Welbeck Abbey Brewery

Brewery Yard, Welbeck Abbey, Worksop, Nottinghamshire

Website: Welbeck Abbey Brewery

About the brewery

Not far from Nottinghamshire’s legendary Sherwood Forest you will find Welbeck Abbey Brewery, situated within the historic 800-year-old estate of Grade I listed Welbeck Abbey, the traditional residence of the Dukes of Newcastle and later the Dukes of Portland. The estate has an interesting and varied history, most recently the kitchen block was used as an army hospital during the First World War (1914 to 1919) and the house let to the Ministry of Defence between 1945 and 2005 and used as an army training college. After the death of the eldest daughter of the 7th Duke, Lady Alexandra Margaret Anne Cavendish-Bentinck in 2008, the 17,000 acre estate and house passed to William Henry Marcello Parente, the son of her younger sister, who has lived there since the Ministry of Defence moved out.

Interesting Fact: The First World War started when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, but just months beforehand, he was almost killed in a shooting accident while a guest at Welbeck. Had catastrophe not been averted, an even greater catastrophe may never have happened.

The estate – like many country estates – has had to diversify in order to survive and prosper. The Welbeck Estates Company and the charitable Harley Foundation have opened a number of new ventures such as the Dukeries Garden Centre, the School of Artisan Food, the Harley Gallery and Foundation, and the Welbeck Farm Shop. There is also a range of craft workshops.

The brewery is a joint venture between the Welbeck Estate and the Kelham Island Brewery in Sheffield. Kelham Island had spare equipment and the know-how to establish the venture, and helped recruit the first head brewer – Claire Monk. Claire, who was originally from Suffolk, moved to Sheffield to study microbiology at Sheffield University. She had a weeklong placement at Kelham Island Brewery in January 2010 and the brewery offered her a job once she graduated. The job turned out to be setting up the new Welbeck Abbey Brewery in 2011 which was to be housed in a listed barn on the estate. At the time, at the tender age of 23, she was the youngest female brewer (or brewster) in the country.

Claire oversaw the successful launch and development of the brewery, producing ales that use the estate’s own mineral-rich spring water and a unique strain of yeast. No sugar or additives are used during the brewing process, although the brewery has recently begun using unusual ingredients as part of its commitment to a greener brewing process. This commitment means using on-site water from the estate’s borehole, reducing the amount of water used in the brewing process (reducing the amount of water from 5.5 pints to 3.5 pints per pint of ale), adopting a one-stage fermentation process to reduce the need for cleaning (thereby reducing use of chemicals and water), saving and reusing pallets, recovering heat and reducing electricity usage, and even changing the beer mats to biodegradable ones with vegetable inks (printed just down the road).

Interesting Fact: Welbeck Abbey Brewery originally housed another brewery, True North, from 2012 until it opened its own premises in Sheffield in 2015

One of the brewery’s most interesting initiatives was its Foraged and Found Range introduced in 2019, which saw it team up with the local artisan food producers on the estate to reuse left overs. This resulted in waste bread produced by students at The School of Artisan Food used in a beer called Breaking Bread; whey from the Stichelton Dairy used in Out of the Blue Porter; and coffee ground from The Harley Cafe used to create Wake up and Smell the Coffee Porter. The team has also foraged the estate for unusual ingredients – creating a pale ale containing nettles called No Pain No Gain. Other beers in the range included a rhubarb saison May the Forced be With You and a pale ale brewed with orange rind from the cafe’s orange squeezer, called Take it Squeezy.

Claire is still with the brewery, but is now the general manager, with James Gladman heading up brewing. The brewery supplies local pubs and exports to over 70 countries.

Regular beers

Cavendish (ABV 5.0%) is a blonde ale named after the House of Cavendish who owned the Abbey. It has crisp, zingy grapefruit flavours.

Harley (ABV 4.3%) this honey-coloured ale has a zesty, fresh flavour with notes of orange blossom and a subtle sweetness. It uses American and German hops and is named after ‘The Great Collector’ Edward Harley, who built a huge collection of books and art.

Henrietta (ABV 3.6%) is a golden ale named after two famous Henriettas in the Welbeck family lineage: Henrietta Cavendish-Holles and Henrietta Scott. It’s a clean-tasting, delicate golden ale with notes of honeysuckle and fresh hay. Brewed with German Hallertau Brewers Gold.

Kaiser (ABV 4.1%) this extra pale beer uses premium German lager hops to deliver a biscuity-sweet but refreshingly herbaceous flavour.

Portland Black (ABV 4.5%) a rich porter named after the Duke and Duchess of Portland. It has a subtle smoked taste with chocolate, coffee and vanilla flavours.

Red Feather (ABV 3.9%) is a robust auburn ale with a rich colour and walnut flavours combined with bitter sweet caramel. It takes its name from the emblem of Welbeck.

Regular seasonal beers and specials

• In 2013, a group of female brewers got together to produce Venus Red (ABV 4.6%) at Welbeck Brewery, to celebrate women brewers.
• In 2020, Welbeck Brewery partnered with Age UK to support its Men in Sheds project that helps older men escape isolation and find support and friendship. Men In Sheds is a true ABV 4.8% English IPA that uses Cascade and Jester hops. 10p from each pint sold is donated to the project.
• The Hall Cross in Doncaster commissions its own beer, Stocks, from the Welbeck Abbey brewery, using the recipe from the old Doncaster Stocks brewery.

Fancy a pint?

Welbeck Abbey ales can be found in pubs in South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire and North Lincolnshire. Its bottled beers are available in local shops (not in supermarkets) and it sells directly to the public from its website (bottles, mini kegs and beer-in-a-box).

Tours and take aways

There are few breweries more worthy of a trip than Welbeck Abbey – particularly for couples where one partner is not so enthusiastic about beer. Brewing enthusiasts can take the brewery tour, which includes a look around the brewhouse, insight into the ingredients, and an overview of the brewing process. Tours last approximately 1.5 hours and finish with a refreshing complimentary pint of Welbeck ale. (Those interested should email Welbeck Brewery) But the venue has so much more to offer for those who prefer the product to the process and aren’t excited by a brewery tour. This includes the Harley Gallery, the setting itself and the Garden Centre. For those wanting to make a weekend of it, there are good and inexpensive hotels locally and plenty more to see including Clumber Park (National Trust), Rufford Abbey, Newstead Abbey and Creswell Crags. And, most importantly, some fantastic local pubs! For more information see our Abbeys, Parks and Crags Tour.

The brewery also runs classes in ale production.