Chocolate malt, roasted cacao nibs and natural dark chocolate makes this multi-award winning stout luscious and moreish.

Steampunk is our homage to the California Common, the only indigenous beer style of the United States. Also called a 'steam beer', it is brewed with a lager yeast at ale brewing temperatures and produces a very distinctive flavour profile that includes both ale and lager characteristics. 

There have been breweries in Westerham for more than 400 years. From Michael Hayward at the end of the 16th Century all the way through to the Black Eagle Brewery which closed in 1965.

In 2004, Westerham Brewery was established to bring back brewing to the local area. Using the same Greensand aquifer water that made Westerham so famous for its beer, and the heritage yeasts deposited at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures by Bill Wickett in 1959, we have recreated the flavours of Kentish Ale renowned in this small town for over 400 years.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary we have crafted a strong ale with Greensand aquifer water drawn from our own borehole, the Black Eagle Brewery yeast strains and hops bred and grown in Kent.

It is a beer to sip and savour while pondering the long history of brewing in Westerham.

Kent’s first brush with the Romans came in 55 BC when Julius Caesar unsuccessfully invaded Kent at Ebbsfleet. A year later a more successful landing at Pegwell Bay carried Julius Caesar eventually to London.

The iron age celtic people who lived in Kent were called the ‘Cantiaci’. The capital was Durovernum Cantiacorum, now modern day Canterbury, and the region was named the civitas of ‘Cantium’.

Julius Caesar wrote in ‘The Gallic War’: “of all the Britons the inhabitants of Cantium, an entirely maritime district, are by far the most vivilised, differing but little from the Gallic manner of life”.

Cantium is translated in modern italian as ‘Canzio’. Birra Banzio or ‘Beer of Kent’, is our homage to the new style of pilsner lager that the Italians Have made their own. Perfect with a plate of pasta or with roasted Romney Marsh lamb.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary in 2024 we have crafted a number of special beers. For this one, we dreamt of a beer we used to know from living in the USA. So many beers have come and gone, the memory fades as the years go by, yet we still recall one as clear as the sun in the summer sky.

It’s more than a beer. It’s more than a feeling. It’s a Boston lager. ‘More Than A Feeling’ is a smooth, German style amber lager with notes of sweet malt, caramel and toffee, and a classic noble German hop character. It ends with a crisp finish that makes you want another on a sunny summer day.

The Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham brewed a Light Ale throughout the 1940s and 1950s. We have original bottle labels in our archive collection.

For our 20th anniversary in 2024 we have reinterpreted the beer. Light golden in colour with a moderate hop bitterness but a hoppy aroma, this light ale is light in alcohol and refreshing.

The signature Cobb's East Kent Goldings hops, bred from a wild Canterbury white bine hop in 1881, produce a classic Kentish hop aroma and flavour in this beer.

East Kent Goldings is a Protected Food Name with Protected Designation of Origin

Summer Perle is brewed with the finest English Pale Ale malt. Zesty Kent first gold hops impart an orange citrus note of thick cut marmalade, Yakima valley Cascade hops with floral and grapefruit, citrus notes and a spicy finish from the Hallertau Perle. This is the essence of summer drinking. Sit back, enjoy, and take it easy.

Available only during British Summer Time.

If we could walk 500 miles from the Gateway to Kent to the land of our forebears, we'd arrive in Stirling, Gateway to the Highlands.  We'd need a couple of pints of heavy to quench the thirst. This would be it.

Robert James Cairns Wicks - Founder and Head Brewer
Fraser Charles Cairns Wicks - Production Manager

The Spirit of Kent is hopped with 9 Kent hops in a total of 9 separate additions. Most of the hops are picked and dried at the National Trust’s only hop garden at Scotney Castle in Lamberhurst, Kent by hop grower Ian Strang. Ian is one of a dwindling number of noble hop growers left in Kent.

Viceroy India Pale Ale is brewed with Greensand aquifer water, English malted barley and the finest Kent grown hops. It is fermented with Westerham Brewery’s own heritage yeast culture to produce a fruity and hoppy India Pale Ale.

Grasshopper is a rich, malty Kentish Ale brewed with hops that are picked and dried at the National Trust’s only hop garden at Scotney Castle in Lamberhurst, Kent by hop grower Ian Strang. Ian is one of a dwindling number of noble hop growers left in Kent.

Kentish Ale is a Protected Food Name with Protected Geographical Indication 

British Bulldog is a full bodied best bitter in the Kentish Ale style, packed full of Kent hops to give this ale its distinctive aroma and satisfying flavour. Recultured yeast from the original Black Eagle Brewery recreates the flavours of Westerham Ales as they were enjoyed by Sir Winston Churchill.

Kentish Ale is a Protected Food Name with Protected Geographical Indication 

Loaded with 8 USA grown hops, this West Coast style session IPA delivers a huge payload of citrus and pine flavours.

Straw yellow pilsner lager (that means lagered or matured for several weeks) hopped with Czech grown Žatec noble hops with a distinctive hop aroma and bitterness usually found in Bohemian pilsners. 

Brewed to the same strength, the same recipe and the same yeast as the last beer of the Black Eagle Brewery that closed in 1965 after over 230 years of brewing. A rich, malty and hoppy Kentish Ale brewed with Greensand aquifer water, 100% Kent bred and grown hops and our heritage yeast strains.

Kentish Ale is a Protected Food Name with Protected Geographical Indication 

The Black Brewery in Westerham brewed Audit Ale throughout the early 20th century. Its fame was such that it was supplied to Clarence House for the beginning of the oyster season.

Audit Ale is a Kentish Strong Ale brewed with Greensand aquifer water, 100% Kent bred and grown hops, and the same recultured yeast from the Black Eagle Brewery as was used to ferment Westerham Ales up until the brewery's closure in 1965.

Kentish Strong Ale is a Protected Food Name with Protected Geographical Indication

This Double Stout is brewed to the same strength as that brewed in 1938 with Pale Malt, Chocolate Malt and Black Malt.  In the copper we use the finest Kent hops and late hop with West Kent Goldings. We also use the same yeast as used in Westerham Ales up until the brewery's closure in 1965.