Tamar Creek, the story of a Cornish Belgian!

Pair a Head Brewer with a passion for Belgian beers with tasty Cornish cherries, add a pinch of marketing and what do you get -  Tamar Creek, a wonderful Belgian style Kriek brewed in Cornwall in a traditional method using Cornish ingredients, sourced from the Tamar Valley.

When St Austell Brewery Head Brewer Roger first began to experiment with Belgian style beers he brewed some amazing beers, these included Cardinal Syn, a Dubbel and Bad Habit, a Tripel but none was quite so unique as Tamar Creek, a sour beer flavoured with cherries. Sadly, Roger passed away early in 2020 and is much missed, however with the launch of the latest batch of Tamar Creek it seems appropriate to remember one of his more eclectic brewing creations.

I worked in marketing at St Austell Brewery for many years and was amazed by Rogers brewing skills and his prowess to brew great Belgian beers. In 2013 I had just passed my Beer Sommelier qualifications so was very interested in the different beer styles. I can't recall who first prompted the idea, I suspect Roger, but he and I hatched a plan to brew a Belgian Kriek. I then began doing some research.....

St Austell Brewery Head Brewer, Roger Ryman

Kriek, is a traditional Belgian beer style, sour to taste but flavoured with cherries, the effect is a tart ruby red beer offset with a subtle sweetness from the cherries. However, we wanted to make a very Cornish version of this beer. My research quickly pin pointed that the Tamar Valley area in South East Cornwall had been famous for its market gardens, specialising in daffodils and strawberries, with plentiful apple and cherry orchards. This reached its height in the 1950s' but decline set in with the 1960's railway Beaching cuts and sadly by the mid 1970's the industry was in deep decline. 

I set abut trying to locate some of the old cherry orchards which proved a lot harder than I imagined. Approaching some of the local fruit suppliers it seems the traditional cherry orchards had all but disappeared. However I got lucky and was told to contact Jessica and Will from Bohetherick Farm, St Dominick, near Saltash. As luck would have it, I asked in the early summer, the traditional time for harvesting cherries is in July so the timing was right. Furthermore, 2013 was a good year for cherries, I was to find out in later years that often harvests were poor.

Jessica and Will had a cherry orchard with over 50 Burcombe Cherry Trees, some of which were over 125 years old. Come July, I recall on a rather dubious rainy day being despatched to the Bohetherick for a photo shoot and to pick some cherries. Luckily Jessica and Will had already harvested the required amount we needed so my photo shoot was just for show!

With Jessica of Bohetherick Farm picking cherries in July 2013

I returned to St Austell Brewery with the cherries and these were put aside in the cool room ready for use. Roger brewed the beer on St Austell's micro brewery, a small 2 barrel plant where he developed new beers - well known favourites such as Tribute and Proper Job initially began their life in this small brewing plant.

Roger and colleagues mashed the cherries by foot, crushing them to create a red morass of delicious cherry coloured juices and fruit fibre. The beer, based on St Austell's famous Smugglers Ale had already begun its brewing cycle in large oak wooden barrels and the cherries and a wild yeast were added. These were hidden away at the rear of the Brewery warehouse to slumber on through the autumn period, slowly conditioning allowing the wild yeasts to do their worst.

A wild yeast strain can be a dangerous thing to have in a brewery. The risk is contamination with the brewers existing yeast strain which could cause huge quality issues with core brands. Roger was very aware of this and likened it to planting a hay meadow in your pristine bowling green! Therefore the wooden barrels were kept as far away from normal production as possible.

Shortly before Christmas 2013 the beer was first tried at the St Austell Celtic Beer Festival. Proving to be a hit, 1000 bottles were produced in the spring of 2014. Roger was not only a great brewer, but also a gifted marketing man and he was keen for the beer to be called Tamar Creek, linking it to the area of origin and packaged in 750ml bottles, wrapped in wax paper as the bottle label, much like its Belgium contemporaries.

The original 750ml bottles

The original Tamar Creek was a very traditional Kriek, at 7.3% abv it was plenty funky enough, a vinous tartness with a faint background sweetness from the cherries, its was a beer for the aficionados. For me as a Beer Sommelier it quickly became one of my favourite beers to use at beer tastings and I'd often match it with a creamy Cornish Brie.

As I alluded to earlier, successful cherry harvests are few and far between. There was to be no  repeat brew of Tamar Creek until 2019. Unfortunately no Cornish cherries could be sourced for the new brew and slightly weaker at 5.1% abv, but none-the-less the resulting beer is still a fine drop and great example of a Kriek. You can buy this from the St Austell Brewery shop, either in person or online. Its a lovely beer to enjoy with food or as an aperitif. Roger sadly passed away in March 2020, but he would I'm sure be very pleased with the latest batch of Tamar Creek and thrilled his passion for Belgian style beers lives on. Cheers Roger or as they say in Belgium, Sante!