Panther Brewery owner and head brewer Martin James said: “Our brewery uses a combination of modern and traditional ideas. For our traditional core range of ales we use water, malted barley, hops and yeast to give the bitter, malty flavours of ales.
 
“By using ‘unusual’ ingredients, such as blackcurrant, chilli, ginger, coriander, lemongrass, wood and honey, our modern ideas might be called ‘strange concoctions’, although we call these ales ‘specialities’.
 
“This fusion of flavours has attracted a new generation of beer drinkers. We especially appeal to those who like sophisticated flavoured real ales and craft beers.
 
“And this concept marries perfectly with the artisan food movement, where fresh, local produce is used to get the ‘best flavour’. This leads to pairing beer with foods; for example, dark beer works well with chocolate-based foods, such as cakes and puddings, but equally in savoury dishes, such as chilli con carne and steak and ale pie.
 
“In future, we will investigate more interesting ingredients and invite collaborations with local food businesses and event organisers.
 
The Reepham-based brewery currently produces eight core beers, specialising in real ales with the beer being conditioned in the bottles, casks and polypins (boxes) for a fuller flavour.
 
The company has developed the Beast of the East (5.5% ABV), an amber IPA that was available along with Golden Panther and Black Panther at the Norwich Beer Festival, during which Honey Panther received the Gold Award for CAMRA’s Speciality Beer of Norfolk 2014.
 
Panther Brewery is currently looking to recruit an assistant brewer (30+ hours per week), who will be involved in all aspects of the brewery. For further information, please email martin@pantherbrewery.co.uk
 
See our earlier news story:

• Honey Panther ale voted runner-up at National Honey Show