Milestone Brewing Company

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Great North Road, Cromwell, Newark, NG23 6JE

Website: www.milestonebrewery.co.uk

About the brewery

Milestone brewery was founded by Ken Munro and his wife Fran in late 2004. The husband and wife duo had previously run the Great Northern pub in Carlton on Trent, as well as The Square and Compass in Normanton upon Trent, before trying their hand at brewing. Ken bought Maypole Brewery and, along with head brewer Rob Neil, set about developing Maypole. He bought the kit and recipes from Dwan Brewery in the Republic of Ireland and set it up in Cromwell, developing the Dwan recipes into a new range and establishing the Milestone Brewery. He then sold off The Square and Compass as well as the Maypole Brewery (which was bought by Rob Neil).

Once Ken had got the Milestone Brewery going he bought the Green Dragon in Lincoln and the William Greenwood Brewery, which he transformed into the Cathedral Brewery (which started production in 2008). He also acquired the lease on The Crown in Normanton on Trent. Milestone keeps its base recipes simple using the four traditional ingredients of hops, malt, wheat and water. It brews 5 days a week and now has a large selection of ales in addition to its core range.

Regular beers

Black Pearl (ABV 4.3%) is a dark stout with a creamy head and hints of liquorice and caramel. It is made with Gallena and American Nugget hops and Roasted Barley malts.

Crusader (ABV 4.4%) is a pale ale with a slightly hoppy aroma and a citrus taste. It is made with Challenger and Progress hops along with Pale Wheat and Crystal malts.

Lion’s Pride (ABV 3.8%) is a copper coloured traditional English ale. It has a hoppy aroma and a hint of bitter lemon.

Loxley (ABV 4.2%) is a golden ale with a lemongrass and honey aroma and taste. It is made using Challenger and Progress hops along with Maris Otter and Crystal malt.

Rich Ruby (ABV 4.5%) is a ruby ale with a fruity aroma and a malty, berry taste. It uses Galena and East Kent Golding hops along with Crystal, Chocolate and Maris Otter malts.

Shine On (ABV 4.0%) is a straw coloured pale ale with citrus notes that uses Liberty, Cascade and American hops.

Regular seasonal beers and specials

Milestone has 31 beers in its standard range and a further portfolio of seasonal beers, including a Christmas beer range, a range of fruit beers and a ‘sporting beer’ range.

Fancy a pint?

Milestone supplies cask and bottled beers to pubs, farm shops and breweries nationwide and to its brewery tap. In addition to its real ale beers the tap offers a wide selection of wines, gins, rum and whiskey. It has a private beer garden with heated, sheltered seating areas that is family friendly, with both children and dogs being welcome.

Tours and Takeaways

Milestone has a beer club which provides access to brewery tours, exclusive tap room events and a discount scheme. Members also receive a case of beer when they join. Bottled beers, mini kegs and poly pins can be bought from the website, with free local delivery. Three and six bottle gift packs are also available.

Kent Brewery

Posted on by Colin Mann 3 Comments

Birling Place Farm, Birling, Kent

Website: Kent Brewery

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.

Kent Brewery, Birling, 2021

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.

Kent breweries

Posted on by Teresa Cottam Leave a comment

Kent has a long history of brewing with its most notable contribution being the cultivation of hops, particularly milder aromatic hops. Archaeologists have discovered that hops were most likely introduced to Britain by the Romans, with evidence of hops being found in the Graveney Boat (Seasalter, Kent) dated to around AD 900. The use of hops in brewing likely died out – although they may have continued to be used by religious order associated with the continent there is currently scant evidence of this and there was unlikely to be widespread use as most people seemed to prefer unhopped ale. The use of hops was later reintroduced when Flemish weavers began importing their native beer in the 15th century. Hops were then used to extend the life of beer, although the flavour was at first unpopular. Gradually, however, hopped beer began replacing unhopped English ale, which had previously been flavoured using spices and herbs (such as wormwood).

Tradition says that the first English hop garden was established at Westbere near Canterbury in 1520. Kent’s soil, mild weather, established enclosed field system, good supply of wood and affluent farmers provided the right conditions for hop growing to flourish. By the 17th century, hopped beer (rather than unhopped ale) became the established drink and after 1655 hop cultivation grew rapidly. As an important hop growing centre, brewing quickly became one of Kent’s major industries.

Like many other counties, Kent suffered a decline in regional brewing in the 20th century, experiencing the closure or acquisition of many smaller breweries, with larger brewing concerns moving production out of the county. Since the Millenium there has been a resurgence of brewing in Kent, with many new commercial breweries, and microbreweries (micropubs) focusing on locally-sourced produce.

Kent’s brewing scene is best divided between East and West Kent, which roughly corresponds to the CAMRA area.

West Kent breweries

Brew Buddies (Swanley Village)

Brumaison (Marden)

Cellar Head Brewing (Flimwell)

Constellation (Tonbridge)

Dartford Wobbler (South Darenth)

Fonthill (Tunbridge Wells)

Goacher’s (Tovil)

The Hildenborough Brewery (Hildenborough)

Iron Pier (Northfleet)

Kent Brewery (Birling)

Larkins Brewery (Chiddingstone)

Musket (Linton)

Nelson (Chatham)

No Frills Joe (Greenhithe)

The Oak Brewery (Sevenoaks)

Old Dairy Brewery (Tenterden)

Pig & Porter (Royal Tunbridge Wells)

Running Man (Chatham)

Stag (Woodchurch)

The Swan (West Peckham)

Tonbridge Brewery (East Peckham)

Westerham (Westerham)

Whitstable Brewery (Grafty Green)

East Kent breweries

The Amazing Brewery (Sandgate)

The Brewery of Angels and Demons (Capel-le-Ferne)

Boutilliers (Faversham)

Breakwater Brewery (Dover)

Canterbury Ales (Chartham)

Canterbury Brewers (Canterbury)

Curious Brewery (Ashford)

Farriers Arms (Mersham)

Floc Brewing (Margate)

Four Candles (St Peters)

Goody Ales (Herne)

Headcorn Hop (Ashford)

Hinks Craft Brewery (Ruckinge)

Hop Fuzz (West Hythe)

Hopdaemon Brewery Company (Newnham)

Isla Vale Alesmiths (Margate)

Mad Cat Brewery (Faversham)

Northdown (Margate)

Ramsgate/Gadd’s (Ramsgate)

Romney Marsh (New Romney)

Shepherd Neame (Faversham)

Shivering Sands (Manston)

Time & Tide (Deal)

The Tir Dha Ghlas Brewing Company (Dover)

Wantsum (St Nicholas At Wade)

XYLO (Margate)

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