St. Ives Brewery: Crafting Exceptional Beers with Passion and Perfection

It's been nearly a year since we opened our new brewery HQ in the heart of Cornwall. Since then, we've poured our hearts and souls into creating a state-of-the-art brewing setup, a locally loved taproom experience, and fantastic new craft beers. We've also partnered with local businesses to bring you amazing events that celebrate the best of West Cornwall.

Sure, there's a lot going on.

But we are still all about balance. Balance in work and life, balancing flavours in our beer, and a balanced range of craft beers to suit every taste.

How do we create great Cornish beers in our top-notch craft brewery? What's the way of doing things in a Cornish brewery?

Here are the steps we take to ensure we are creating perfect pale ales, incredible IPAs, and prime pilsners:

An idea or concept 

This might come from something we have tried from another brewery, a seed of inspiration that comes into our head, or suggestions from our regulars. We are keen to use ideas that push the boundaries of our craft brewing processes and the beers we sell. Inspiration is often drawn from our incredible home in West Cornwall.

Finding the right ingredients and collaborators

The team here at St Ives Brewery is very much about using the local area and environment as inspiration. That means that if there's an opportunity to create seasonal-style beers that use local ingredients like blackberries in our Belgian Dubbel or coffee beans from local roasters Yallah, then we jump at the chance.

Perfecting the process

Good beers take time and a considered approach. Our head brewer Callum has a scientific and culinary background and is well-versed in using skills and knowledge to utilise our kit in the best way possible to develop exceptional craft ale. Our kit is at the forefront of brewing, so we take time to plot the ingredients' journey from start to finish, examining how processes will impact the flavour and feel of the beer. We're a bit nerdy about it if we're honest, but that's how good beer is made.

Testing, Learning, and Improving

Of course, theory is one thing, but the proof is in the tasting. We are obsessed with perfecting the art of brewing so test often and improve as we go. Taking the time as a team to give feedback on new beers and brews and including collaborators with knowledge of other drinks, such as Pocketful of Stones Distillery. The aim is to use all parts to craft the perfect new brew. 

Releasing into the Wild

The joy of the new brewery and taproom is the ability to test run beers, releasing them into the pint glasses here at our brewery home. Seeking feedback from our local market helps to shape how things will go. If the taproom customers are happy, then we can bottle and keg beer to get out to the wider beer enthusiasts!

The above isn’t necessarily the process with every brew, as a seasoned and experienced brewery in Cornwall we also have a whole host of core range beers that we need to keep topped up. These beers, such as Meor IPA and Porth Pilsner are sold through our own website, a network of local and national retailers and even include retail multiples like Tesco and Spar.