A new taproom at a brewery near Stroud opened last month, serving truly unique naturally-brewed beers.
Mills Brewing, started in 2015 by husband and wife Genevieve and Jonny Mills, is based at Griffin Mill in Thrupp. They serve their wild fermented beers on tap and in bottle, a Pilsner from Mills’ sister brand (Theremin), top tier cider and perry by Tom Oliver, in-house made kombucha, single variety apple juice and natural wines. If you’re feeling peckish there is also a ‘season yourself’ crisps offering, with eight flavours to choose from.
“We make small batches of beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment,” explained Jonny. “We use traditionally made floor malted grain and whole-leaf hops to produce our wort at our barrel store.”
The beers are fermented in wooden barrels, and fermentation takes between two and four years before being selected for bottling.
“We take some inspiration from the lambic brewers of Belgium and are heavily inspired by the West Country cider makers in the way that they approach making and blending drinks,” added Jonny.
“We embrace the lack of control during the fermentation, as it can conjure wonderful flavours we never could have designed, with each barrel providing nuanced variation. The majority of our beers are made by blending together different barrels and batches to draw together this array of flavours into our ideal finished drinks.
“All of our beers are finished by slowly bottle-conditioning with our local wild yeast and bacteria for several months before release. Our bottles all feature artwork by Genevieve’s father, Martin Kaye.”
Opening hours are Friday 2-7pm and Saturday 12-5pm.
