Stag Brewery

Welcome, thanks for visiting the site. I have been passionate about good beer for over 20 years, I like many, have been frustrated by the absence of real beer on the market. When I say REAL beer I mean Bottle Conditioned Ales that are bursting with hop aromas and body, not the filtered pasteurised offerings that many commercial brewers offer. Growing up in Kent with Shepherd Neame as my local beer

I was able to sample some excellent beers that are brewed with seasonal hops. I lamented the day that Sheps stopped selling its wonderful Bottle Conditioned “Spitfire Ale”
I began my working life trained as a professional chef, I developed a good palate and became aware of subtle tastes and flavours. Good wines are always matched with food; I wanted to be able to offer quality beers that are married to and complement food. I became fascinated with the brewing process in my early twenties and as is the case with many brewers began with the malt extract kits. In time I progressed from the kits to dried malt extract kits; this gave me the potential to experiment with different hops and yeasts. The results were definitely a massive improvement over the kits, I realised that I could brew some very special beers and began using obscure hops that completely changed my views on what beer should & could taste like. The progression to All Grain brewing was the natural next step; this has allowed me to use different styles of grain to produce a range of 8 different styles of Bottle Conditioned live real ale. Other styles of beer can be brewed depending on hop availability and demand. All of my Beers can also be supplied in 9 or 18 pint mini kegs, these are ideal for when you want to enjoy a few pints with friends or as a gift for a fellow real beer lover. My Beers:
All my Beers are fermented for at least 10 days, this is to achieve a complete full fermentation of the sugars that are obtained from carefully mashing a mix of English Maris Otter malted barley and the additional grains that I add to achieve the style of beer that I am seeking to brew. The hops I use are carefully selected to provide the right amount of bitterness and aroma, the boil process is carefully monitored with the hops being added at varying time intervals throughout the boil to achieve the final desired taste. After primary fermentation the beer is secondary fermented and dry hopped. Dry hopping is an expensive and time consuming process that requires dry hops to be infused in the beer for up to 5 days. This process allows the beer to take on the oils and flavours of the hops that are lost during the boil. The beer is then fined and left to clear before being bottled or kegged. It’s the bottling and conditioning process that makes the beer taste so great! A carefully measured priming solution is added to the bottle, the purpose of this is to promote a third small fermentation in the bottle or keg. This is known as Bottle Conditioning and gives a lovely natural level of carbonation, not too gassy and neither too flat. The level of carbonation can be adjusted accordingly to the style of beer produced. The beers are live products and are unfiltered and unpasteurised, this gives a beer with a full body and taste. The beer’s aroma and body will be evident as soon as you pour it into the glass.