses,
with beers like Explorer, Gunhill and Topaz Gold being lesser
versions of beers already being made by Adnams. Those beers at least
show that Adnams is very capable of being any other mediocre English
brewery when it wants to.
The real gem, though not necessarily
the heart of Adnams is its Jack Brand range. The contemporary
ingredients and styles of this range are well grounded by the
otherwise traditional characteristics of the brewery. The Innovation
IPA shows what the big modern American style IPA could be if those
brewing this style allowed you to taste the hops. The Mosaic Pale Ale
offers all the freshness and tropical fruitiness you would expect
tamed by a 4.1% ABV and crisp finish. Their 1659 Smoked Ruby Ale is
the most drinkable smoked beer I have drank, though that is not
saying a lot. It has a distinct bitterness that clears its well
measured smokiness. On the butt of the Jack Brand range is their
Crystal Rye IPA and Dry-Hopped Lager. The former is agreeable in
itself but the hops are somewhat lost in the rye, though its
freshness and bitterness are enjoyable. The latter is an attempt to
give those stuck for lager a way to look sophisticated or an attempt
to make an unremarkable lager that people will buy expecting to enjoy
a degree of dry hopping.
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| Jack Branding |
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| Jack Branding |
The brewery is well set, in that it's
classic range will be maintained by its Jack Brand range and due to
its classic range its Jack Brand range will perceiver after the
current craft balloon bursts. Adnams successful branching out into
whiskeys, gins, vodkas and other spirits and liquors show a sustained
thirst for quality. Their embrace of green technology and waste
reduction is admirable and convincing and all reasonable misanthropy
aside it is something beer drinkers need to start appreciating.
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| Distillation Columns |
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| Whiskey |
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| Mini Stills |
Southwold is an idyllic seaside town,
the brewery and adjunct distillery are sophisticated works of art
surrounded by easy going pubs and shops incessant with walked in
sand, that bang and shake with the wind like boats. It combines
childhood notions of a holiday with the existential anxiety we all
enjoy and that Morrisey vocalised- though it still holds enough
honest charm that no one sings “come, come nuclear bomb”.
