Beer Today publisher Darren Norbury toasts the success of Penzance Brewing Co’s 3.6% ABV Mild, newly-crowned CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain
Penzance Brewing Co head brewer Lewis Elliott (right) at the Great British Beer Festival at the NEC, in Birmingham, with assistant brewer Richard Hickman (left), and Kevin Travers, chair of the Champion Beer of Britain co-ordinators. Photograph: Val MacFarlane Travers
In my years either side of the bar at the Star Inn, Crowlas — home of the Penzance Brewing Co — you could mark the times of the year by the familiar upcountry faces who would appear on their annual visits. Autumn, for some reason, was peak season for Midlanders.
Eyes would light up as — while a partner’s wine or cider was being poured — the Penzance Mild pumpclip came into views. Exclamations of “Oh, you don’t see many milds down this way” were soon followed by a satisfied: “Now that is a damn good mild!”
The feedback from those visitors is appropriate as original brewer and Penzance Brewing Co founder Peter Elvin based the beer on the Banks’s style of Black Country mild. “The aroma of this classic dark mild has all the enticing aromas one would expect,” notes Champion Beer of Britain judging co-ordinator, CAMRA’s Christine Cryne. “Chocolate and sweet cocoa on the nose. Chocolate, sultanas, and dry roast on the palate, where the gentle pleasant sweetness is balanced by a roasty, subtle, dry bitterness. Packs a lot of flavour for a 3.6% beer!”
Penzance Brewing Co Mild on the bar at the Star Inn, Crowlas, in 2022
Indeed it does, which made had made it a great favourite with Star drinkers since the brewery was opened at the pub in 2008. Mild was on most of the time, and proved popular with a particularly wide demographic. By the time Pete died, far too early, from cancer, in 2023, his nephew Rob Wilson had taken on the brewing duties and kept the Mild flame alive, along with other popular brews, including Potion No 9, Trink, and Scilly Stout.
Last year, Rob left Britain to be with his Icelandic fiancée and the PZBC baton was passed on again, to Lewis Elliott, who had taken on the role of assistant brewer, after a career in various hospitality roles. Lewis took to brewing like the proverbial duck to water, and found his own assistant brewer in Richard Hickman. Together, these two have been doing my good friend Pete’s legacy proud, maintaining his high standards and expanding the number of pubs taking the beer. Only this week, Richard’s first beer, Early Bird, a 4.2% ABV golden bitter, is going on the bar at The Barrel at Bude.
“It’s quite overwhelming,” said Lewis, at the Champion Beer of Britain presentation at the NEC in Birmingham. “I’m really glad the style [mild] has come back. It’s down to the founder of our brewery Peter Elvin and his nephew Rob, who showed me the ropes. I can’t believe we are here right now — its mad!”
The celebration is well earned, and a second piece of good news for Penzance Brewing Co fans this week after it was revealed that The Star will be re-opening under new local ownership. Hospitality is tough at the moment — very tough — but there are still great stories to be celebrated, and here in west Cornwall we’re raising a glass to a great legacy continuing in style.
