The Last Bottle Of Thornbridge Bracia

I remember buying Bracia from the brewery. Drinking it at the brewery.

I remember my first taste; the overwhelming sensation of a honeyed nuttiness that I'd never known before.

I remember buying cases of it from the farmers' shop in Bakewell.

I remember giving bottles to people, so eager to try the beer, so pleased to finally experience it.

I remember drinking it with pasta, with beef stew, with ice cream, with friends.

I remember my first bottle.

I remember finding battered boxes wrapped in gaffer tape, bottles I didn't know I still had.

I remember when I thought I was drinking my last bottle.


Tonight, I am.


The last of that first batch. A beer borne of Stefano Cossi's insight and Thornbridge's nous.

I try to shy away from hyperbole, but... it's been a privilege to drink a unique beer that is world-class.  

All I can do now is remember. But, hellfire, what a memory it is.