A visit to Mordue brewery

I was up north last weekend for an old comrade's funeral. It was very sad to see him go, but I think we gave him a good send off. And I'm sure he would have approved of the route I took to the crematorium - as my mate Rob is the Head Brewer at Mordue brewery I called in there first.

Mordue won Champion Beer of Britain back in 1997, and though I haven't seen their beers often there's no doubt they make decent stuff, as their large collection of prize certificates will testify.

Here's a couple of the more recent ones

   
Unlike the cramped conditions in which most microbreweries are found at Mordue there's plenty of space, so rather than just stand in one spot whilst each vessel is pointed out we had a proper tour.

The 20 bbl brew house

Cask store

High-tech brewery stick

Rob in the hop store

A wide range of beers are made and the samples I had were excellent. The more unusal offerings come out under the brand of "Panda Frog", a name which originates from Rob's home brewery.

In fact I've still got a "Panda and Frog" vintage ale in one of my beer cupboards (the "and" was dropped when it went commercial). The last of its kind, that particular Panda Frog may well be extinct soon, as all this writing is making me thirsty!