Golden Duck Brewery

Microbrewery in Swadlincote, Leicestershire, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Established in 2012

Contact
Unit 2 Red Hill Farm, Appleby Magna, Swadlincote, DE12 7AH, England
Description
Golden Duck Brewery is based on a farm in Appleby Magna in North West Leicestershire. Being ideally locatated about a mile from the M42, we are able to distribute our beers across the Central Midland areas of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire.

This is a Father and Son operation with son Harry being the Head Brewer. Harry studied at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh for 4 years to obtain his degree in ‘Brewing and Distilling’. At 23 years old Harry had gained valuable work experience with Burton Bridge Brewery, Tower Brewery and the National Brewing Centre in Burton, and Stewart’s Brewery in Edinburgh, before spending the last two summers at Derventio Brewery in Derby and Hopback Brewery in Salisbury. There is some history of brewing in the family too with Andy spending a short time at the Bass Malting’s site in Burton, and father Ray and brother Chris also spending a considerable amount of time working at Bass in Burton. Nephew Eddie still works for the now ‘Coors’ brewery in Burton and was responsible for the installation of our brewery in Appleby Magna. Andy will take on the role of General Manager/Brewery Apprentice. Andy’s full time role is working as a Management Consultant with ‘Complete Lean Solutions’ a company specialising in providing training and management support.

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5.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
Hand-pulled half-pint at the Railway Tavern, Newport Shropshire on 23rd March 2023. I kind of agree with Martin (the only other rating so far), it's a funny none descript sort of beer with a fairly bland nature, almost clear light golden blonde with a lasting white head. It lacks oomph and flavour with very little hop of malt action to talk about.
Tried on 23 Mar 2023 at 15:21

6.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 7
Half-pint, cask ale at Orange Tree. Near clear amber body, filmy layer, upper part lacing. Inviting smell of herbal hops and mid-sweet malts. Well balanced taste character of caramel malts and leady hops. Nice bittersweet finish. Well made bitter. (Hereford 17.10.2022)
Tried from Cask on 02 Nov 2022 at 08:53

6.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
På Orange Tree, Hereford. Gylden. Lavt tett skum med litt farge. Karamellaroma. Myk munnfølelse. Smaken brent karamell. Tørr bitter avslutning. Overdose med karamell - men god!
Tried on 17 Oct 2022 at 12:01

6.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Cask at the Queens Head, Stourbridge. Pours ruby brown with a small head. Aroma is cola and fruity berries. Taste has dark fruity malts and berries.
Tried from Cask on 13 Feb 2022 at 15:06

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Cask at the Wellington, Birmingham. Poured a crystal clear golden colour with a thin broken white head. The aroma is grainy malt, yeasty, light citrus fruits. The flavour is moderate bitter, with a smooth, light citrus, light floral, woody hop bitter palate. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. A nice cask ale. Liked this.
Tried from Cask at The Wellington on 27 Jan 2022 at 20:20

6.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Handpull cask at the Kings Head, Leicester. Mid- to dark gold and clear with a small white head. Light woody aroma with some resinous gluey notes, some buttered toast. Tastes medicinal, then slightly sweet with caramel and bubblegum, then with a slightly astringent bitterness. The bitterness stays in the long finish. certainly odd, but it's nice to have a beer that's not run of the mill.
Tried from Cask on 03 Sep 2020 at 15:50

4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 2 Texture 4 Overall 4
Cask at Bird in Hand, Stafford (not listed in RateBeer). Well the brewery and Untappd seem to think this is a bitter, so that’s what I’ve added it as. But I think it’s more like a pale ale. Anyway, pours a golden yellow with a small white head. Has a slight aroma of oranges. Undistinguished in the mouth, with just some general fruitiness. Finish is slightly bitter though. After rating a beer with too many flavours (Slaters 1995 – 25 years), this is a beer with no flavour. Bland is the word !
Tried from Cask on 16 Jul 2020 at 20:45

5.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Cask at the Queens Head, Stourbridge. Pours gold with a medium head. Aroma is eggy straw. Taste has straw, grain and egg.
Tried from Cask on 07 Jul 2020 at 20:33

6.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Handpull cask at the Salmon, Leicester. Very light gold, clear with a thin off-white head. Smells of butterscotch, some toffee, some soft citrus notes. Bittersweet hoppy notes in the initial taste with a chalky bitter finish. Lime zest, buttered toast and toffee in the aftertaste. Pretty messy but drinkable.
Tried from Cask on 09 Jul 2019 at 18:07

6.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 8 Overall 6
Half pint on cask at the Doncaster beer festival. Thin white head. Hazy golden pour. Light bitterness.
Tried from Cask on 07 Jun 2019 at 15:03