S43 Brewery

Microbrewery in Durham, Durham, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Associated Venue: Toronto Lodge (Sonnet 43)

Established in 2012

Closed in 2022

Contact
Coxhoe, Durham, DH6 4HX, England
Description
Changed name from Sonnet 43 to S43 in 2019.

We started life back in 2012, focusing on developing our own British Style Cask Ales out of Country Durham based Brew House.

Back then we were known as Sonnet 43 back then (inspired by the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who was born and raised in Coxhoe, County Durham, the village our brewery calls home).

Three years into our brewing, in 2015 we had doubled production year on year and expanded our team and range of ales, including the award winning Raven and Aurora.

Another three busy years of brewing our beloved Cask Ales and, we noticed a change in our palettes. Whilst, we were still chugging cask specials at a rate of knots, we were getting excited by some of the more hop-forward flavours from over the pond.

This is when we got in touch with the Texan, to come and develop the craft arm of the brewery.

Brewing ceased at the end of 2022.

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7

Tried on 05 Jan 2025 at 14:57


7.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Can from HOTM, consumed 2 weeks past BBE. Cloudy gold-amber pour with moderate sized white head, plenty of retention. Hoppy aroma of lemon, orange, flora, spice, rye. Taste starts rye malt, yeast and pepper and then the fruity hoppy notes burst with citrus, grapefruit and a pine sweet resin but bitter finish. Good.

Tried from Can on 02 Jan 2025 at 03:03


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Can consumed on same day as BBE date. Hazy orange pour with small white head. Aroma of weed, orange squash, peach, pine. Taste starts pine resin upfront unusually then fruitiness comes in with orange and peach notable again, sharp finish. Medium bodied, slight chewiness, zingy carbonation. Good but not great.

Tried from Can on 02 Jan 2025 at 03:03


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5

Can. I'm not normally big on beers over 10%, I have found some almost treacle like. This one was very nice, smooth and full but not too heavy. Roasty, coffee, and chocolate moreisness, alcohol warmth on the way down. A real treat of a beer.

Tried from Can on 02 Jan 2025 at 03:03


7.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

440ml can and my one thousand rate. Hazy orange, small white head. Aroma of citrus, pine, stewed tropical fruits. Taste is sweet, mixed tropical fruit, some earthiness, tangy citrus. Medium body, a little oily, soft carbonation. Good.

Tried from Can on 31 Dec 2024 at 02:25


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

440ml can 2 months before BBE. Hazy orange-go, small white head, thin retention. Aroma of mango and citrus. Taste is juicy tropical, earthy, resin, stone fruits. Moderate body, soft carbonation. Decent stuff.

Tried from Can on 31 Dec 2024 at 02:25


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

440ml can from lowcostbeer.com, 4 weeks past BBE. Hazy bright orange pour with small white head which leaves a nice covering. Aroma of tropical fruits, orange citrus, pine, medicine. Taste follows aroma, quite sweet, some caramel malt background, moderate zesty and pine bitter finish. Medium bodied, fairly smooth, soft carbonation Very enjoyable.

Tried from Can on 31 Dec 2024 at 02:24


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Can from lowcostbeer.com, consumed 1 week past BBE. Pours a murky red-brown, small off white to beige head, good retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet malts, caramel, toffee, light roast, earthy-pine and some fruitiness in the hops. Taste has a pine bitterness, sweet caramel like malts, citrus zest and dried fruit. Full bodied, chewy, dry. Very good, tasty.

Tried from Can on 31 Dec 2024 at 02:23


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Panda thanks for Danlo: Poured a dark brown to black with a beige head. Aroma is rich malts, chocolate, honeycomb. Taste is rich malts, caramel, chocolate, boozy.

Tried on 05 Aug 2024 at 00:20


7.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Panda thanks to Danlo: Poured a caramel golden with a white head. Aroma is malty, biscuit, bready, fruity. Taste is fruity, malty, bready, spices.

Tried on 04 Aug 2024 at 23:48