southwick brewhouse

Brewhouse Beer Blog

by Richard Salsbury

A Little About Richard

I try to write on a broad variety of topics, but I have a particular interest in technology, society, and personal philosophy, which all sounds very grand, but I’m also deeply concerned with writing stuff that entertains. An element of humour and/or irony often creeps in.

Some of my favourite writers include David Mitchell, Scarlett Thomas, Jonathan Coe, Kurt Vonnegut, Graham Greene, Dickens, Shakespeare … I could go on.

All of my novels are based in the fictional town of Strathurst, on the border between Hampshire and Surrey.

In my previous jobs I have worked as a civil engineer, software engineer, training instructor and technical writer.

Tartarus

Tartarus Beers Snawfus (440ml can, 4.9% ABV, vegan, gluten free) – the underworld of Greek mythology, a place of divine punishment for the wicked, a realm of fire and lava and judgement. Or Yorkshire, as it turns out. Tartarus Beers are a Leeds-based operation who have been going since 2020 (hell of a time to start…
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Burton upon Trent

Burton upon Trent On our way north to visit family, it’s always difficult not to stop off for a night at Burton-on-Trent, one of the homes of British beer. It’s here that the Bass brewery was born in 1777. It was to become the largest brewery in the world, and the recipient of Britain’s first…
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Langham Session IPA 

Langham Session IPA (500ml bottle, 3.8% ABV) I’ve said it before: the session IPA is a strange beast. IPA is traditionally three things: strong, hoppy and pale. Take the strength away, and you’re left with something hoppy and pale, but many brewers lower the hop content in the quest for ‘balance’, and whether a beer qualifies as pale can…
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Trickster IPA

Siren Craft / Buxton (440ml can, 6.5% ABV, vegan) Hop growers have discovered by trial and error the importance of soil. You can’t just take some American hops, plant them in British soil (or vice versa) and expect them to taste the same. Attempts to grow the famously grapefruit-flavoured Cascade in Britain have resulted in a distinctly…
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Liberation Ale Suthwyk Ales

Suthwyk Liberation (500ml bottle, 4.2% ABV) You’d be hard pressed to find a more patriotic pint than Liberation. Named in honour of Southwick’s role in the D-Day landings, its label features a black and white photograph of Eisenhower and Montgomery examining, rather anachronistically, a bottle of Liberation. Appropriately, it uses Liberty hops, an unusual American variety I can’t remember…
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Langham Aegir (500ml bottle, 7.5% ABV)

Langham Aegir (500ml bottle, 7.5% ABV) When is a porter not a porter? When it’s a Baltic porter, BY THE BEARD OF ODIN! Back in the mists of history, the countries round the Baltic Sea became rather fond of the strong, dark beers being produced in Britain, so they had a go at making their own. For…
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Support Small Breweries!

Support Small Breweries! Jennings, Caledonian, Skinners, The Wild Beer Co. What do all of these breweries have in common? They all closed in 2022. Jennings almost reached its 200th year in business. Caledonian were awarded CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain in 2002 for their Deuchars IPA. I’ve enthusiastically reviewed beers by Skinners and Wild Beer…
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Piddle Brewery Stocking Filler (500ml bottle, 4.5% ABV)

Piddle Brewery Stocking Filler (500ml bottle, 4.5% ABV) Beer froth is a funny thing. Some beers – like Guinness, most lagers and lots of the Belgian stuff – go for a big thick head. In the North sparklers are fitted to hand-pumps to achieve a similar effect. (I’ve even met a woman who carries around her own sparkler…
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Santas Butt

Ridgeway Santa’s Butt (500ml bottle, 6.0% ABV)

Ridgeway Santa’s Butt (500ml bottle, 6.0% ABV) Ridgeway do Christmas in a big way. While most breweries will content themselves with a single special beer for the season, Ridgeway brew no less than twelve. The label raises many more questions than it answers. Why is the best before date printed across Santa’s mince-pie bolstered buttocks? Is it true…
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Only the Sea

Unity Brewing Only the Sea (440ml can, 6.2% ABV, vegan) It’s nice when you buy something from a company that’s not just in it to maximise profits. Unity Brewing are taking this to some pretty impressive levels: they’re fully powered by renewable energy and use recycled packaging. They’re a registered living wage employer and have an extensive…
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Southwick Brewhouse, Southwick, PO176DX
Tel: 02392 201133 Email: [email protected]