RCH

Microbrewery in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Established in 1983

Closed in 2017

Contact
West Hewish, Weston-super-Mare, UK - BS24 6RR, England
Description
Brewing started behind the Royal Clarence Hotel, and in those days trading as the Royal Clarence Hotel Brewery, in Burnhan-on-Sea in August 1982. A 5 barrel brew plant was used primarily to supply the hotel only. The brewery was taken over in May 1984 and the beers became more available in the free trade. Due to problems with the water supply, the brewery was using that much that hotel guests could not wash, the brewery moved in January 1993 to an old cider mill in West Hewish, Weston-super-Mare. Capacity was tripled during the move and in 2000 work started on upgrading the plant to a 30 barrel brew length. The brewery closed in early 2017 but relaunched shortly afterwards as Pitchfolk Brewery.

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6.9
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle, source not recorded, from old notes. Poured amber with minimal head. Aroma of malt, caramel, dried fruit, spices and light chocolate. Medium plus sweetness, moderate bitterness. Full body, sticky texture, soft to flat carbonation.

Tried from Bottle on 13 Oct 2018 at 15:43


5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

Pint on cask. Pours clear copper golden with a white top. Aroma: pale malts, floral, lemon, grassy hop. Taste: light sweet, light better, citrus pith, lemon, caramel, toffee, lightly astringent. Light body, average carb, dry finish

Tried from Cask on 17 May 2018 at 20:24


6

Tried on 15 May 2018 at 21:15


5.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Cask at a Wetherspoons somewhere. This is an old rate due to a lost review because of a low word count after Ratebeer was redesigned.

Tried from Cask on 10 May 2018 at 13:08


7.9
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

From Jun 2008

Purchased at Wilbur's Total Beverage in Ft Collins, Colorado.

It pours a clear gold with a huge head of billowy foam. Excellent head retention for the entire session and there is plenty of lacing.

The smell is a nice mix of caramel malt and some fruity notes. Overall, the nose is telling me that this one is going to be on the sweet side with not much of a hop presence. Being an English Bitter, I hope that's what it turns out to be.

The taste turns out as I hoped. Some sweetish tones kick things off followed closely by a nice fresh fruity flavour that soon dominates. The hops are there, of course, but assuming that they're the Goldings, they give this Bitter just a wee touch of citrus just before and through the finish and add the necessary amount of "bitterness" to balance the malt. Well done, me thinks, as I'm finding this 4.3%abv example of the style *very* easy to drink and it's not just because it's low in alcohol; this is a tasty son of a gun and that will stand, for me, on its own.

I have no clue as to the age of this bottle, other than I notice some haziness with the second pour and some....floaties. Ok. Another brew from the UK that, obviously, isn't in its peak condition and I guess I'm getting used to that by now. That's a pity because even though I *know* that it's well past its optimum state...I still find it tasty and very drinkable. A fresh sample would probably make me really go gaga..

Tried from Bottle on 29 Nov 2017 at 13:23


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Cask at PoW, Farnborough. Down as RCH, but is it n fact Pitchfork? No aroma. A dark amber. No head. Light bitter with a sweet edge. Fruity and spicy. Light-medium bodied. Slick. Flat. Lomg finish. Decent. Enjoyable jammy fruit.

Tried from Cask on 17 Oct 2017 at 06:39


5.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle from Cooperative Supermarket, Minehead. Amber-gold with a thin head. Has a small carbonation to what is a bitter in character, with a mild caramel sweetness in both aroma and taste.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Aug 2017 at 14:01


7.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Cask at the Bell, Waltham St Lawrence. An attractive glossy black pour with a ring of dark tan head; aroma of roasted malts; smooth and milky with a well-roasted malt taste, no bitterness and a little lactic sweetness; then a satisfying biscuity finish with a little milky chocolate. A good old fashioned mild.

Tried from Cask on 22 Aug 2017 at 10:01


5.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Cask @ GBBF 2016. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty caramel aroma. Roasted malty caramel flavor. Has a roasted malty caramel finish.

Tried from Cask on 08 Jul 2017 at 05:51


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Cask @ White Hart, Todmorden. Clear golden with a small head. Undistinguished session ale that goes down well.

Tried from Cask on 01 May 2017 at 07:39