The Chiltern Brewery Makes Gin with a Difference

The Chiltern Brewery Makes Gin with a Difference

Mr R and I visited The Chilterns with rolling hills, crystal clear chalk streams and an abundance of nature to discover the charms of The Chiltern Brewery and to sample their range of locally brewed cask beers.  I will tell you more about their beer range and other products a bit further down in this post.

For me the star of the show was their new product – gin! Gin has become the spirit of the moment with more and more distillers making a vast range of gin with a difference.  Both well known names and newcomers are supplying the gin drinker with a plethora of options on the shelves.

Chiltern Brewery have two varieties of gin at the moment, the Classic and the 3 Hops Gin.  The 3 Hops Gin is infused with UK grown hops.  It is initially a very different taste but you soon realise you actually really really like it! It is suggested to serve this over ice with a garnish of your favourite citrus fruit. You can buy this and all the other items on line.

I tasted it initially on its own but with a tonic, perhaps one with a slight flavour you have a really delicious and unusual drink.

Chiltern Brewery uses ingredients as locally produced as possible and all of the hops are UK grown.  They have been brewing beer since 1980.  As a relatively small operation however they brew three days per week; Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays producing around 750,000 pints per year. In a new building from 2005 they have 4 fermentation vessels where they brew three permanent beers; Chiltern Pale Ale (3.7%), Beechwood Bitter (4.3%) and Chiltern Black (3.9%) and usually another two seasonal beers.

Guest ales coming up are; April – Nut Brown Ale (3.9%) and a Limited Edition Seasonal Surprise, May – golden Cobblestones (3.5%) and June/July – a Session IPA at (3.9%).  There are many more on the menu for the rest of the year as well.

Mr R tried a couple of beers from the casks (he is the beer drinker in the family) and was really impressed. I tried the Pale Ale and although I am not normally a beer drinker I could drink this on a hot summer day as it was really refreshing, light and tasty drink.

The shop is open 6 days per week where the beers are available to buy in containers to take away or ready bottled. They also have 8.75 pints/5 litre casks for your next get together.

We stocked up with an Imperial Stout (9%) originally made in London in 1871 for export to the Baltic’s and will go into a dark, slowly cooked beef stew, a couple of casks of beer, each of the two cheeses and a huge jar of their amazing hop pickled onions!  Those pickled onions will have us making a repeat visit soon!!

Also available in the shop are products containing the beers, for example, Beer Sausages, Beer Cake, Beer Bread baked by a Baker in nearby Haddenham and delivered to the shop on a Friday.

To take a brewery tour on a Friday or Saturday at 2:00 pm booking is essential.

I was not paid to write a positive review of The Chiltern Brewery.  I received a bottle of their gin as a present for visiting. As usual all opinions and photographs are my own.  No photographs may be reproduced in any form without my written permission.