Initially set up as a microbrewery behind The Antelope pub in Surbiton, Big Smoke Brew Co. has become massively renowned since launching in 2014.
Now operating from a new brewery in Sandown Industrial Estate in Esher, Surrey, Big Smoke’s produce is representative of the beer that the brewery founders James Morgan and Richard Craig personally enjoy drinking, which is all flavoursome, hard-hitting and additive free. The brewery also makes a clear point of refraining from using Isinglass finings – a by-product obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish, used by many breweries to make their beers clear.
With the move to the new brewery, the award-winning craft beer brand has also embraced the canning revolution, with all of their core beers now available in cans and delivered nationwide. Using six 65 hectolitre tanks, the brewery is now capable of brewing five times the quantity of beer, equating to approximately 8,000 pints per brew, whilst a state-of-the-art canning line produces 1,600 cans per hour.
Touted as “a small beer with big flavour” (at just 3.6 per cent ABV), Big Smoke’s Cold Spark is a Lactose Citra Pale Ale brewed with 100 per cent Citra hops, enlivened with a touch of lactose. On pour, the beer has a hazy, pale yellow complexion capped with a fine white head. Dank citrus notes are instantly noticeable on the nose, followed by tropical aromas of melon, passion fruit and trace pineapple, plus some slight pine and hoppy resin. Citrus notes of grapefruit and lemon continue on the palate alongside some melon savours and more of that underlying pine. A moderate hop bitterness also prevails alongside some lively carbonation and a smooth, creamy mouth feel which continues on the milky finish. A small beer with big flavour, indeed.
Further information on Big Smoke Brew Co. can be found here.