My Brewery of the Year: Beak Brewery

Based in the traditional British market town Lewes, in the shadow of the beautiful Dover-esque white cliffs, Beak already shares its postcode with a heap of brewing history, being a stones throw away from the renowned cask driven brewery, Harvey & Sons.

"Life-affirming ales"

Image taken from @TheBeakBrewery

I imagine for most people, Beak didn't appear on their 'beer radar' until at least 2020, when ordering lockdown cans from your favourite bottle-shop, searching the double-IPA section to drown the pandemic-sorrows away. I remember my first Beak experience well, soaking up the vitamin D of lockdown 2020 whilst supping on their flagship New England IPA, Parade. Sitting at a generous 6% ABV, loaded with Citra; Mosaic and Idaho-7, there's no hiding away from the mango; pineapple and stone fruit goodness that smacks you around the chops from beginning to end. From that moment, Beak beer has been a constant when ordering my beer online or going to my local bottle-shop, fulfilling the statement that is printed on all of their cans: "life-affirming ales", although their recent lager release 'Déšt' would have me coining the phrase "life-affirming lagers" too.

The Great British Bake Off

Like many of the new craft breweries popping up around the UK, its safe to say Beak have ridden the, what seems to be never ending, hazy-beer wave, and perfected their own take on the New England inspired pale ales to cement themselves as a household name in the fridges of beer lovers. However, what makes Beak stand out is their consistency through-out all styles of output, ranging from imperial stouts; to fruited sour ales. Nothing can demonstrate their ability to brew all styles more than an appearance on the UK's favourite baking show, The Great British Bake Off. Using a can of the one-off-annual imperial stout, Oopla, contestant Juergen illustrates the dependability and versatility of Beak's brewing by creating a delicious German inspired yeast-leavened cake. And its a well known fact, Germans know good beer!

Treat Yourself!

As I sit here enjoying what I can only describe as Haribo Tangfastics in a can, Beak's raspberry sour ale 'Wurl!', the only way I can finish this write up is by saying, treat yourself! The best way to experience good beer isn't by reading a poorly written blog, but by drinking it yourself. If you're lucky enough to live in the South of England, get yourself down to their taproom in the shadows of the white cliffs, and order a pint (or maybe 7) of Déšt, their Czech style pilsner which is most comparable to tank fresh Pilsner Urquell. Or Parade. Or Strangers. Or Lulla. Because really, you'll be spoiled for choice. If, like me, a trip down to Lewes is a tad too far, be sure to support the brewery directly through their online store, their t-shirts are awesome too!

https://beakbrewery.com/collections/beer

And finally, if you want to find out more about Beak through the art of video, check out Craft Beer Channel's Jonny & Brad take a tour of Beak's extraordinary space below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXlPKU9capU

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