Cats, dogs and humans are working together in a common cause in an Eden Valley village.
Beer should taste like beer and not a fizzy fruit drink, says a brewer with a strong belief in the virtues of traditional Cumbrian flavours.
Chris Tomlinson was the publican at the Queen’s Head, Tirril, when he founded the Tirril Brewery in 1999 and from the outset consulted the locals about what type of ale they wanted.
The result was that within 12 months three beers had been developed, each named after characters from local history – John Bewsher’s Best Bitter, a classic session ale; Thomas Slee’s Academy Ale, a darker traditional ale; and Charles Gough’s Old Faithful.
The brewery has since seen two moves, firstly to larger premises at Brougham Hall and then, in 2007, to Red House and Red House Barn in the village of Long Marton, near Appleby – but the ethos behind it remains very similar to what it was initially.
In terms of ales, it produces 14 traditional beers and two crisp Pilsners, all of which are made using British ingredients as far as possible.
The barley used comes from either Warminster Maltings, in Wiltshire, which is Britain’s oldest working maltings and still privately owned, or Mungoswells Malt, based at Mungoswells Farm, in East Lothian, where Angus McDowell is the fourth generation of his family to farm.
“Angus is a friend of John Relph, from Yanwath, which is how I got to know him,” said Chris. “He started malting his barley crop in 2007 and it was only a matter of time before we were using Mungoswells malts in our beers.”
The hops used at the brewery are supplied by Charles Faram, which is based in Worcester and has been trading for more than 150 years, while its yeast has developed from a sample culture Chris bought from the BrewLab laboratory in Sunderland back in 1999.
“Since then we’ve skimmed, reclaimed, washed and re-pitched our yeast brew after brew,” he said. “Over hundreds of generations it has become an individual strain, unique to the brewery and to our beer flavours.”
While tradition is important to the Tirril Brewery team, they have not been complacent and in 2018 introduced a gluten free bottled Pilsner and bottled ale.
Soon these were followed by draught versions of the same beers and the whole brewery has now been converted to producing only gluten free ales and lagers, in bottles, casks and kegs.
“We believe we are now the biggest producer of gluten free beers in the North of England,” said Chris, adding that this approach has no adverse impact at all on the taste of the beer.
“We’ve got nothing but positive feedback for the gluten free beers,” he said. “For people who have been told they can’t drink beer because of the gluten it’s a real plus. It also makes a lot of difference in food pubs where they can do dishes like gluten free beer batter.”
There has also been a shift towards giving many of the ales names with a Lake District ring to them, such as Ullswater Blonde, Grasmere Gold and Borrowdale Bitter – which has actually increased consumption of some of the brews which have been re-named in this way. Others are named for the pubs where they are served, such as Staveley IPA.
Another Tirril Brewery innovation in recent years has been the production of a range of gins, many flavoured with herbs and botanicals picked by Chris himself at locations in Cumbria, or sourced from his garden at Long Marton, such as rhubarb. The latest is flavoured with wild myrtle he gathers in Eskdale and Wasdale.
The spirit itself is sourced from Andrew Emmerson, of Solway Spirits, whose knowledge and enthusiasm impressed Chris at an event held at Chestnut House, Pooley Bridge.
Working with Chris at the brewery are Chris Beaumont, Pete McGrath, Gomer Morgan – who recently made the move from a brewery in Wales – Chris’s wife Alison.
“Alison keeps everything moving from inside the office and, as a family business, even our daughter India now helps out in the office one day a week too,” said Chris.
This does not complete the team, however, since it also includes four cats which counter potential rodent problems, several dogs, three of which often ride along on delivery runs.
These Patterdale cross Jack Russell terriers are Tish and her offspring Sooty and Dash, who clearly enjoy getting out and about as they call at the pubs in Cumbria and just over its borders which sell Tirril Brewery ale and gin.
