For our third look at local producers of drinks, reporter RICHARD HARDING headed to Salcombe Brewery overlooking the estuary north of Kingsbridge...

SALCOMBE Brewery retail manager, Tim Clarke, told me they had been on the site, north of Kingsbridge, since 2016. The company started as Quercus Brewery and was based in Churchstow.

Tim explained: ‘’The owners John and Gerry Tiner had been enjoying holidays in Salcombe for many years.

‘’They had a pint of Shingle Bay but were told the brewery was going out of business so they immediately decided to buy it.’’

They found the new site big enough for a shop, an office and a brewhouse all on one site which used to be the South West Water works. They now have another site at Lee Mill near Ivybridge around 2021 to do all the packaging, canning and kegging with the bottling done on another site.

The range was expanded to the current range of ten beers plus one cider which is produces in Taunton. In addition to this there are small batches

Senior Brewer Chris Lang then explained the brewing process: ‘’One of our lads was in at 5am to get everything going.

‘’Essentially to make beer you need four ingredients- a source of sugar, predominantly barley but we also use some wheat and some oats, you need water which is 95 per cent of beer, you need hops which give the beer bitterness and aroma and finally yeast which converts the sugar into ethanol or alcohol.

“All of the barley and grain is mixed with the water in a mash tun which makes a type of thin porridge. it goes into a giant kettle. It’s given a vigorous boil which kills any nasties and sterilises it. Hops are added in two batches before going to fermentation vessels.’’

‘’Barley which makes up 85 per cent of beer’s recipe comes from the UK, the wheat comes from Germany, up to 65 per cent of our hops come from the UK but we also source from the States and elsewhere.”

Brewery tours usually happen on Thursdays. You can find out more by calling 01548 854888 or visit: https://salcombebrewery.com/