Bottled Up: McGivern Ales

I expect several a number of highlights at a Tamworth beer festival. Church End oddities. One outstanding beer from a brewery I'd never heard of. A crap half of something blandly bitter at the Albert on the way home. But I wasn't expecting a selection of bottled beers from a new brewer. Matt McGivern has been described as a 'commercial homebrewer' who's knocking out up to twenty gallons a day from a converted outhouse at his parent's house. He won gold at Tamworth with his Festiv-Ale. How would his bottles measure up?


I bought three different bottles back from Tamworth. Wrexham's Matt McGivern is producing around a dozen different brews but I bought a trio of dark stuff; a stout, a porter and Matthew's Mild. The stout was fairly well hopped, albeit a little slight around the edges. I'm keener on a toasty, roastier malt and this pulled back from being a pouty stout to more of a thin-lipped wonder.

The porter, too, was rather subdued. Some ashen notes wafted around but again there was a particular lack of body. By no means unpleasant - competent, certainly. Drinkable, absolutely. My porter of choice? Unlikely.

So, having been underwhelmed by beers from two of my favourite styles, would the mild be more challenging? Well, McGivern seems to be proud of this; it's the only beer to carry his name. And what a beer it was. Here's the burnt fruits missing from the other two, bits-in-the-bottom-of-the-jam-pan with any over-intensity collapsed by a smooooth silkyness in the finish. I'm no brewer, but I get the feeling that any cheeky monkey can madly hop an IPA or over-smoke a stout. But to extract a balanced sweetness in an ale under four percent is, to me, a genius touch.

Matt is looking to continue supplying local pubs whilst looking for one of his own as an outlet for his cask works. When he does, I'll be an eager queuer at the bar for beers of this quality. You may struggle to find these beers outside of North Wales but if you do stumble across them, buy more than you think you need. Your friends will be grateful!