Cheddar Ales

Cheddar Ales
Location	Cheddar, Somerset, England
Opened	2006
Owned by	Independent
Website	cheddarales.co.uk
Active beers
Name	Type
Gorge Best	Bitter
Potholer	Pale Ale
Totty Pot Porter	Porter
Goat's Leap	IPA
Bitter Bully	Pale Ale
Hardrock	Pale Ale
Crown and Glory	Amber Ale
Seasonal beers
Name	Type
Festive Totty	Porter
Wild Thing	Pale Ale
Seismic Shift	Pale Ale
Isolator 7	IPA
Bedstraw	Kolsch
Karst	Rye Beer
Yakima Pils	Pilsner

Cheddar Ales is an independent, artisanal brewery located in the village of Cheddar in Somerset, England, which produces a range of regular and seasonal beers. Its owner and head brewer, Jem Ham, previously worked 15 years at another local brewery before going out on his own.^[1]

Products

The brewery produces seven regular beers and the occasional seasonal brew.

Gorge Best Bitter – 4.0% abv.
Potholer – 4.3% abv golden bitter. The name is derived from the sport of potholing (cave exploration), which is popular in the Caves of the Mendip Hills.
Totty Pot Porter – 4.5% abv porter, first produced in December 2007. Named after a small cave at the top of Cheddar Gorge.^[2]
Goat's Leap – 5.5% abv India Pale Ale (IPA). Named after a point on the Kaveri River near Bangalore in India.
Hardrock – 4.4% abv Pale Ale.
Bitter Bully – 3.8% abv Pale Ale.
Crown and Glory – 4.6% abv.

Awards

In 2007, Potholer won a silver medal at the Society of Independent Brewers annual Maltings Beer Festival.^[3] In 2009, Totty Pot Porter won Bronze Medal in the Champion Bottled Beers at the SIBA National Beer Competition,^[4]^[5] and a gold award at the International Beer Challenge, where it won best bottled beer.^[6]

Community

The brewery holds occasional beer festivals featuring both its own and guest beers, plus live music and in 2020 opened a full time tap room and pizza oven.

References

^ "Discovering Cheddar Ales" (PDF). Pints West No. 72 Winter 2006/2007 edition. CAMRA Bristol. p. 7. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
^ "Magificent Seven #6: Totty Pot Potter". Good Beer. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
^ "SIBA Beer Competitions". Society of Independent Brewers. 12 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^ "2009 Winners". SIBA Beer Competitions. SIBA. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
^ "Totty Pot is top tipple". Cheddar Valley Gazette. 10 March 2009. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
^ "Cheddar has some of the best totty in the world". Cheddar Valley Gazette. 30 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2010.