Corby Craft Scene 2024

Corby’s world-class craft beer scene moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and drink around the town and village once in a while, you might miss it. Now I'm well aware that not everyone can get to the cultural hub of North Londonshire quite as easily as I can, so I generously took a day off from the daily grind of Flog It and Tipping Point repeats to embark on a fact finding tour of the town on your behalf. In the rain, lots and lots of rain. You're welcome!

Corby is of course extremely well connected (to the south) by a plush high-ish speed rail service powered by the latest smokeless eco-magic from the sky! Trains arrive almost hourly and uncannily on time from St Pancras in London, aka 'Corby South'. It's hoped that all the country’s rural backwaters and northern sink estates, such as Sheffield, York, and Manchester, will be connected to the bright lights and Scotch Pies of Corby eventually, until then our northern brethren can but dream of the riches that await them in the town and village. Hadden Butchers (left) and the mighty Cardigan Arms of particular note, and both barely a Tattie Scone throw away from the rail station, weather permitting.

The Cardi' is one of Corby's most recent converts to beers brewed under railway arches by extravagantly bearded AI Brewbots. Don't panic though, the classic Doom Bar Amber Ale, the UK's original craft beer, is still available on antique handpull. Choice is the byword at the Cardigan now, with one of the UK's most respected craft brewers, Heineken, sneaking onto the T-Bar with a beer from their tiny Brixton Brewery, in Brixton. I’m reliably informed that Brixton Reliance Pale Ale is the pale hoppy 'Awesomebeer’ that other brewers are busy trying to emulate. Well good luck with that I say. It comes in an attractive branded glass too. If you need to know the price (£5.35/pt) you probably can't afford it!

Over the railway bridge to the not particularly nearby Raven Hotel. Probably Corby’s longest standing high-end craft beer outlet, bravely swimmng against the tide of Carling & Smoothflow John Smiths with a challenging murky-ish beer, and this at a time when Corby's drinkers insisted they could see through their beer. Nothing but nothing is allowed to obscure the view of televised Football in Corby pubs, least of all a beer they already viewed with some suspicion. Needless to say Beavertown of (err!) Beavertown? have now buckled under drinker pressure and removed almost all of the murk from their tasty Neck Oil, in fact you’ll have to ask the staff to go down the cellar and kick the keg if you want your craft served ‘traditional’ now. The Neck Oil is now so popular in the Raven that they've commissioned bespoke windows to match the limited edition 'Rothwell Crypt' pint glasses. When I popped in the pub was hosting a monthly Art Society Rutland meeting, well I don't know much about art, but just look at that photo...

It’s a lengthy walk into town from the Raven, in my case in steadily persistent rain, so you'll have worked up quite a thirst by the time you climb the lengthy stairs to Posh Paddys upstairs saloon bar. I can guarantee that you'll be heartily welcomed though, the staff are nothing if not welcoming, though thankfully they’re also fully accredited servers of the SALT Brewery Huckaback NEIPA, always in the correct glass, always a full pint, and always with a cheery smile as they try and fail yet again to get a shamrock to stay on the top.

Now let’s get this done with and out of the way. Every Corby craft drinker I know (yes, both of them), who’ve expressed a preference, would rather Posh Paddys had kept the highly neckable Jute Session IPA rather than the slightly stronger, somewhat sweeter Huck’, but what's done is done, we sup it up, and move on. Presumably the Poshsters know their business better than we do, and frankly beggars like myself cannae be choosers. So Posh Paddys remains my current top drinking choice in the town by a frothy head, but recently I discovered that there is another, and it had finally stopped raining by now, so...

Paletto Lounge is another outlet for the Brixton Reliance Pale Ale. Now I doubt there's another town in the country lucky enough to have two outlets for the rare Brixton brew, so something of a coup for Corby I'd say. If this were all that was on offer we'd still have to conclude that Corby is punching well above it's craft weight now, but what's that I spy in the fridge next to the Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout!

What would you say if I told you Paletto Lounge had a Waitrose listed beer on the menu! Mind literally blown is my guess. Wiper & True Kaleidoscope Pale Ale is the late goal in injury time that pushes Paletto Lounge to pole position on the Corby craft beer batting averages, and confirms Corby's status as a top seeded beer town, albeit toward the bottom of the league table.

Relegation from the craft beer top tier is of course a constant threat, the Kaleidoscope in particular hangs by a thread given that whenever I've asked for it the staff have responded with "Kaleido-what?" or "Is it nice? Nobody drinks it!". So there you have it, whilst we've clearly never had it so good in Corby, there's certainly no room for complacency. Nobody wants a return to a '3 Day Week' of beer choice in the town, so in the modern parlance, please 'Drink it or Loose (sic) it'...

I Wouldnae But You Might:

The Ev’s - A fine Corby pub but Heritage Keg is the only draught choice, though I noticed bottles of Brewdog Punk IPA in the fridge on a recent visit.

Wetherspoon - Bottles of Hazy Jane if you fancy.

Spread Eagle/Oakley Hay Beefeater - These pubs falls outside the scope of this Town and Village roundup, but I’ve reason to believe Beavertown/Brewdog may be available.