Loweswater Grasmoor Dark Ale

First published in BEER September 2007. Since then the brewery has taken over Cumbrian Legendary Ales at Hawkshead and relocated brewing to this site.

ABV: 4.3 per cent
Origin: Loweswater, Cumbria
Website www.kirkstile.com

Loweswater Grasmoor Dark Ale

Another local CAMRA award-winning small pub brewery [in addition to Farmer’s Ales, responsible for Golden Boar, reviewed in the previous post] is Loweswater, in the hamlet and close to the lake of the same name in the northwest corner of the Lake District national park, south of Cockermouth. Head brewer Matt Webster restored a brewery to the picturesque Kirkstile Inn in 2003 after a break of almost two centuries, with such success that this year they had to build an extension to the brewery buildings.

Real Ale in a Bottle has been added very recently and, as in Maldon, they bottle by hand – the brewery’s Roger Humphreys tells me he thinks they’re the only brewer in Cumbria bottling on site. At the moment two RAIBs are on offer – the brewery’s popular Kirkstile Gold and this dark delight.

Grasmoor Dark is a Maris Otter-based beer, with additional crystal and chocolate malts and Progress and Challenger hops. It’s a dark brown colour with a red tinge and pours with a creamy off-white head. Herbs and spices dominate a fruity aroma with a trace of roast, leading to a complex, quite dry palate with malted milk and roast notes and burry bitter hops emerging over smooth chocolate.

A very creamy swallow is followed by a bitter chocolate and roast almond finish with interestingly tangy herbal hops. Overall it’s a dark but not at all sweet beer that’s unusual and very tasty. Perhaps the local fells inspire a certain rugged grittiness – Grasmoor is the highest peak hereabouts and its name, continuing the porcine theme of the previous review, derives from the Old Norse for “wild boar”. 

Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=81643