After the closing photograph in yesterday’s post, I had to pay a visit here.
Twickenham Fine Ales brewery
The first brewery in Twickenham since Cole’s Brewery closed in 1906, Twickenham Fine Ales was established in September 2004, and after a small beginning with a ten barrel plant installed in a unit opposite a Greggs Bakery factory, (a pint and a pasty), it moved to a larger premises just north of Twickenham Green. A micro-brewery by status, they now brew over 100 firkins (72 pint casks) of cask-conditioned ale each week.
An early period of experimentation settled down with the arrival of Tom Madeiros as Brewer in 2005. Being American, the use of hops from the US seemed an obvious choice, and the brewery became an early adopter of the now more common place and popular hops used in many beers today.
The number of varieties steadily grew, and Twickenham now also uses hops from countries including Germany, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the UK. The quality of Twickenham’s beers was recognised on a national level in 2007 when their Sundancer beer won silver in the national Champion Beer of Britain at the GBBF, (Great British Beer Festival).
Twickenham Brewery’s regular cask ales include their flagship, and best selling beer, Naked Ladies, plus their Grandstand Bitter and Redhead beers which are supplemented by a range of monthly and seasonal specials. These are widely available in local pubs and further afield. They can also be found in bottles on the shelves of off-licences and supermarkets. (No, I don’t work for them).
The brewery regularly hosts live stand up comedy by local comedians on site - or at least they did, until lockdown. Having attended, I can confirm the atmosphere is intimate, with a novel seating arrangement involving about fifty barrels arranged in a horseshoe shape around a small stage made of wooden pallets, with a backdrop of huge copper tanks which are used in the fermentation of beer, (the copper tanks - replaced by stainless steel these days - act to reduce concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, a gas with a delightful aroma reminiscent of rotten eggs). There’s plenty of standing room too, oh, and beer if you’re so inclined. The comedy can be a bit hit and miss, but it’s a good evening out.
It's been a long time coming, but the brewery finally got its first pub in the Summer of 2019. The Rifleman, on Fourth Cross Road, is a small / cosy with an attractive little garden, and a log fire in the winter.
The brewery bar itself is open on rugby days, and there are, or were pre-lockdown, monthly tours offering a guide to the art of making proper ales, and an opportunity to sample the wares ‘in the spirit of education and learning’.
Grist, mash, liquor, sparging, hot wort, cold wort, wet yeast, dry yeast and ullage. Not the Trumpton firemen roll call, but if you don’t know what these are and want to put that right, once things are back to normal get yourself to Twickenham and take the tour.
Comedy club at the brewery
March 2024 update: Happy to report that the brewery continues to thrive. For a modest sum you can sign up for a tour which is held each month, usually on a Wednesday evening starting at 19:00. Over the course of two hours you learn about making beer and running a small brewery, whilst also drinking three pints and getting a branded glass to take home.
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