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Journal Home > Archive > Issue Contents > Brew. Hist., 116, pp. 28-33

The Great Gable Brewery

by Tim Holt

The Great Gable Brewery, housed in a few small rooms at the rear of the Wasdale Head Inn, is surely the most beautifully located brewery in Britain. Found at the head of Wasdale valley in the South West of the Lake District, it is surrounded by the high peaks of Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, Sca Fell and, of course, Great Gable. As with most rural areas, brewing was probably carried out in a number of the small farmsteads which comprise Wasdale village well into the nineteenth century. The first documented landlord of the pub, William Ritson, may have taken out his license in the 1850s as a consequence of pressure from local excise officers who had become aware of his illegal brewing. However, there is now no physical evidence to support this conjecture.


The Wasdale Head Inn, home of the Great Gable Brewery, with Kirk Fell as a backdrop.
The Wasdale Head Inn, home of the Great Gable Brewery, with Kirk Fell as a backdrop.


The doorway into the brewery yard at the rear of the Wasdale Head Inn with a misty Sca Fell in the distance.
The doorway into the brewery yard at the rear of the Wasdale Head Inn with a misty Sca Fell in the distance.


The spinney of pine trees which contains the source of the brewery's spring water.
The spinney of pine trees which contains the source of the brewery's spring water.

The present-day brewery was established by the current owner of the inn, Howard Christie, and the brewer, Giles Holiday. Intended to open in 2001 this had to be postponed due to the foot and mouth outbreak which had such dramatic effects on the local tourist and farming industries. When production eventually began in the following year, Peter Yates (a former Jennings head brewer and founder of Yates Brewery, West Newton), assisted Giles with the first two brews.


The hot liquor tank.
The hot liquor tank.

The brewery's water comes from a spring 300m away in a pine copse at the foot of Yewbarrow. Originally it was piped directly into the hot liquor vessel, but health and safety legislation necessitated the instillation of a UV sterilisation unit. The origins of this tank and the rest of the larger brewing equipment are not certain as they were acquired through a broker, but Giles believes the may have come from an ex-Firkin pub. All are of stainless steel and the two fermenting vessels have a five barrel capacity. The size of the enterprise means that a conditioning tank is not practical so after primary fermentation the beer is immediately barrelled. The cellar is a room which shares one wall with the bar of the pub so that the finished product can be piped directly to the pumps.


The mash tun.
The mash tun.


The copper with a fermenting vessel in the background.
The copper with a fermenting vessel in the background.


Fermenting vessel with thermometer and cooling jacket (between black bands). The brewery's heat exchanger (wort cooler) is pictured to the right.
Fermenting vessel with thermometer and cooling jacket (between black bands). The brewery's heat exchanger (wort cooler) is pictured to the right.

Giles presently produces seven different beers and brews, on average, twice a week. All the brewery's by-products are recycled; the spent malt is feed to the local sheep, the hops are turned into garden compost and even the old yeast helps promote bacterial activity in the pub's septic tank.

Although the brewery is making great strides the potential for expansion is limited by the lack of available space on the premises, although a small bottling plant maybe introduced at some point in the future.


The cellar.
The cellar.

The photographs for this article were taken by David Abbott.


Copyright © 2004 the Brewery History Society