Lakeland Drinking

A lot of my holiday time is spent in the Lake District, maybe more so since I became a father and this half term was to be no exception.

I always look forward to coming up here as its a great excuse to indulge my two favourite pastimes - mountain biking and drinking beer. As far as the biking's concerned the area is a complete Mecca, there are literally hundreds of miles of interlinked bridleways with terrain to suit all abilities, but as this is a beer blog I better mention the beer.

The area is well known for its beer with a large number of breweries from large concerns down to true micros with interesting and varied outputs. The biggest brewery in the region is Jennings of Cockermouth which understandably has a large presence in the pubs of the area. The other breweries are Coniston, Hawkshead, Tirril, Youngs, Keswick, Watermill & Barngates as well as Bitter End, Dent & Hesket Newmarket (who's beers are available direct through myBrewerytap!). I'm sure there are many more I've forgotten but these are the ones I regularly come in to contact with on my trips up here.

I guess its no surprise that such a beautiful tourist area is so well represented breweries wise as there's a never ending supply of tourists craving the true English Lakeland experience which obviously includes a pint or two of local ale. From a personal point of view I'm particularly fond of Hawkshead beers and so first port of call whenever possible is the Hawkshead beer hall at Staveley on the road between Kendal and Windermere. The beer hall is above the brewery and as well as offering a full selection of Hawksheads output sells a decent selection of bottles and arranges a number of regular beer festivals (which annoyingly never seem to coincide with my holidays).

From a food point of view, the beer hall is interlinked with the much loved Wilfs Cafe and drinkers are allowed to bring food, coffee and cakes through to enjoy, which is a great way of making sure the whole family are catered for and dad can enjoy another pint. If you really must try every beer while you're there, the brewery also offer mini sampler trays of their beers where you can choose three, third of a pints from whatever is on the bar that day. I'd thoroughly recommend a visit to the beer hall, it can often be busy but its a great place to enjoy great beers in a relaxed welcoming atmosphere.

Another of my favourite breweries and one that features on myBrewerytap is the excellent Bitter End brewing company of Cockermouth in the western lakes. I've been meaning to visit ever since they joined myBrewerytap and finally got round to it last Sunday. Bitter End make a great range of what I would called "contemporary" full flavoured beers, a particular favourite of mine being their Lakeland Golden a 4.2% abv golden ale, well hopped with various American "C hops" including Chinook and Cascade. These beers are to me representative of the new wave of brewing in the UK, one that's not afraid to be inventive with its recipes, and is committed to converting people over to well made flavoursome beer.

We arrived at the eponymous Bitter End Pub slightly late for our Sunday lunch but with big appetites ready for some great beer and food. We were greeted by Tony Ingham one half of Bitter End Brewing company and settled down to pints of Lakeland Golden, and as much beer talk as we could fit in to our brief visit. The beers used to be brewed on site at the Bitter End pub but in the last few months the brewery has relocated to a bigger premises to keep up with demand. Tony also told us that the brewery has plans for 'one off' specials and seasonal brews; this is a brewery well worth keeping an eye on.

As we enjoyed our Sunday lunches the conversation inevitably turned to the devastating floods which hit the area last November, unlike many of the businesses we witnessed on Main Street, The Bitter End pub luckily stands on slightly higher ground and was unaffected by the flood, escaping with the water eventually coming within feet of the building but no further. The new brewery was not so lucky but apparently the power cuts suffered by many were the main problem and no beer was lost.

The pub has a lovely welcoming interior and I'd thoroughly recommend a trip to The Bitter End, we had great food and great beer in a nice relaxing atmosphere what more could you want? My only regret on this visit was that we couldn't spend longer there enjoying the great beers and Tonys hospitality. I'm not sure if this is correct across the whole industry but from my experience so far there does seems to be an inordinate amount of nice people in the beer trade.

The area in general is also well worth a visit, as Tony pointed out "we have 60% of the Lake District and only 20% of the visitors. If you've had enough of the crowds in Bowness get yourself to the western lakes and make sure you check out the excellent Bitter End in Cockermouth.

Bitter Ends beers are available direct from the brewery through myBrewerytap: here