Kent Brewery

11/05/2021 by Colin Mann 3 Comments

Birling Place Farm, Birling, Kent

About the brewery

Kent Brewery was established in 2010 as the result of a chance meeting between former digital marketing specialist and real ale enthusiast Paul Herbert and ex-Dark Star brewer Toby Simmonds in the garden of Paul’s local.

The two formed a partnership and produced their initial brews in the Autumn of 2010 at Larkins in Chiddingstone, before premises were secured in former farm buildings in Birling in 2011.

The brewery presently supplies over 400 pubs throughout the UK and northern Europe on a regular basis, producing the house beer for The Craft Beer Company pubs in London and Brighton, the largest outlet for Craft Beer in the UK.

Regular beers

Black Gold (4% ABV) is a dark golden ale, described as dark and hoppy.

Brewers Reserve (5.0% ABV) is a pale ale that has a strong citrusy and resin hop flavour balanced with delicate malts.

Cobnut (4.1% ABV) a ruby ale that is generously hopped, with dark and nutty flavours.

Kent Golding Bitter or KGB (4.1% ABV) is a bitter ale that uses Golding and Fuggles hops.

Pale (4% ABV) is a golden ale with a full flavour that uses aromatic hops. This was Kent Brewery’s original brew.

Prohibition (4.8% ABV) is an American pale ale (APA) that has a citrusy flavour and is highly hopped with US hops.

Session Pale (3.7% ABV) is a pale ale that is light and hoppy with hints of citrus and elderflower.

Regular seasonal beers and specials

Citra (4.5% ABV) is a single-hopped pale ale that has citrus flavours and aromas. It’s #2 in Kent Brewery’s single hop series.

The New Black (4.8% ABV) is a dark ale that has been brewed using American Pale Ale (APA) hops to deliver the light and citrus flavours of an APA combined with a subtle dark malt body.

Orange Crush (4.5% ABV) is pale ale that uses citrusy hops and is infused with a blend of sweet and bitter oranges to create a mellow and easy-drinking pale ale.

Porter (5.5% ABV) a dark ale that is well-hopped, producing a dark, malty beer with hints of coffee and chocolate.

The Quiet American (4.2% ABV) is an American Pale Ale (APA) that is light and fresh with both floral and citrus flavours and a hint of grapefruit.

Raspberry Beret (4.8% ABV) is a stout that is infused with raspberries for extra richness, delivering a dark, fruity sweet beer.

Tropic Ale (4.9% ABV) is an India Pale Ale IPA that offers a mouth-watering taste of the tropics in a hotbed of fruit and citrusy hops.

Zingiber (4.1% ABV) is a golden ale that uses American hops and ginger that delivers a fruit and warming taste.

Fancy a pint?

Kent Brewery serves a large number of free houses in the Malling and Maidstone area, in particular the Malling Jug, a micropub just off the High Street in West Malling, and the Brickmakers Arms, Perryfield Street, Maidstone.

Tours and Take Aways

The brewery conducts tours with post-tour sampling taking place in an ante room furnished with seats and pews once used by local hostelries. For more information, or to book a tour, please contact the brewery directly.

A changing range of beers is available in 5 litre minikegs from the website.

Goacher’s Maidstone Ales

19/04/2021 by Colin Mann Leave a comment

Unit 8, Tovil Green Business Park, Maidstone

Website: Goacher’s Maidstone Ales

About the brewery

When real ale enthusiasts Phil and Debbie Goacher started brewing in 1983 at a former paper mill in the Loose Valley on the outskirts of Maidstone, using a home-built seven-barrel kit, it marked the return of commercial brewing to Kent’s County Town for the first time since 1972.

Goacher’s dray outside the Rifle
Volunteers, 2021

Growing success saw a move to new premises on a small industrial estate at Tovil, also on Maidstone’s outskirts, where it remains to this day, serving two (soon to be three) tied houses and a healthy free trade throughout Kent.

The modern brewing plant was purpose-built and constructed along classical lines, allowing for full-mash brewing and open fermentation in stainless steel vessels. All the ales are produced from 100% malted barley and whole Kentish hops, without the addition of sugars or artificial colouring.

“We believe that our commitment to excellence and traditional methods produces ales of distinction and character much sought-after in this increasingly-standardised world,” says the brewery.

*Goacher’s tied house: The Rifle Volunteers, Maidstone*

Regular beers

Best Dark (ABV 4.1%) is the brewery’s original ale, initially dubbed ‘Maidstone Ale’ and renamed ‘Dark’ as further brews were produced. This is a rich, complex, full-bodied ale with high proportions of crystal malt and East Kent Golding hops.

Crown Imperial Stout (ABV 4.5%) is Goacher’s version of a true, bottled Irish stout. Brewed with roasted barley and high levels of Kent Fuggles hops.

Fine Light Ale (ABV 3.7%) is Goacher’s best selling pale amber bitter, which has a floral hop character deriving from WGV and East Kent Golding hops.

Gold Star Ale (ABV 5.1%) is a true draught pale ale made with floor-malted low-colour Maris Otter malted barley and hopped with the finest East Kent aroma hops.

Real Mild Ale (ABV 3.4%) is a full-flavoured dark mild, brewed with chocolate and black malts and hopped with Kent Fuggles. It was originally produced to celebrate Goacher’s 5th anniversary.

Regular seasonal beers and specials

*Goacher’s tied house: The Royal Paper Mill, Tovil*

House Ale (ABV 3.8%) was originally produced as a blend of Goacher’s Fine Light and Best Dark ales as a special for a local pub, but is now brewed and supplied to several houses.

Old 1066 Ale (ABV 6.7%) is a fruity rich barley wine named after the original gravity of the brew. Old has been produced in small quantities every winter since 1983.

Silver Star Ale (ABV 4.2%) is Goacher’s palest ale, first produced in 2008 to celebrate its 25th anniversary. This summer ale is hopped with Kent Fuggles producing a crisp, clean taste with a light, satisfying dry finish.

Fancy a pint?

Goacher’s has two tied houses: The Rifle Volunteers in Maidstone and The Royal Paper Mill in Tovil, less than a mile away from the brewery. In 2019, Goacher’s bought another pub – The Little Gem in Aylesford – which is currently undergoing renovation and expected to open in 2021.

Tours and takeaways

Takeaways are available from Goacher’s tied houses. Please enquire for details.

Reviewed by Kentish Mann 2021.

Larkins Brewery

12/04/2021 by Colin Mann Leave a comment

Hampkins Hill Road, Chiddingstone, Kent, TN8 7BB

Website: Larkins Brewery

About the brewery

With a name that calls to mind the idyllic Kent countryside featured in HE Bates’ Darling Buds of May, Larkins Brewery was founded in Rusthall in 1986, on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells, by owner and managing director Bob Dockerty. Dockerty, a commercial hop grower and keen home brewer, began brewing when his family acquired the Kentish Ales brewery, moving to the Larkins family farm at Chiddingstone in 1990.

Hops had always been grown on the farm, but when Dockerty bought the brewery and was setting up the operations he didn’t have enough time to tend to the hops. However, some dozen years ago, he decided to start hopping again as he was having difficulties sourcing the hops he wanted to use from elsewhere. Four acres of wirework and poles were still in place on the farm, so he replanted the hops, using them in his beers ever since.

Three varieties of hops – Early Choice Goldings, Bramling Cross and Whitbread Golding – are grown on the four-acre site yielding nearly 1,500kg of annually. These give head brewer Chris Taylor all the flavours and aromas he needs to create the Larkins range of beers which include three standard and two seasonal beers, fermented with Larkins’ unique, carefully guarded strain of its own proprietary ale yeast, since 1993.

Regular beers

Best Bitter (ABV 4.4%) is a Kentish-style best bitter, a rich, fruity and slightly-sweet ale. Notes of summer fruits and caramel give way to a long bitter malt finish.

Larkins Pale (ABV 4.2%) is a full-flavoured Kentish-style pale ale, packed with Larkins Farm-grown hops and with not even a hint of grapefruit, according to the brewery.

Traditional (ABV 3.4%) is the brewery’s staple bitter and best seller. Described as a “smooth Kentish-style tawny session bitter”, it delivers a pleasing balance of Larkins hops and malt, producing a surprisingly characterful beer for such low ABV. An entirely sensible drink that is a staple of the houses where it is available.

Regular seasonal beers

Green Hop Best (ABV 4.0%) is produced from hops that are brewed on the day they are picked (hence “green hops”). This seasonal delicacy is only available for a couple of weeks each October.

Porter (ABV 5.2%) is available from November to March. A rich, satisfying porter that has won many an award and has the honour of being included in esteemed beer writer Roger Protz’s 300 Beers to Try Before You Die. The drink itself has an intense aroma of roasted grain, pungent hop resins and bitter chocolate. Dark dried and vinous fruits coat the palate, balanced by roasted malt and peppery hops. The finish is long, dry, bitter and satisfying. A beer to be taken most seriously!

Fancy a pint?

Larkins Ales can be enjoyed in the following Kent pubs: Charcott (The Greyhound), Chiddingstone, (The Castle Inn), Cowden (Queen’s Arms), Edenbridge (The Rock Inn and The Kentish Horse), Penshurst (The Spotted Dog and The Bottle House Inn), Sevenoaks (The Windmill) and Tonbridge (The Leicester Arms and The Little Brown Jug).

Tours and Take Aways

Brewery tours are not currently available.

Beer can be bought directly from the brewery in 5L mini kegs (8-9 pints), mini pins (18 pints), poly pins (36 pints) and firkins (72 pints). Orders must be placed by phone on 01892 870 328.

Reviewed by Kentish Mann April 2021