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Pub Guide

Opening Times

Issue 138 Spring 2009

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EXPANSION FOR POTTON BREWERY

When Greene King closed its Biggleswade brewery in the 1990s its redundant chief engineer Bob Hearson and QC manager Clive Towner set up a small brewery in the Bedfordshire town, Potton.

The Potton Brewery Company had closed down in 1922 and Bob and Clive wanted to use the former brewing site, but planning permission was not forthcoming so they set up in a small industrial unit.

Bob welcomed a party from Huntingdonshire CAMRA to the brewery last October. The brewery had recently been extended and four new fermenting vessels installed to expand production capacity.

Five regular cask beers are produced and there are seasonal brews and bottle-conditioned ales. The beers are available in around 150 on-trade outlets and the cask beers can be bought at the brewery in 18 or 36 pint polypins.

The beers sampled had an impressive balance of malt and hop flavours. Cascade and First Gold are the main hop varieties; aroma hop is added to the 8 barrel gas-fired copper at the end of the boil.

The beers are fermented with rehydrated dried yeast, which performs well and develops good flavour profiles. The cask beers are conditioned for two weeks in cask before despatch.

Village Bike is a 4.3% alcohol amber bitter with a spicy hop character and a fruity, dry palate. Shambles Bitter is also 4.3% abv and amber-brown with a maltier and slightly sweeter balance.

Shambles is named after a former historic part of Potton rebuilt by the local lord of the manor Samuel Whitbread in the late 18th century and used by market traders until the end of the 19th century. It was pulled down in 1954.

Shannon IPA is a refreshing 3.8% abv golden bitter with aromatic citrus hop and balancing malt in the mouth. Shannon is named after a steam locomotive that used to ply the local railway line. Penny Bitter, 4.1% abv, is darker and was formerly known as John Cunningham Night Fighter. Another beer in the regular range is Potton Gold, a 4.1% abv refreshing golden ale with a spicy/citrus late-hop character.

Shambles and Village Bike are bottled in bright form by a contractor and supplied to Tesco and Asda. Many other one-off brews are bottled in-house in bottle-conditioned (real ale in bottle) form, including bespoke beers produced for local events.