Cornish Breweries

Cornwall, in common with the rest of the UK, once was rich in local breweries. Over the years, however, mergers, takeovers and subsequent closures sadly depleted their numbers, and by 1980 there were only three left - Devenish (Redruth), St. Austell, and the Blue Anchor brew-pub in Helston. Then Devenish fell under the Whitbread axe and the subsequent arrival of asset-strippers, its pubs being sold off mostly to the national pubcos, and eventually leaving St. Austell to fly the principal flag of Cornish brewing around the county.

Over the last 20 years or so, however, the situation has been transformed, with first the arrival of Sharp's, then Skinners, in the 1990s, and there are currently no fewer than 23 operating breweries in the county, although this number fluctuates a little as smaller operations start up or disappear around the dozen or so serious players who are now well-established Cornish brewers. As many of these have their own websites nowadays, this page is designed to allow you to select them yourselves and read about the breweries that interest you, although we can add a small update to many of them courtesy of CAMRA's Brewery Liaison Officer (BLO) network. The breweries currently operating in Cornwall are listed alphabetically below.

New island brewery set up in 2001 at Higher Trenoweth on St. Mary's, moving in 2007 to an industrial unit near the town centre. The beers appear regularly at, among other places, the New Inn on Tresco and the Mermaid Inn in Hugh Town on St. Mary's. Two regular ales, both best bitters are produced, with others appearing as 'seasonal' beers usually to celebrate special events on the islands such as the arrival of the bird-watching fraternity in October ('Old Bustard'), the opening of the islands' own radio station ('Megahertz '), or the arrival of their new vicar ('Chaplain of the Ales'). A recent development has been a reworking of one of the first brews made, Three Sheets (4.1%), which has become a very pale straw-coloured bitter, brewed occasionally in summer.
Ales of Scilly, Unit 2B, Porthmellon Industrial Estate, ST. MARY'S, Isles of Scilly TR21 0JY

01720 42 24 19

Once the Doghouse Brewery, this operation was forced to move premises when the tenancy of its location adjacent to kennels near Redruth ran out. Now rebadged as Allsaints, the same brewer is producing some old recipes (rebadged with saintly names) and some new ones, using the brewery plant at Coastal as available until a more permanent home can be found. A recent development is Blest Bitter 4.5% abv, a golden ale.

Originally a Devon brewery, Blackawton moved to Cornwall in 2000 and has changed owners twice since then. Fiona Mullen & Malcolm Littley are the new owners of Blackawton, and they are based in Widecombe in the Moor, back in Devon! The Saltash brewing operation nevertheless continues much as before producing one brew per week, amounting to about 25 firkins. Only 3 Cornish pubs are supplied, most of the production going to 20 or so Devon pubs and a few Wetherspoon outlets. The portfolio of beers has not changed much over the years; the current list can be found on their website http://www.blackawtonbrewery.co.uk/

A joiner with British Rail for 20 years, Alan Hinde got involved in running pubs with wife Audrey, during which time became interested in real ale and the brewing process. The couple ran the well-known Borough Arms at Crewe for six years until 2005, and Alan brewed some beers on the premises, which proved popular with drinkers. Alan moved to Cornwall, from his home area of Crewe, with his family in November 2005, and set up Coastal Brewery, on Redruth's busy Cardrew Industrial Estate, a year later.

With Coastal up and running, the appropriately named Genesis was the first brew. After months of hard work a portfolio of tasty beers has been established, and a growing number of outlets are taking the beers. Some of the beers go out of the county, notably up to the Midlands and North of England. Outlets include The Wellington, Birmingham, a renowned real ale pub with 15 handpumps, and the Bhurtpore, at Aston, near Crewe, which offers up to 10 real ales at any one time.

In Cornwall, Coastal beers can often be found at: The Star, Crowlas; the Alexandra, Penzance; and the Blisland Inn, on Bodmin Moor - all, coincidentally, have been Cornwall CAMRA pub of the year recently, the Star being the current title holder.

In Devon, look out for the beers at: The Trout and Tipple, Tavistock; Prince Maurice, Plymouth; Royal Oak, South Brent; and the Bridge Inn, Topsham.

The beers are listed on the Coastal Brewery website.
Coastal Brewery, Unit 9B, Cardrew Industrial Estate, REDRUTH, TR15 1SS
Phone: 07875 405407

Based in Lostwithiel, this small brewery (whose name is inspired by nearby Restormel Castle) arose from the ashes of the original Keltek operation. Until fairly recently doing little more than 'brewing in plastic buckets' (their words!) they have nevertheless been doing fairly well in the bottle-conditioned market, having found a niche in mainly east Cornwall and into Plymouth. Now their new 200 litre copper is up and running, Castle have started thinking about brewing for cask, but have run into a new problem: they are unable to chill the beer after fermentation sufficiently well to slow yeast activity to a level where they can cask (or sometimes even bottle) it. This turned out to be a problem with an inefficient heat exchanger which was defeated during the warm summer months, and will now have to be replaced. Meanwhile, Moat Mild is now part of the regular portfolio and is reportedly selling very well in its bottled form, better than the brewer expected in what is largely a non-mild drinking area.

Erstwhile Bathtub Brewery brewer Peter Martin, who was forced to close his tiny operation when the landlord sold the pub that was his base, has returned to the world of beer production at the Driftwood Spars at Trevaunance Cove. This had ceased production of its Cuckoo Ale when previous landlord and owner Gordon Treleaven sold up and retired in 2007. The new owners dabbled a bit with the 5-barrel brew plant but seemed to lose heart when a heating element burned out last summer and trouble was had in sourcing a replacement. However, the kit is now fully functioning and Peter produces three or four ales for the pub's own portfolio. Brewing for now takes place once or twice a month, giving the pub enough at a time to keep at least one of its handpumps permanently busy.
Driftwood Spars Hotel, Trevaunance Cove, ST. AGNES TR5 0RT
Tlf (01872) 552428

The brewery which operated under this name in Tregony ceased operations there during 1998. The equipment was sold on and Keltek was reincarnated in Lostwithiel, as a two-and-a-half barrel brew plant with two 5-barrel fermenters, set up in what once was the cleaning department of the Dairy Crest creamery. Sadly, it was again closed in 2005 through having to vacate these premises and was relocated to Redruth in the care of its original owner Stuart Heath. Brewing was at first largely confined to beers produced for the home take-away market (both in polypin and bottle-conditioned formats), but a series of expansions mean that cask-conditioned ales are now widely available in the pubs of Cornwall and beyond. Try the Keltek Brewery website for more information.

Keltek Brewery, Candela House, Cardrew Industrial Estate, REDRUTH TR15 1SS
01209 313620

One of Cornwall's newest breweries, Lizard started full-time brewing in late 2004 from premises in St. Keverne on the Lizard peninsula. Brewer Richard Martin now brews a regular portfolio of three or four ales available in certain outlets in the area, although much of this brewery's output is now for bottling, albeit in bottle-conditioned form The most recent addition is White Rocks, a wheat beer at 5.0%abv. The brewery moved to new premises - an old nuclear shelter near Coverack - in June 2008.
Lizard Ales Ltd, The Old Nuclear Bunker, Pednavounder TR12 6SE
01326 281135

The first organic brewery in Cornwall, the Organic Brewhouse, operated from premises on the Bochym Industrial Estate near Cury Cross Lanes on the Lizard peninsula. It was set up by Andy Haymer , who considered his niche in the market to lie with organic beers. However, difficulty with obtaining a consistent supply of organically-accredited materials (at affordable prices) led to this ambition being thwarted somewhat, and the same brews are now produced using more regular sources of brewing ingredients. This necessitated a change of name, and the Chough Brewery was born. Some of the beers are also available in bottle-conditioned form.

Organic Brewhouse, Unit 1A, Rural Workshops, Higher Bochym, Cury Cross Lanes TR12 7AZ
(01326) 24 15 55

St. Austell Brewery Co. Ltd, 63 Trevarthian Road, St AUSTELL PL25 4BY
Tlf: (01726) 74444 Fax: (01726) 68965

Another relatively large brewery was established in 1994 by Bill Sharp at Pityme, near Rock. It currently supplies its well-established Doom Bar all over the country, and has completed several expansions to increase capacity still further. As well as its standard portfolio of draught ales, Sharp's produces bottled beers including a special range of three strong brews called 'Conoisseur's Choice' and a couple (Chalky's Bark, Chalky's Bite) in memory of a certain dog that lived up Padstow way.

Sharp's Brewery, Pityme Industrial Estate, Rock, WADEBRIDGE PL27 6NU
Tlf: (01208) 86 21 21 Fax: (01208) 86 37 27
Website: Sharp's Brewery

Skinner's Brewing Co., Riverside View, Newham, TRURO TR1 2SU
Tlf: (01872) 27 18 85 Fax: (01872) 27 18 86
Website: Skinner's Brewery

Beer	ABV %
Three Sheets	4.1
Firebrand (summer season, Apr-Oct only)	4.2
Scuppered	4.6