Redscar Brewery

On Sunday some of the Beer Blog team arranged to meet at a microbrewery called Redscar. In a nutshell it’s a brewery in the cellar of the Cleveland Hotel In Redcar, run by the Hotel’s owner Chris, who is a really nice bloke and was only too happy to show us around.

The brewery is a proper little microbrewery – nothing flash or fancy – just one small mash tun, a couple of 400 litre fermentation tanks and a cold storage room. Chris brews 4 beers: Sands, Pier, Rocks and Beach. They all use the same basic recipe but tweaked with different malts and mash times to give them their own character.

I get the impression that Redscar brewery really is built on a love of making good beer. While an amount of commercial success has meant the brewery isn’t as free to experement anymore, the brewer still harks back to his early days making beer as a teenager and the joy it brought him.

If you were to go down to Redcar it’s worth stopping in for a pint at the Cleveland Hotel. Though Chris only puts on two beers at a time, the rumor is though that there is a new recipe for the Redscar rocks beer which is going to coming out soon, all he let on is that it would more red.

Sands – 4.2% ABV – Pale refreshing hoppy ale. Chris was the first to admit that this is ale in its simplest form, light, refreshing and something you could drink all day. The only downside comes when you compare it to something like the Rocks, it becomes slightly bland.  On first pouring the beer had a good body and a decent head, I can’t comment on how the head lasted as I drank it pretty quick!

Rocks – 4.5% ABV – Best bitter, medium bodied with a hoppy finish. This was my favorite ale of the day, it had lots of body and a lovely creamy head compared to the Sands. It was a lot darker and had a fair bit more flavour.

It would seem Chris at the Cleveland Hotel has had good interest in the beer from a few local pubs and suppliers, so lets hope it continues and helps a local business in these difficult times of pubs closing at 50+ per week.

The Redscar brewery website can be found www.redscar-brewery.co.uk