'You're only as good as your last pint'

The Doom Bar producer is celebrating its major milestone after wracking up three decades of brewing success which has seen the company grow from a young upstart on the scene to one of the most dominant brands in the cask market.

“Bill Sharp’s founding motto was ‘you’re only as good as your last pint’ and that keeps us on our toes,” says marketing controller James Nicholls. “The team is constantly dedicated to making the best quality beer, each beer subjected to 100 quality checks before it leaves the gates at Rock.”

And that quality is paying off, with the brewery able to boast over 150 international brewing awards for both beer and cider.

Founded in 1994 by Bill Sharp, the business has grown from a small micro-brewery to “pay the mortgage” into a brewing powerhouse behind the leading amber beer brand in cask beer, and now part of the larger Molson Coors empire.

“Nothings changed though, that tenaciousness, that consistency, that quality and that focus in how we produce the beer is still there now, it’s just been powered up with world class expertise, and equipment and method, but the principle, desire and ambition behind it remains the same,” Nicholls added.

To mark the anniversary, Sharp’s has released its new Twin Coast Session Pale Ale, a 3.9% ABV cask pale ale, which it says pays testament to the differing Cornish coastline near where the brewery is based while giving beer lovers a citrussy-hoppy beer that delivers on taste.

The beer is the latest product from the company’s dedicated small scale pilot plant, which was built at the brewing facilities in Rock in 2016. That pilot plant enables the entire Sharp’s team to collectively develop and test new ideas and brews.

To hear more about the history of the company The MA’s Ed Bedington caught up with Nicholls and Sharp’s beer sommelier Ed Hughes to find out how things had changed, where the company is headed and how the beer category is evolving.