Adnams

Why it matters

One of the clearest examples of a Victorian regional brewery adapting rather than retrenching: it kept its cask range while building a modern hop-led portfolio, and its Ghost Ship is among the few British pale ales to reach national distribution in both cask and alcohol-free form.

Details

Reference beers

• Adnams Broadside6.3% ABV

  A dark, strong Suffolk bitter brewed to commemorate a naval battle, and one of the clearer examples of what British strong bitter tastes like.

• Adnams Ghost Ship4.5% ABV

  A pale, citrus-led British golden ale that became one of the most widely stocked cask beers in the country, and one of the few with a credible alcohol-free version.

• Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5%0.5% ABV

  The de-alcoholised version of a mainstream British pale ale, and one of the more successful examples of the format.

• Adnams Southwold Bitter3.7% ABV

  A pale, dry, hop-led ordinary bitter, and one of the clearest surviving examples of what the strength was for.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• Best bitter — A step up from ordinary bitter in strength and depth, with more malt body while staying firmly sessionable.
• British golden ale — A modern British cask style: pale, crisp and citrus-hopped, developed to win drinkers back from lager.
• Strong bitter — The strongest of the bitters, with pronounced malt richness, firm bitterness and noticeable fruit from warm fermentation.

Traditions

• British cask ale — Beer that completes its fermentation in the container it is served from and is dispensed without added gas, at cellar rather than fridge temperature.