With the
coming of the new Millenium, Fruit Beers were beginning to make an impression
on the festival scene, at the 27th Cambridge Beer Festival in
May 2000, a number of fruit beers featured including Lemon & Ginger
Spiced Beer (4.7%) – St Peter’s, Raspberry Wheat (5%) –
Iceni, Damson Stout (4.8%) – Bartram’s, Orange
Wheat (4.2) – Green Jack, which has since become a regular part of the
brewery’s range, Red, White & Blueberry (4%) –
Iceni, Cherry Stout (4.8%) – Batrams, which was awarded beer
of the festival. At the Darlington Beer & Music Festival that Summer, the
fledgling Humpty Dumpty Brewery met with early success when their Lemon
& Ginger (4%) was awarded overall champion. As the year 2000 drew
to an end, in November, J.W. Lees released Plum Pudding (5%), a
dark brown beer made with plums, it was initially sold as a seasonal special in
pubs around Manchester, yet its ensuing popularity ensured it’s continued
survival and is now released seasonally around the Christmas period by the
brewery. Early in 2001, St. Peter’s released Fruit Beer -
Grapefruit (4.7%) essentially a wheat beer with added Grapefruit
flavours, the Beerly described as “it’s just an already well-designed beer that
happened to have grapefruit added to it. And it’s actually the light malt body,
high carbonation and mild yet flavourful yeast and hop notes that make the
beer. The grapefruit is certainly there, and it adds uniqueness, nuance, and a
bit of sweetness.” [1] The beer subsequently became a regular part
of their bottled range and would go onto win a slew of awards. Later that year,
on the festival circuit saw the likes of Takin the Pith (4.3%) –
Leatherbritches, a wheat beer brewed with orange peel appearing at the Derby
Beer Festival, whilst Iceni won a Best Speciality beer award for Raspberry
Wheat (5%) at the Cambridge Beer Festival, and the microbrewery
Fernandes in Wakefield released Blackberry Way (4.6%) and Black
Cherry Stout (4.1%) as seasonal/ one off releases that year.
Meanwhile, over in Ingleby, Lloyds Country Beers was making itself heard with
its wide range of fruit beers including the likes of Wild Cherry May
(3.8%), Peach Wheat (4.4%), Mandarin Porter (4.5%) and Pineapple
Ale (4.4%), with some of their beers even appearing at GBBF
that Summer, although the brewery ceased production the following March. The
year 2002 marked a turning point with several major players making their
debuts, in February, Burton Bridge Brewery released their first fruit beer, Bramble
Stout (5%) which uses a combination of their established Top
Dog Stout (5%) with the addition of blackberry juice to add sweetness.
Sam Cohen described it as “the initial flavours are a surprisingly refreshing
blend of blackberry and chocolate malt, which gives a definite astringency to
the beer. Fruit flavours are controlled, and blend well with the use of
dark malts, but certainly dominate the aroma.” [2] This beer quickly became a popular draw for
the brewery, subsequently becoming a regular part of their range, which is
still sold till this day. The following month, Wells debuted their Banana
Bread Beer (5.5%) at the London Drinker Beer Festival, an amber ale
made with bananas; it was subsequently voted beer of the festival. Steve
Plumridge wrote at the time of its release “this flavoursome pint retains the
qualities and style of traditional bitter but with the subtle (or strong,
depending on your tastebuds) flavour of Britain’s biggest selling fruit, being
made by adding real Fair Trade bananas to the mash.”[3] Although its ABV went down to 5.2% in 2005,
the beer continues to be produced and sold till this day, and is one of the
most successful British produced fruit beers sold abroad. The same month,
Salopian released Lemon Dream (4.5%), initially a one-off special
at the Wetherspoons Spring Beer Festival. A golden ale made with real lemons,
which adds the brewery describes “adds beautifully subtle zesty aromas and a
citrus filled fruity finish.” The beer was well received, and subsequently
became a regular fixture in their range and continues to be sold in cask and
bottle. In the Summer, Fuller’s dabbled with fruit beers with Honey Dew
with Cranberry (5%) made with real cranberry juice, Beartown
released Strawbeary (4.5%) and Pandamonium (4.5%),
Iceni debuted Raspberry Wheat (4.5%), Clockwork Beer Co. launched
their Hazy Daze range of fruit beers and around this time and Coach House in
Warrington became one of the first independent breweries in the North-West to
release fruit beers including the likes of Passion Fruit, Cranberry, Ginger
& Lemon and Raspberry (all 5%).
The following year saw a slew of releases, Belhaven released Classic Fruit Beer (4.6%), initially sold in bottle form only, Kelham Island debuted both Lost My Cherry (4.5%) and Gone Bananas (3.8%) at the Stockholm Beer Festival, Meantime Brewery in Greenwich released Raspberry Wheat (5%) in cask and bottle, it was later sold in branches of Sainsbury’s, and a stronger Grand Cru version was released a couple years later. Cwmbran launched Pink Panther (4.5%), a fruit beer flavoured with raspberries, later that year it was shortlisted for the Champion Beer of Wales award. Whist Liverpool based brewer Cains released two beers Sundowner (4.5%) a golden ale produced with lemon peel; and Fine Raisin Beer (5%), which is brewed with American raisins and Goldings hops. Roger Protz described it at the time as “the copper-coloured beer has a rich vinous aroma underscored by spicy hops. Raisins, juicy malt and peppery Goldings dominate the palate, while fruit continues into the long, complex finish with rich biscuity malt, and hops add a deep layer of spicy bitterness.”[4] Initially sold in bottle, in August the beer won Tesco’s Autumn Beer Challenge and it was subsequently sold in 650 stores throughout the UK, quickly becoming a major seller for the brewery. Meanwhile at GBBF the same month, Banana Bread Beer (5.5%) won top prize at a Women’s only tasting panel, later that year Cwmbran's raspberry flavoured beer Pink Panther (4.4%) made its debut and was soon and in October, Hydes released Firkin Fruity (4.5%), a seasonal Autumnal red ale flavoured with raspberries; it was soon voted joint 1st place at the 23rd Booze on the Ouse festival. In January 2004, Burton Bridge released their 2nd fruit beer, Damson Porter (4.5%) which used a mixture of their classic Burton Porter (4.5%) with Damson juice, it quickly became popular and continues to be sold as a regular part of their range. Moreover, Downton released their first fruit flavoured beer Raspberry Wheat (4.5%), Muldons brewed Mulberry Harbour (4%) exclusively for that year’s Cambridge Beer Festival. In March, B&T debuted Fruit Bat (4.5%), a bitter brewed with raspberries, it would subsequently become a regular part of their range. Leatherbritches’ Spiced Berry (4.6%) featured at the 2004 Derby Beer Festival. It was an early version of their Spiced Berry Mild (4.4%) which would succeed it five years later; Zerodegrees produced their first fruit beer, Wheatbeer Mango (4%), it was soon followed by Strawberry, Elderflower, Raspberry and Apple versions. In June, Meantime released Strawberry Ale (4.8%), whilst Church End Brewery entered the fruit beer scene with Mango (4.2%) and Raspberry Porter (4.5%), the latter being a one off special, Whitstable Brewery debuted their Raspberry Wheat Beer (5.2%) available in both cask and bottle; and at GBBF that year, the newly opened Eastwood & Sanders brewery (later known as Elland) releases Up the Kriek (4.3%), a limited-edition cask only special created in the style of a Kriek, though the general response at the time was far from favourable. Commenting on the flock of British fruit beers on the scene, Brian Bosworth (head brewer at Rockingham Ales) commented at the time “the use of fruit in English style ales is notoriously difficult to get right as you need to balance the sweetness with some sourness.”[5] The same year he produced Fruits of the Forest (4.3%) which contained a complex mix of berry fruits, herbs and spices, the later directly sourced from Belgium; the beer managed to achieve joint 2nd place at the Cambridge Beer Festival that year. Other festival successes followed, Fine Raisin Beer (5%) was voted Beer of the Festival at the Liverpool Beer Festival that year, and Belhaven met with a string of success for their Classic Fruit Beer (4.6%), winning both Overall Winner and 1st place in the strong beers category at the Eastleigh Beer Festival; it was also voted the best beer by a panel of young drinkers (aged 18-34) at GBBF, organiser Mark Bridges told Pints West “the Fruit beer was liked by all of the panel and most of them were pleasantly surprised that real ale can be so fruity.”[6] Robin E. Wild attributed its success as “most fruit beers have, I fear, too much fruit flavour, but this beer tastes like beer but with a magnificent aftertaste of those tinned travel fruit sweets.” With such a fruitful year coming to a close, in October, Hydes in Manchester released Over the Moon (4.3%), a seasonal special as part of their ‘Feeling Fine’ range which they described as “special warming seasonal ale, brewed with just a hint of natural berry juice”.Whilst their local competitor J.W. Lees unveiled Crackerjack (4.7%), brewed a combination of malts to give off a nutty flavour and Brambling Cross hops for fruitiness, along with a slug of blackcurrant. 2005 saw more releases, Green Jack released both Cherry Popper (8%) and Raspberry Blower (8%) as a seasonal specials, Leatherbritches strong ale Blue (9%) made with berries made a good impression at a Food & Drink event in France and Raspberry Belter (4.4%) makes its first appearance that Summer appearing at GBBF; meanwhile Nethergate released Lemon Head (4.1%), a seasonal made with lemon and ginger and Greene King dabbled with Ruddles Orchard (4.2%), an ale blended with apple juice, unfortunately it was met with a mixed reaction. Meanwhile on the festival front, Belhaven won Bronze for their Classic Fruit Beer (4.6%) in the Specialist category at the Cambridge Beer Festival. And in September, Burton Bridge gained a series of awards, winning Bronze in the Speciality Beers category for their Damson Porter (4.5%) at the Nottingham Beer Festival, and later the same year Bramble Stout (5%) was awarded the coveted 1st place title as S.I.B.A. National Bottled Beer of 2005. The subsequent year saw a continued run of success, at the Aberdeen Beer Festival, Pandamonium (4.5%) was awarded beer of the festival, and Orange Wheat (4.2) won Gold (Speciality Beers) at the Peterborough Beer Festival. The year also saw the release of several significant examples, Meanwhile, at the Cambridge Beer Festival in May, Moonshine Brewery featured Red Watch (4.5%), a bitter made with blueberries that would go onto win multiple awards and remain a regular fixture for the brewery, and in August William Bros brewery (formely known as Heather Ales until 2004) released Roisin (4.2%), a beer made from tayberries that could be described as being a cross between raspberries and blueberries. Shortly after its release, Boak & Bailey noted “like other British fruit beers — notably Cain’s excellent raisin beer — it’s an ale first, and a fruit beer second. You can taste the malt, and particularly the hops, and is only slightly redder than a standard bitter.”[7] They added “the hop bitterness is perhaps rather overpowering, although it seemed to mellow as we got down the glass. It has a very pleasing fruity aftertaste.” This beer continues to be sold as part of the brewery’s regular range. With 2006 drawing to a close, Downton debuted Elderquad (3.9%), the brewery described as “a pale, generously-hopped session beer, hints of sweetness and a subtle elderflower aroma offer a terrific balance to the hops, a real thirst-quencher!” Initially sold as a one-off special, it quickly gained a following and was soon sold as a regular part of their range (which continues to this day).
As the year 2007 dawned, it was
becoming clear that Fruit Beers were on an upward trajectory in terms of
industry recognition. At the World Beer Awards that year, Fine Raisin Beer
(5%) won the award for World’s Best Fruit Beer, Fruit Bat (4.5%) won
Best Speciality Beer at the 21st Stockport Beer & Cider
Festival, and Fruit Beer - Grapefruit (4.7%) won a pair award including
Best Speciality Beer at the Cambridge Beer Festival, and Bronze (Speciality
Beer) at GBBF that Summer. The increasing popularity for fruit beers was
questioned that year when Pints West Magazine launched a survey of which beer
styles were preferred by Women or Men, and interestingly Helen Featherstone
noted at the time “the pundits had something right. Nearly 47% of women like
drinking fruit ales, while only 24% of men do.”[8]
So, it seems coincidental that brewers were increasing their output of
fruit-based beers, to cash in on the increase in Women beer drinkers. The same
year saw a handful of notable beers making their debut; Milestone Brewery
debuted their Raspberry Wheat Beer (5.6%), which soon became a regular
fixture in their range, Downton released a number of fruit beers that year[9]
including Apple Blossom Ale (4.3%) and Chocolate Orange Delight
(5.8%) with the former becoming a regular part of their ‘specialist’ range
and the later sold as a Winter seasonal. At the Saltaire Beer Festival, the
newly opened Saltaire Brewery (which had been in production for just over a
year) trialled their 1st attempt at a fruit beer with Apricot Ale
(4.2%). Later that Summer, Coach House released their first regular fruit
beer Blueberry Classic Bitter (5%), a pale ale made with blueberries. It
would go onto win multiple awards, and become a permanent fixture in the
brewery’s main range; although initially sold in cask, it was released in
bottle in October 2008 sold in supermarkets like Morrisons and Tesco, becoming
one of the most widely sold fruit beers in the country. Later that year, Buntingford Brewery dabbled with fruit beers for the first time with Cherry Red (4.7%), whilst Badger
(Hall & Woodhouse) launched Poachers Choice (5.7%), a strong ale
with notes of hedgerow fruits including damsons, that Stephen Sinfield quoted
as “a true gem of a beer. Beautifully rich auburn in colour, with a fruitcake
twinge of aroma, it slips down like a velvet dream. Malty and full of deep red
fruits, the aftertaste is smooth and mellow with a hint of cherry and vanilla.”[10] It went onto become a regular part of their
range, renamed as Cranborne Poacher in 2018, and has since won a number of
awards for the brewery.
Although the world was in grip of a financial crisis in 2008, the steady release of fruit beers continued unabated, in March the fledgling Dunham Massey Brewery which had been open for five months, started selling Chocolate Cherry Mild (3.8%) as a bottle only beer at their beer shop. Later that year, it made its cask debut at the Stockport Beer & Cider Festival where it won Bronze. In it’s first year alone it won a batch of plaudits including Beer of the Festival at Chelmsford & Mid Essex Camra Branch Festival, Double Gold at Huddersfield Octoberfest including Gold for overall Beer of the Festival and 1st place in the Mild Section, and Beer of the Festival at the Rochdale, Bury and Oldham Festival. Beer Manchester described this beer as a deep red brown beer with a chocolatey floral nose, noting “initial chocolate on the tongue, followed by a layer of tart cherry, light bodied but really smooth and an easy drinking beer that you could do all day. The fruitiness of the cherries leads to a light bitterness in the finish. A beautiful beer.”[11] In subsequent years as a regular part of their range, the beer would win more awards for the brewery, becoming one of their most popular sellers. In May, Saltaire Brewery released Blackberry Cascade (4.8%), a pale ale flavoured with blackberries, which goes onto be a seasonal release for the next few years. Later that same year, Art Brew then based in Holsworthy, Devon; debuted their Blackcurrant Stout (4.8%), it went onto to becoming one of the few fruit beers to appear in ‘The Bottled Beer Guide’ by Jeff Evans. In October, Wentworth released Strawberry Silk (4.2%). Moonshine debuted Chocolate Orange Stout (6.7%) which went onto be a regular fixture in both cask and bottle, and won beer of the festival at the Elysian Beer Festival that year. Meanwhile, Iceni won a Gold Award for Raspberry Wheat (5%) in the Speciality category at Peterborough Beer Fest; and Green Jack released Fruit Bat (5.5%), which subsequently was sold as part of their seasonal range in the Autumn months. The final year of the decade saw continued success on the fruit beer front, Chocolate Cherry Mild (3.8%) sustained it’s run of awards, achieving Bronze at the Stockport Beer Festival and two gongs at the Woking Beer Festival including Best Mild and Beer of the Festive. Meanwhile Amber Ales’ Chocolate Orange Stout (4%) won Bronze in the specialist beer category at GBBF, it will go on to win on two more consecutive years in Gold and Silver respectively. Downton Brewery won a pair of awards, including Silver at SIBA South-West for Apple Blossom Ale (4.3%) and Silver (Specialist) as voted by the Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA branch for Chocolate Orange Delight (5.8%). At the Cambridge Beer Festival that year, both Fruit Beer – Grapefruit (4.7%) – St. Peter’s and Chocolate & Orange Stout (6.7%) – Moonshine, won Silver and Bronze awards in the specialist category. And Pink Panther (4.4%) was awarded beer of the festival at the Tredegar House Folk Festival. There was a slew of releases that year, in February that year Hornbeam released Blackcurrant Stout (4.7%), Meantime debuted Elderflower Maibock (6%) as a seasonal special in cask and bottle, Art Brew release their 2nd fruit beer Happy Fruit (4.9%) which featured at the Egham Beer Festival, Saltaire released several fruit infused beers, including Cherry Stout (4.7%), Eldeflower Blonde (4%), Strawberry Republika (4.1%) and Raspberry Blonde (4%), the latter beer becomes a regular in their range. In the spring Buntingford released both Peach Highwayman (3.6%) and Mango Lightning (4.4%) as seasonal specials. In June, Brentwood Brewery unveiled Chockwork Orange (6.5%), a strong ale made with real oranges; once described as one of life’s guilty pleasures in a Telegraph article, this beer has since been designated as the official beer for the book ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by the Anthony Burgess Foundation who described it as “their acclaimed Chockwork Orange beer is a deep chocolate, malty beer brewed with oranges and matured to create a classic ‘old ale’ style. ‘Milk-plus’ strength at 6.5%.”[12] Later that year, the beer won a pair of awards including Best Strong Ale at the Chelmsford Beer Festival, and Silver at SIBA East, the beer would continue to win a slew of awards for the brewery and continues to be sold as part of their regular range. Meanwhile, in August, Phoenix launched their Phoenix Fruits range of Fruit Beers beginning with Strawberry (4.2%) and quickly becomes a hit with drinkers; it is only sold in keg only form, Passion (4.3%), made with passion fruit follows on soon after. As the decade drew to a close, Waen Brewery debuted Blackberry Stout (3.8%), it became one of their more popular beers sold in both cask and bottle; and in December, Sharp’s released Winter Berry (4.3%) as a Winter seasonal, and the same month Hydes first sold Berry Good Ale (4.5%) as a cask special for Winter 2009-10, it was re-released in 2012. The Noughties were a pivotal period for the development of fruit beers in the UK, as their growing success helped shake off the negative publicity they endured in the previous decade. Though the next few years would see even greater success, as home-grown fruit beers cemented their reputation as recognised and revered beer style.
[1] ‘St. Peter’s Grapefruit Beer’; The Beerly, c.2012
[2] ‘Bramble Stout – Burton Bridge Brewery’ by Sam Cohen, Sam’s Brew’s, 9th November 2011
[3] ‘Banana Bread Beer?’ by Steve Plumridge, Pints West, No. 54, Apr-Jun 2002
[4] ‘Down in One – Cains Fine Raisin Beer’ by Roger Protz, The Guardian, 8th November 2003
[5] ‘Classic Beer Styles - Part 7: Lambic and Geuze’, Beer Around ‘Ere, Issue 114, Christmas 2003
[6] ‘Young people do like real ale if only they knew it’; Pints West, Issue 63, Autumn 2004
[7] ‘The August Session – Blackberries & beer’ by Jessica Boak, Boak & Bailey, 5th August 2007
[8] ‘The Fem-Ale debate’ by Helen Featherstone, Pints West, No,76, Winter 2007/8
[9] Other fruit based beers, Downton released in 2007 included Orange Chocolate Stout (4.5%), Double Cherry Draught (4.5%) and Logan’s Berry (4.4%), all were limited edition one-offs.
[10] ‘The best of this year's bottled beers are put to the test’ by Stephen Sinfield, Staffordshire Live, 11th November 2017
[11] ‘Chocolate Cherry Mild’; Beer Manchester, 21st April 2014
[12] ‘A Chockwork Orange, by Brentwood Brewing Company’; The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, 4th October 2012
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