food/drink
GOOD THINGS
COME IN
MICROBREWERIES
With microbreweries
popping up and
pleasing drinkers all
over, Aled Singleton has
a look at what South
Wales has to offer.
pic: MR MOSS
ACCORDING to Dai Morgan there are now
over 80 breweries in Wales; I took a visit to his
Cerddin brewery at the Cross Inn brewpub near
Maesteg to find out more about the success of
microbreweries.
Just over four years ago Dai and his wife Gill were
discussing future plans for their comfortable
roadside pub and decided to create a new local
market for ale rather compete with the more foodfocused pubs in nearby Llangynwyd.
“I spent some time with Buster at Brecon
Brewery,” Dai told us, “and then followed a threeweek course in Sunderland before investing in the
equipment.”
The brewery hasn’t looked back since
producing their Maiden Ale in 2010.
Their Cascade ale recently won Small
Independent Brewer’s Association (SIBA)
Bronze Medal at Ludlow Beer Festival
and Dai speaks of a good spirit and
cooperation amongst the members of
SIBA:
“We meet up at beer festivals and there
are lots of small local breweries in South
Wales like Brecon, Caerphilly’s Celt, Pontcanna’s
Pipes and the Gower Brewery – which is also a
brewpub.”
Though brewing is growing as a movement, Dai
told us that breweries like Cerddin are very much
locally-rooted. The name ‘Cerddin’ is Welsh for the
rowan, or mountain ash, tree which grows in the
Llynfi valley, and an amazing 90% of the product is
consumed onsite by locals.
“At the start of the 20th century, women in
industrial towns like Maesteg were called the
‘Brewsters’,” says Dai says as he tells us that the
recipe for their Welsh Pale Ale comes from the
industrial past. “They used to brew in their houses
and sell beer from their front rooms to the men
who had just come off shifts in the iron and coal
industries.”
As the pub trade gets increasingly competitive, we
may see more pubs look to their local history and
invest in little breweries. Why not sample some of
this beer responsibly by taking a train trip to Garth
to visit Cerddin? Other good ale stops are Otley at
the Bunch Of Grapes in Pontypridd and the Brew
With A View at The Gwaellod Inn near Taffs Well.
FIVE
TO
TRY
CERDDIN
BREW WITH A VIEW
Cross Inn, Maesteg
Info: 01656 732476
www.cerddinbrewery.co.uk
Gwaelod Inn,
Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff
Info: 029 2081 0408
www.gwaelodinn.co.uk
BUZZ 28
OTLEY
PIPES BREWERY
TINY REBEL
Bunch Of Grapes, Ynysangharad Rd,
Pontypridd
Info: 01443 402934
www.bunchofgrapes.org.uk
Kings Rd, Cardiff.
Info: www.pipesbeer.co.uk
The Urban Tap House,
Westgate St, Cardiff.
Info: 029 2039 9557
www.urbantaphouse.co.uk