Cornwall is a beautiful place. On a Sunny day with a gentle breeze nothing can beat it. The views, the history, the beer…
I could bore you with great photos of all the lovely places we visited whilst on holiday. But the honest truth is all you want to read about is the beer. So here we go…
Skinners Brewery:
I have to be honest and say that until now it’s rare that I have tried Skinners beers. The brewery have been running since 1997 and are based in Truro, where brewery tours happen daily. As well as trying the three above (Porthleven pale ale, Lushingtons pale ale and Hops ‘n’ Honey honeyed ale) from bottle I also got the opportunity to try Cornish Knocker golden ale on tap at the Red Lion in Newquay.
It’s fair to say that all of these beers are tasty. But my favourite overall had to be Hops ‘n’ Honey. A really delicate taste of honey wrapped up in a bubbly and effervescent ale, with hints of tangerine and toffee. It all comes together so nicely, and being a lover of citrus in beer this was always going to be a favourite for me.
Sharps Brewery:

Despite my love for beers made my Sharps, this holiday has been more about discovery than going back to what I know. As a result only two pints of Sea Fury were drunk whilst away (there might have been a cheeky Doom Bar, I can’t remember).
The beer is still a decent pint, better off the tap than in the bottle, and still takes me back to my first pint of it in Rock several years ago. Roasted grains, fruity flavours, heavy. This is a decent beer that you dont need to many of to enjoy. A good long evening pint.
St Austell:
All hail St Austell. Im going to go out on a limb here and say that I might have a new favourite brewery.
Ive always been a fan of Trbute. It’s just a beautiful beer in any weather on any day. Session strength with delicate flavours and consistently great whether its out of a bottle or in the pub, but since St Austell and Bath Ales have teamed up, the portfolio is becoming amazing.
I’d already recommended Hicks to Life after football as a cracking (strong) special ale that has made its way onto the supermarket shelves. However on tap, at a St Austell pub, in Mevagissey…it doesn’t get much better really. Strong and full bodied, with hints of toffee this is such a beautiful beer. It’s thanks to this fella’s blog that I have also added a new page to mine, locating all the decent boozers I’ve been to both in Cornwall and where I live now. It’s live now and you can view it here (or by clicking the tab ‘pubs etc’ at the top).
Also worth a notable mention is the complex and flavoursome Mena Dhu stout. A beer that blows Bath Ales’ Darkside right out of the water. Chocolate and coffee flavours blend with a delicately hopped beer that requires nothing more than an open fire on a winters evening (I didn’t have these in July, but I did have a BBQ and about 22 degress in the evening…).
Sayzon is a decent take on a saison, and is certainly something I’ll be thinking about when I improve my own saison recipe in time to come. Very bubbly and excellent head retention. A lovely midday / early evening cold beer that is definitely refreshing.
Proper Black is a really nice black IPA that reminded me very much of my own liquor-ish recipe. There was greater body to this though, and the beer has definitely been hopped beyond any measureable level. You only need one!
Randoms:
Im not going to go through all of these. Ultimately these were beers I had bought for me while away. However I will point out Padstow’s ‘The Smoke’ oatmeal stout (actually, just go to Padstow and hit the tap room, you wont be disappointed!) was very tasty, Hobgoblin’s IPA which I have said previously is the best IPA out there right now and then Eagle Breweries Sticky Toffee ale I have to say was beautiful and very toffee flavoured.
And now the holiday is over, its back to the mundane jobs. Thank you Cornwall. You never fail to amaze me.
St Ives Boathouse Restaurant – Newquay Harbour Padstow / Rock Lanhydrock House Flambards