SAINT Peter’s Hall, a moated manor house near Bungay, in Suffolk, dates to 1280 and was extended in 1539 using materials salvaged from nearby Flixton Priory, an early victim of Cardinal Wolsey’s dissolution of the monasteries.
The hall remained as a farm until 1996, when it was bought by marketing consultant John Murphy, who converted it into the award-winning event venue, restaurant and, most importantly, brewery that it is today.
While most new small breweries have concentrated on draught beers at the outset, St Peter’s instead decided to focus on the bottled product. And what a bottle! A distinctive, oval-shaped design complete with the brewery logo embossed in the glass.
While packaging isn’t everything, it does help to make the product stand out.
A dozen or so regular beers are produced, along with various seasonal ales and specials. This week we encounter Ruby Red. Do the contents live up to the container?
The head is slight and the colour is chestnut brown at first sight, but when held up to the light there is indeed a ruby red glow.
The aroma is quite striking, full of red berry fruits with toasty malt, a little caramel, some yeastiness and a definite whiff of spice.
In the mouth there is tart fruit, a touch green and stalky, accompanied by a robust hoppy bitterness, and quite an astringent, mineral background.
There are nutty notes, and flashes of chocolate and honey too, but those earthy hops just keep coming back with each mouthful, culminating in an intense, tannic, bitter finish.
As recommended by Jim Helsby, of the York Beer And Wine Shop, Sandringham Street, York
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