Burnt Mill

Burnt Mill is a brewery that has been on my radar for a while now. I can't remember when or where I first heard about them, but I am sure that it was before Christmas. Given that the brewery only started brewing less than a year ago, they have certainly succeeded in making a splash in the world of craft beer very quickly. Although the brewery is less than 30 miles from my front door I hadn't come across any of their beer - until a couple of weeks ago when someone tweeted that they had bought some at the Friday Street Farm Shop. That was close enough to home that I knew I just had to get some.

I have to say that the cans of Pintle and Green Path looked a little out of place on the shelf at Friday Street, rubbing shoulders, as they were, with bottles of the rather more traditional Adnams and St Peter's beers. I must also admit that the price point gave me pause for thought - £3.75 for a 440ml can. I assumed that this was perhaps just Friday Street pricing, as it is quite upmarket as farm shops go. However, it is actually cheaper than the brewery's own online shop. In any case I bought one can of each. I might not have done if it wasn't for the fact that I have heard good things about these beers but I was prepared to believe that they might justify the premium pricing.

Unfiltered beer obviously making the camera focus a little hazy!

The photo doesn't really do the beers justice as it is out of focus, and this is exacerbated by the fact that they were poured a little too cold causing some condensation on the glass. In fact both beers looked quite vibrant in reality, certainly very inviting. Both of them also had a fantastic grapefruit aroma from the Citra hops, which I loved and this followed through in the flavour. The Green Path claims to be low in bitterness; perhaps it is compared to other IPA's but my wife found it too bitter for her taste. In fact I thought the Pintle was the less bitter of these two beers, although it still had the bitterness of an American pale ale rather than an English 'bitter'. Clearly that is entirely as intended and I gave both beers 4 stars on Untappd; I wonder if they come as something as a surprise to many Friday Street shoppers as this part of Suffolk is rather a craft beer desert.

Although I did thoroughly enjoy both these beers, I did have a couple of quibbles, both to do with the packaging. First of all I really couldn't decide what glass to serve this beer in. I have plenty of pint glasses, but 440ml in a pint looks wrong. I also have plenty of 2/3 pint glasses, which is what I went for as you can see, but that left a fair amount still in the can. A couple of sips later I refilled the glass, and that led me to quibble number two. You see these beers are unfined and unfiltered, which means that the last 110ml was a rather unattractive sludge. Now, I have to admit that, although it really didn't look very pleasant, it didn't seem to have any adverse effect on the flavour of the beer. 

Despite those quibbles I really enjoyed Pintle and Green Path. Two very good examples of American style pale ales. On the basis of these two beers I have to say that Burnt Mill are worthy of their good reputation, and I would like to try their other beers - especially if I manage to find them on draft. If I find them in cans I think I will go for the pint glass next time. I suppose it probably says something about how far down the craft beer path I have come that I think I would have preferred those cans to have been 330ml!