Our Beer Styles

IPA

Bold, bitter, and unmistakably hoppy

India Pale Ale is a hop-forward beer style, originally brewed with extra hops as a preservative for the long sea voyage from Britain to India. Expect bold bitterness, citrus and pine aromatics, and a dry, crisp finish.

IPA is where Thornbridge started. Since 2005, Jaipur has helped redefine what British IPA can be — balancing serious hop character with real drinkability, rather than bitterness for its own sake.

  • hoppy
  • bitter
  • citrus
  • pine
  • dry finish
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Jaipur, Can 5.9% IPA Beer - Cans ThornbridgeJaipur, Can 5.9% IPA The Union, 7% IPA 8 x 500ml bottles Beer - Case Bottle ThornbridgeThe Union, 7% IPA Pondera, 6.7% West Coast IPA Beer - Cans ThornbridgePondera, 6.7% West Coast IPA

Hazy IPA

Soft, juicy, and full of fruit.

Hazy IPA (often called New England / East Coast IPA) is a softer, juicier take on the IPA family. Brewed to emphasise fruit character over bitterness, it's typically cloudy in appearance with a smooth, pillowy mouthfeel.

Green Mountain takes IPA in a different direction from Jaipur. It's still packed with hops, but used for big tropical and citrus character rather than bittering punch. Softer on the palate, but no less hoppy

  • hazy
  • juicy
  • tropical
  • aroma-forward
  • cloudy
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Green Mountain, 4.3% Hazy Session IPA Beer - Single Can ThornbridgeGreen Mountain, 4.3% Hazy Session IPA Hazy Jaipur, 5.9% Hazy IPA Beer - Cans ThornbridgeHazy Jaipur, 5.9% Hazy IPA Green Mountain Alcohol Free Hazy Session IPA Beer - Cans ThornbridgeGreen Mountain Alcohol Free Hazy Session IPA

Lager

Crisp, clean, and effortlessly drinkable

Lager is beer brewed with cold fermentation and a lager yeast strain, then conditioned for longer than ale styles. The result is a cleaner, crisper character with less fruity complexity than ale, and a smooth, refreshing finish

Lukas and Bayern sit at the heart of our lager range — classic, well-balanced beers built for proper drinkability. Czech Mates, our collaboration with Budvar, has become a standout in its own right — Budvar even made a video about it that's racked up over a quarter of a million views. Where IPA is about hop intensity, our lagers are about restraint and precision

  • crisp
  • clean
  • refreshing
  • cold-fermented
  • smooth
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Lukas Can, 4.2% Helles Lager (Gluten Free) Beer - Cans ThornbridgeLukas Can, 4.2% Helles Lager (Gluten Free) The Grand Tour Mixed Lager Case - 12 Pack Beer - Mixed Case ThornbridgeBayern, 4.8% Pilsner Czech Mates, 4.8% Czech Style Lager Beer - Cans ThornbridgeCzech Mates, 4.8% Czech Style Lager

Pale Ales

Balanced, golden, and easy-drinking.

Pale Ale is a lighter-coloured ale style that sits between traditional Bitter and IPA on the hop spectrum — more hop character and aromatics than a Bitter, but without IPA's full intensity. Typically well-balanced between malt and hops, with a clean, golden appearance

Our pale ales are seasonal rather than year-round. 1838 and Kipling both showcase the style's balance of malt and hop character, while Crackendale brings tropical guava and citrus with a beautiful bitter-and-sweet balance — proof there's real range within the style.

  • balanced
  • golden
  • hoppy
  • malty
  • easy-drinking
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1838 (from the Union), 4.5% Pale Ale 8 x 500ml bottles Beer - Case Bottle Thornbridge1838 (from the Union), 4.5% Pale Ale Kipling, 5.2% South Pacific Pale Ale 500ml bottle Beer - Bottle ThornbridgeKipling, 5.2% South Pacific Pale Ale 500ml bottle Crackendale, 5.2% Single Hopped Citra Pale Ale 500ml bottle Beer - Single Bottle ThornbridgeCrackendale, 5.2% Single Hopped Citra Pale Ale 500ml bottle

Stout and Porter

Dark, rich, and full of roasted character

Stout and Porter are closely related dark beer styles built on roasted malts. Porter tends to be lighter-bodied with a gentler roastiness and notes of caramel and chocolate; Stout is typically bolder and more intensely roasty, with flavours running from coffee to dark chocolate. The line between the two has blurred over time, and both styles cover a wide range of strength and body.

Cocoa Wonderland is our award-winning flagship porter — balanced and sturdy, with light roastiness, mocha and raisin, and intense, luxurious cocoa flavour running from first scent to last drop. Brock shows the smoother side of stout, a nitro stout with a creamy head, rich chocolate and coffee, and a velvety, medium body. For something bigger still, Necessary Evil is our imperial stout, aged for months in bourbon barrels for layers of vanilla, oak, and caramel

  • dark
  • roasty
  • chocolate
  • coffee
  • rich
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Brock, 4.1% Nitro Stout Beer - Cans ThornbridgeBrock, 4.1% Nitro Stout Into The Dark – Stout & Porter Selection 12 Pack Beer - Mixed Case ThornbridgeCocoa Wonderland, 6.8% Chocolate Porter 440ml

Bitter

Traditional, malty, and quintessentially British

Bitter is a traditional English ale style, typically amber to copper in colour, with a balance of malt sweetness and light, earthy hop bitterness. Lower in strength and hop intensity than Pale Ale or IPA, it's built for easy, sessionable drinking

Lord Marples was the very first Thornbridge beer, brewed back in 2005 at the Hall Brewery — a classic Bitter felt right for where it all began. It pours an attractive mahogany, with honey and caramel flavours and just a light bitterness in the finish to keep it balanced. The name honours Mr Marples, a former owner of Thornbridge Hall who enjoyed using the title of Lord without ever quite earning it officially — so we bestowed it on him ourselves

  • traditional
  • malty
  • mahogany
  • honey
  • caramel
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Lord Marples, 4% Classic Bitter 500ml bottle Beer - Bottle ThornbridgeLord Marples, 4% Classic Bitter 500ml bottle

Sours

Tart, tangy, and refreshingly different.

Sour beers get their tartness from wild yeast or bacteria introduced during brewing, rather than the standard clean fermentation used in most beer styles. The result ranges from gently tart to intensely puckering, often with fruit-forward character.

Tart is a returning favourite in our sour series — kettle-soured and dry-hopped with a generous dose of Galaxy hops, bursting with ripe peach and passionfruit aromas. . Sour is a style we return to rather than keep year-round, previously explored through beers like Florida Weisse, Allott and Kuba to name but three and our barrel aged sour programme has been recognised on the world stage, taking both Best and Second Best in the World at the World Beer Cup.

  • tart
  • kettle-soured
  • peach
  • passionfruit
  • crisp
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Tart, 6% Sour with Galaxy Hops Beer - Cans ThornbridgeTart, 6% Sour with Galaxy Hops Mothers Ruin Gin Barrel Aged Sour – ABV 7.0% 750ml bottle Beer - BA Single Bottle ThornbridgeMothers Ruin Gin Barrel Aged Sour – ABV 7.0% 750ml bottle

Saison

Farmhouse spice, dry and effervescent.

Saison is a farmhouse-style beer originating in Belgium, traditionally brewed for farm workers. Expect a dry, peppery, spicy character with bright carbonation and often a light fruitiness, finishing crisp and refreshing rather than sweet.

Daisy and Dorris — named after two of our favourite cows at the Thornbridge Smallholding — is our seasonal take on the style. Pale gold with a lively white head, its aroma brings cracked pepper, clove, and spice with dashes of lemon, finishing dry, sparkling, and snappy. For something more elevated, Mind Games was our collaboration with Firestone Walker — brewed with three yeast strains and Savinjski Goldings, then aged eight months in Bordeaux gin barrels for a golden Saison with lemon, pineapple, vanilla, and a gentle juniper and toasted oak character.

  • farmhouse
  • peppery
  • dry
  • spicy
  • effervescent
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Daisy & Doris, 5% Saison Beer - Cans ThornbridgeDaisy & Doris, 5% Saison

Wheat Beer

Hazy, fruity, and full of character.

Wheat Beer is brewed with a high proportion of wheat alongside barley malt, giving a lighter body and a naturally hazy appearance. Bavarian-style versions (Weissbier/Hefeweizen) are known for distinctive banana, clove, and bubblegum flavours that come from the yeast itself, while other wheat beers lean lighter and more neutral.

Bavarian wheat beer is close to Head Brewer Rob Lovatt's heart — a style he fell for on early trips to Bavaria, and one he's spent years trying to recreate: those unmistakable banana, bubblegum, and clove flavours that come naturally from the yeast, not any added flavouring. It's a notoriously tricky beer to get right, but when it lands, it's one of our favourites in the range. Midwest takes the same base style in a different direction — a US-inspired twist on Weissbier with a cleaner yeast strain, amplified hop character, and new-world hops bringing mango and orange to the front for a bright, fruity, dry-finishing beer.

  • wheat
  • hazy
  • banana
  • clove
  • bubblegum
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Heff, 5% Wheat Beer Beer - Single Bottle ThornbridgeHeff, 5% Wheat Beer Midwest, 5.5% Hoppy American Wheat Beer - Cans ThornbridgeMidwest, 5.5% Hoppy American Wheat

Belgian Ale

Fruity, spicy, and full of character.

Belgian Ale covers a broad family of styles unified less by colour or strength and more by yeast character — rich fruit esters (cherry, plum, banana) and spice notes (clove, pepper) that come from traditional Belgian yeast strains. Belgian Witbier, a lighter, wheat-based cousin, brings its own citrus and coriander character.

We don't keep a regular Belgian Ale in the range — it's a style we return to through collaboration and experimentation rather than a fixed beer, much like we do with Saison. Made Glorious Summer paired us with Brasserie de la Senne on the historic Burton Union system, brewed with African fonio grain and Belgian touches of oats and unmalted wheat. Belgian Halcyon takes our Imperial IPA Halcyon and reimagines it with a full-bodied Belgian yeast strain, bringing cherry, plum, and whispers of clove to a beer usually defined by hops. We've also explored the lighter, citrusy Witbier side of the Belgian family through Raindrops on Roses — a 2016 homebrew-competition winner due to return soon — and Guinevere, a gin botanical-infused take on the style.

  • fruity
  • spicy
  • yeast-driven
  • Belgian
  • experimental
Shop Belgian Ale

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Made Glorious Summer, (from the union) 5.8% Special Pale Ale Beer - Cans ThornbridgeMade Glorious Summer, (from the union) 5.8% Special Pale Ale

Barrel Aged

Deep, complex, and shaped by the wood

Barrel Aged beers are matured in wooden barrels — often ex-bourbon, wine, or spirit casks — for months at a time. The wood imparts flavour and complexity beyond what the base beer alone can offer, adding notes like oak, vanilla, and whatever spirit the barrel previously held.

Necessary Evil is our imperial stout aged for 8 months in bourbon barrels. Aromas of sweet bourbon, vanilla, and oak from the ageing process combine with rich chocolate, roasted malts, and caramel from the base beer — soft and silky, with layers of complexity unlike any other beer we make. We've released Necessary Evil in a number of barrel variants beyond the original bourbon version, each taking on a different character depending on the cask. We're increasingly sourcing casks locally too, working with Drop Works and White Peak — supporting other Peak District and local producers while cutting down the distance (and footprint) our barrels travel.

  • barrel-aged
  • oak
  • vanilla
  • bourbon
  • complex
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Necessary Evil, 13% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout Beer - BA Single Bottle ThornbridgeNecessary Evil, 13% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout
Never Ordinary