Garton Brewery’s Chocolate Frog winning Poole’s Beer of the Festival was a bit of a surprise. Not because it was not a worthy winner, the beer is fantastic; but it was 8% so those who enjoy it may not remember to fill out the voting slip (or being at the fest at all ED!), also being a must try it ran out pretty quickly as well. However win it did, this posed the problem of how to present the award with a personal touch at a brewery 340 miles away in East Yorkshire. Luckily I was visiting family and friends in Scarborough and Garton being only a matter of 20 miles or so away this was thought the best way. And it seemed a good excuse to me! 
Garton is situated on the A166, a few miles west of Driffield, the brewery is exactly a mile out of the village (follow the signs for the medieval church). Richard Heptinstall (pictured above with ED) set up the brewery in 2001 with a very special mission. Dismissing the fashion of creating ales to compete with the mass produced standards or that would appeal to lager drinkers, Richard wanted to recreate the flavours of Dickensian England. Strong rich beers produced using malt and grain, but no sugar, that offer something different within the market. Hence Garton’s weakest beers, Woldsman Bitter and Old Buffer, are 4.5%; but the beers Richard produces most of are the two strong 8% ales Liquid Lobotomy and Chocolate Frog. The problem is that few pubs are daring enough to take these excellent ales, especially those around the East 
Yorks Wolds or towns of the east coast such as Scarborough. However this is not actually a great problem for Richard, thanks to East-West Ales and Flying Firkin his ales do get around the co
untry and seem popular in the West Country.
The brewery, As the pictures I hope testify, is small: the size of a double garage at the rear of Richard’s bungalow. However two mash tuns and a fermenting vessel do the job perfectly and Richard has no plans to expand significantly. His beers are popular at festivals around the country and he hopes that the award given him by visitors to Poole Beer Festival will gain him a little more interest. He was delighted to win and we enjoyed a half in the brewery to celebrate.
Garton is situated on the A166, a few miles west of Driffield, the brewery is exactly a mile out of the village (follow the signs for the medieval church). Richard Heptinstall (pictured above with ED) set up the brewery in 2001 with a very special mission. Dismissing the fashion of creating ales to compete with the mass produced standards or that would appeal to lager drinkers, Richard wanted to recreate the flavours of Dickensian England. Strong rich beers produced using malt and grain, but no sugar, that offer something different within the market. Hence Garton’s weakest beers, Woldsman Bitter and Old Buffer, are 4.5%; but the beers Richard produces most of are the two strong 8% ales Liquid Lobotomy and Chocolate Frog. The problem is that few pubs are daring enough to take these excellent ales, especially those around the East 
Yorks Wolds or towns of the east coast such as Scarborough. However this is not actually a great problem for Richard, thanks to East-West Ales and Flying Firkin his ales do get around the co
untry and seem popular in the West Country.The brewery, As the pictures I hope testify, is small: the size of a double garage at the rear of Richard’s bungalow. However two mash tuns and a fermenting vessel do the job perfectly and Richard has no plans to expand significantly. His beers are popular at festivals around the country and he hopes that the award given him by visitors to Poole Beer Festival will gain him a little more interest. He was delighted to win and we enjoyed a half in the brewery to celebrate.
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