Breconshire Brewery
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Breconshire Brewery is a brewery in Brecon, Powys, Wales. The head brewer is Justin "Buster" Grant, formerly of Brakspear Brewery. Since its establishment in 2002, the brewery has received numerous awards at Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) festivals and others. The brewery owns three pubs in Powys: two in Brecon and one in Llangynidr.
| Breconshire Brewery | |
|---|---|
 Crest of the Breconshire Brewery |
|
| Location | Brecon, Wales, UK |
| Owner | C.H. Marlow |
| Year opened | 2002 |
| Active Beers | |
| Brecon County Ale | bitter |
| Red Dragon Ale | Irish red ale |
| Ramblers Ruin Ale | best bitter |
| Golden Valley Ale | golden ale |
| Fan Dance Ale | bes bitter |
| Brecknock Best | best bitter |
| Seasonal Beers | |
| Winter Beacon Ale | winter ale |
| Green Dragon Ale | green-hopped bitter |
| Green Valley Ale | green-hopped golden ale |
| Sam Eluned | wheat beer |
| Night Beacon | peated stout |
| Ysbrid y Ddraig (Spirit of the Dragon) | best bitter |
| GVX | best bitter |
| Retired Beers | |
| Welsh Pale Ale | pale ale |
| Discovery Ale | best bitter |
| SunSpot Lager | lager |
| Three Stations Porter | porter |
| Status unknown Beers | |
| Pist'n Broke | ? |
Contents |
[edit] Brewery
Breconshire Brewery was established when beer distributing company C.H. Marlowe decided to expand into beer production. Marlowe established the brewery in a part of their warehouse in Brecon. The brewery's boiler, mash tun, lauter tun and fermenters came secondhand from Pembrokeshire Brewery.
[edit] Beer
Breconshire's beers are made with Optic barley and use many varietials of hops from Wales and England, some obscure. Like other Welsh beers, they tend to be sweet rather than dry. The brewery recommends that, unlike other cask ales, Breconshire beers be tapped and vented at the same time; failure to do so leads to a haze in the beer.
Ysprid y Ddraig (Welsh: "Spirit of the Dragon") begins with a standard Breconshire beer as a base, with Golden Valley and Ramblers Ruin known to have been used before; the beer is then aged for several months in whiskey casks. The beer is also sold as a Discworld tie-in beer under the name "Bearhugger's Old Restorative".
Fan Dance takes its name from the exercise conducted by the British army on Pen y Fan and contains an unusual blend of Progress and "dwarf" hops.
[edit] Awards
- Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, 2003: Gold medal, Brecon County Ale; silver medal, Golden Valley Ale; silver medal, Ramblers Ruin Ale
- Carmarthen Beer Festival, 2003: Beer of the festival, Golden Valley Ale
- Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, 2004: Best bitter, Brecon County Ale; Champion Beer of Wales 2004-2005, Golden Valley Ale
- Narberth Food Festival, 2004: Beer of the Festival, Green Dragon Ale
- Great British Beer Festival, 2005: Finalist, Champion Beer of Britain, Golden Valley Ale
- Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, 2005: Gold medal (bitter), Brecon County Ale; joint winner, best bitters, Golden Valley Ale; finalist, Champion Beer of Wales, Ramblers Ruin
