The Driftwood Spars Brewery in Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes, is celebrating the successful launch of its first new core cask beer in five years.
Sea Shanty – a golden pale ale – is refreshingly light with a low ABV (4%) and subtle tropical, fruity notes; it joins the coastal microbrewery’s award-winning range of permanent brews available in bottle and cask.
Head Brewer, Mike Mason, said: “Sea Shanty is light and supremely drinkable, but with a unique house character. We used a special signature yeast – something which is fairly unusual these days. The nature of the yeast, and the method of reusing it over several batches, means that it takes on the character of the surrounding environment and imparts that into the beer – in our case the fresh, salty sea air!”
He added: “We used some of our favourite English-grown, New World-style hops, and experimented for over a year on our pilot brew kit to get the balance of flavours just right. Sea Shanty is tropical and fresh but not too ‘in your face,’ fitting nicely into our range as a low ABV pale ale.”
Sea Shanty is vegan-friendly, and like all other beers in brewery’s range is tested gluten free.
Fans of handcrafted beers enjoyed a sneak preview at The Cornish Craft Beer Tasting at The Alverton Manor on 4th March, an event which raised over £2.5k for Children’s Hospice South West.
The official launch took place on St Piran’s Day, when Stunsl’s Sea Shanty Group performed in characteristically rousing fashion at The Driftwood Spars brewpub.
Sea Shanty was also thoroughly put through its paces over the weekend of A Barrel of Laughs; the pub’s inaugural comedy and beer festival earlier this month saw “wicked laughter, silly dancing, awesome beer and tasty food” enjoyed by an appreciative crowd.
Louise Treseder, Owner of the famous coastal brewpub and microbrewery, said: “Sea Shanty enjoyed a rip-roaring reception at the festival, going down a treat with both our regulars and visitors from further afield. It’s a fantastic addition to the range – a real Cornish session ale for all seasons.”
For Louise, the new release is a timely nod to the brewery’s Founding Brewer, Pete Martin, who would have been 60 years old this month but sadly passed away suddenly in 2020.
Louise said: “Pete loved a beer festival, and a shanty, and would’ve enjoyed many a pint of Sea Shanty, I’m sure. Mike is doing a great job of maintaining his legacy while also looking to the future with contemporary releases like this. We’ve an exciting few years ahead here in Trevaunance Cove – our reputation as a bastion of handcrafted beer appreciation is growing!”
Plans were recently submitted to modestly enlarge the microbrewery, which is across the road from the brewpub, improving production facilities and allowing more tastings and tours to take place.
For updates on this and other developments, follow @driftwoodspars on Facebook.
