Charrington IPA takes you on a journey back to the 18th Century when The Charrington Brewery was established in Bethnal Green, a borough of London. However, the main element of the story starts in 1967 when this well known brewery merged with the Bass Brewery and was re-named as Bass Charrington, after the merger was completed the Charrington Brewery closed. 

Finished in 1973, in Runcorn, Cheshire, the huge Bass Charrington Brewery started brewing in 1974. This almighty brewery was known as the largest brewery in the UK for a time, however in 1991 it was sadly the end of Bass Charrington, and the brewery was demolished.

Furthermore, evidence suggested that reasons behind the closure were due to the location of the brewery, how it was designed, but worst of all the quality of the beer was poor which turned out to be Bass’s biggest failure.  

Let’s now turn the clock to 2015, in the brewing capital (Burton Upon Trent) located at the National Brewery Centre (sadly now closed) situated in the Heritage Brewing Company, which at this present day has suspended its brewing, due to the closure of the National Brewery Centre. Anyway, when Heritage was first introduced, their aim was to brew classical beers geared towards a modern audience and this marked a memorable moment in Burton’s Brewing History, the re-birth of Charrington IPA.

Thoughts on Clarity, Aroma, Taste, Aftertaste 

Clarity – I tried Charrington IPA at Burton’s Winter Beer Festival and from our eyes, it delivered an outstandingly clear pint. One thing that I noticed though, after trying Charrington IPA a couple of times, the colour from my perspective looked more amber than the original golden look.

Aroma –  I was certainly expecting more from the aroma, it just seemed there was something missing, whether it was a caramel scent, or even fruit, the only smell that I could pick up was malt, and this gave me the impression that this IPA was heavily malty.

Taste – There was so much going on with the flavour of this IPA, it was intensely hoppy, but there was also a balancing flavour which was being delivered from the malt, this certainly made this beer taste amazing.

Aftertaste – The finish was incredibly spicy, which at this point, once my palate had extinguished the hoppy flavour, was making me think I was sampling a peated whisky, it was such a joy to drink. There was so much going on in the glass, spice, herbs and black pepper all mixed together to deliver a beautiful IPA.

Do we recommend it? 

Even though the aroma was not what I was expecting, I certainly feel that this is a beer you should definitely try and is a good example of an IPA which delivers those traditional classical British flavours. 

It’s not just the taste of the beer that makes it great, it’s also a fantastic session beer, it’s so sessionable that you could easily have a couple of pints of this beer and you’ll still be wanting more. 

However, since the closure of The National Brewery Centre, this beer is being brewed specially by Burton Bridge Brewery, it is not clear whether Heritage Brewing Company is to remain in Burton, but please watch this space.