Salcombe Brewery Q&A

In 2016, John and Gerry Tiner moved to South Devon to pursue their dreams of a quality eco-friendly brewery. Since then, their sustainable, local beer has gone form strength to strength. With creative inspiration on tap, pouring from the stunning sights and scenery along the South Devon coast and countryside, every drop of their delicious beer oozes the perfect combination of passion and a love for the local area. We were lucky enough to go on a tour of Salcombe Brewey and speak to the brewing experts, Chris Land and Sam Beaman, to find out more behind the pint we love so much.

What was the inspiration behind Salcombe Brewery, and at what moment did that turn into reality?

We had a vision to create a sustainable business whilst producing high quality beers. The site at Estuary View had huge environmental advantages whilst creating enough space needed for a 20 barrel brewery! The Brewhouse sits on a decommissioned water reservoir which creates the perfect natural ambient temperature for storing our ales. There is also the brewery’s very own borehole which is capable of providing us with our very own water supply. Our spent grains are collected by local farmers for animal feed and even our spent hops are used for compost.

Can you give us an overview of the brewing process?

The whole brewing process from grain to glass is about two weeks. The first stage is mashing in. In essence, this is mixing the liquor (water) and malted grain together to form our mash. This is left to stand for an hour to allow the natural enzymes in the malt to break down the starch into fermentable sugar. The mashing process creates wort (unfermented beer), which is a sweet sugary liquid packed full of flavour. More liquor is sprayed over the top of the mash (called sparging) as the wort is drawn off from the bottom. The mashing process takes 3-4 hours and the wort is transferred to the kettle for boiling.

The bittering hops are added at the beginning and the aroma hops right at the end. After the 1 hour boil the wort is then transferred to the fermentation vessel when the real magic happens. On route the wort is chilled using a heat exchanger to bring the beer down to around 18^oC, a temperature more suitable for fermentation. After the transfer, the yeast is added and the fermentation begins.

Our fermentation lasts between 3-4 days depending on the yeast strain we are using. The temperature is controlled throughout fermentation to ensure that we get the right flavour contribution from our yeast. We monitor the progress at least twice a day to make sure all is well. Once we have reached our desired ABV we chill the beer down to encourage the yeast to settle to the bottom of the vessel allowing us to rack the beer into casks with low yeast counts.

Since Salcombe Brewery was founded in 2016 you have grown rapidly. What’s your secret to success? How has the brand changed over this time?

The key to success is attention to detail and understanding what the consumer wants. We use the very best, high quality ingredients available to us and work closely with our suppliers to use a combination of their advice and our knowledge.

We brew beers to keep our customers happy. Our aim is to brew a range of different beers so that there is something to suit every pallet. We are proud of our eclectic customer base and are pleased that we can provide beer for a plethora of pallets, seasons and occasions. Our core brand which you can see on our pump clips and 500ml bottle range remains strong and eye-catching. We are developing a craft range which develops this brand one stage further.

What would you say is your greatest achievement so far?

The launch of Salcombe Pale Ale in both bottle and keg. This is the first recipe which Sam & Chris have worked on together and gives us great expectation for what is to come next from this power duo! The keg process is vastly different to cask and the brewers nailed the new technique, so much so they’re brewing it again (ahead of schedule)!

With so many beers on the market, how does Salcombe Brewery stand out from your competition?

It’s fantastic that there is such great competition, in particular locally from Devon. Our greatest goal is to maintain consistency. We analyse every batch of beer to ensure that it meets our specification for colour, ABV, carbonation, clarity, aroma and of course taste. If all these elements; that we believe make a great beer, meet our specification then we release the beer to trade. We implement the same stringent testing to our bottle beer as our cask, so that whether you have a pint in Devon or order your bottles online, when you have a Salcombe beer its always at its best.

You’ve now got 9 beers, ranging from Devon Amber to your seasonal range, including Rip Tide. How do you come up with new, quality flavours to add to your current variety?

We’re always listening to what our customers want next and aim to please every taste. With our latest Salcombe beer, Pale Ale, we wanted to create something which represented our local surroundings. The Pale Ale uses orange, pink grapefruit and anise which represents Salcombe’s heritage in the citrus fruit trade.

How does the stunning South Devon coast and countryside influence your creative process?

Our local surroundings consistently inspire us to make great beer, in particular as we mentioned with the Salcombe Pale Ale. The Brewhouse is surrounded by Devon hills with views towards the Salcombe Ria. It’s these views which motivate us and remind us of the importance of provenance. This is also the basis of our new campaign “Made of Here” which refers to South Devon representing escapsism and relaxation.

At Coast & Country Cottages we believe that a great beer is partnered with fantastic local food, what would you say is the perfect food/beer pairing?

Given the world-class local ingredients available in our area, we have created beer, in particular Devon Amber and Shingle Bay, which goes perfectly with seafood. Our friends at Rockfish would agree as they commissioned us to make their own beer “Seafood Coast” which compliments their fantastic seafood.

Where can our customers staying with us purchase your products, and more importantly give them a try!

For customers looking for our bottled beer, they can find us in independent shops throughout South Devon, such as Bowers in Salcombe or Dartmouth Wine Shop. For a pint of Salcombe they can head to The Milbrook (South Pool), The Fortescue (Salcombe), Crabshell (Kingsbridge), Steam Packet (Totnes & Kingswear) Hope and Anchor (Hope Cove) and many many more! Of course our brewery shop also sells our full bottled range, beer in polypins (bag in boxes) and all our merchandise. We’re open 10-4pm weekdays and seasonally on Saturdays. Check out our website for more!

What can people expect from a brewery tour with you?

Our Brewery Tours take place on Thursday’s – weekly during the high season. For a full list of dates, see our online shop. Tours starts at 3pm and include a tour of the Brewhouse, meet the brewers, with the opportunity to ask all your beery questions and most importantly sample the beer in the taproom. The Shop is downstairs to take some more Salcombe beer home with you!

Book your Salcombe Brewery tour here

What does the future hold for Salcombe Brewery?

We hope to see further growth and expansion as the demand for our beer widens. The brewers are busy testing new recipes to grow our craft range beyond Salcombe Pale Ale and Salcombe Gold. We’ve had a great first year and hope to build on this momentum!

Have a look through our Salcombe holiday properties, where you can enjoy a refreshing beer, surrounded by the natural beauty of South Devon.

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