Shropshire 488
Herefordshire 365
West Midlands 217
Staffordshire 110
Worcestershire 92
Warwickshire 50
My neck of the woods this. Doubt I’ll make another leaderboard.
I used to say years ago that another brewery will emerge out of Shropshire to challenge Salopian’s crown and produce an excellent array of modern styles, but it hasn’t happened just yet. Just when you see another brewery starting, they’re either plain awful (New Brew, St Annes) or produce bland trad cask (Noble Craft). A few have succumbed to difficult trading conditions (Woods, Battlefield, Evolution, Hop & Stagger) but the stalwarts such as Hobsons and Joules remain strong. Stonehouse have started to produce some fantastic hazy IPAs of late, alongside some fresh sessionable cask. Their brewery is well worth a visit too, great pizzas / BBQ in a nice setting amongst their own apple orchard, quite often the owner will come out and drink with customers at the end of the day.
Herefordshire is dominated by cideries such as the always excellent Olivers. My top-rated brewery is Odyssey, who have been top drawer since their inception in the back of the Beer in Hand micropub. Wye Valley seem like they have the will to follow in the steps of Salopian and Stonehouse to break free from traditional styles, but their IPAs have not quite hit the mark, rarely hitting above a 3.3 / 3.4. Their Dorothy Goodbody Imperial stout however was pretty special.
West Midlands, unsurprisingly, hosts the most breweries for this region. I’d have to say Glasshouse are my current stand-out, definitely the most consistent. Always have a soft spot for the black country greats such as Bathams and Sarah Hughes, but nothing else standing out for me.
My Warwickshire rates seem to be dominated by Hogans and Purity, both of which I’ve warmed to more over the years - in fact, the last few cans I’ve picked up from Purity have been excellent.
Worcestershire is a mixed bag - I was always hugely impressed by Lab Culture so it’s a shame they didn’t last long. Nothing Bound seem very Deya influenced, decent from what ive tried, though does seem to be the same hazy IPA released every time. Bewdley are a great trad brewer.
Lastly Staffordshire. My highest ratings are from Halfpenny Green, an excellent cider maker. Titanic are always worth a half but rarely get the juices flowing. Trinity seem to be ones to watch in terms of hoppy beers - but produced two polarising rates - one at 4.4 one at 0.9!
