Good Lord! - exciting Maltese craft beer

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Farsons’ stable of beers, although they can be a little samey – that’s why I was delighted to find out about Gozo’s craft Brewery, Lord Chambray, sited in a little industrial park in Xewkija (on Mgarr road).

An array of Lord Chambray products assembled on my terrace overlooking Rabat's catacombs

San Blas IPA 5.9%

This was the first of the Lord Chambray beers that I tasted, picking it up from the local wee supermarket opposite the apartment that I had rented in Xlendi.

It was hot – 35C and that’s a great starting point for beer-testing, although there is a temptation to chug down any liquid for relief. This can be tempered by the simple expedient of downing a pint of nice chilled water to slake the thirst before the taste test begins.

This is a crisp and satisfying IPA, with a great balance between bitter and malty, generating a lush mouth feel. There’s a hint of something ripe and blousy in this so that it offers far more than some of the more metallic “look-at-me-I’ve-got-hops” IPA’s that populate the beer world. It’s also quite grunty with a decent punch – proper IPAwas, after all, brewed with a decent slug of alcohol to stop it from decaying on the long voyage to wherever servants of the British empire wished to slake their thirst.

Fungus Rock 5.6%

This was the second of the LC stable that I tried. It’s described as a dry stout and indeed it’s not the sort of “sweetheart” stout that you find in some ex-colonial regions.

It’s surprisingly refreshing, with loads of treacly malty yumminess but little sweetness.

Golden Bay 5.5%

This was my least favourite LC beer (having said that, I’d still pick it in preference to most of the Farsons stable, apart from double red and gold label).It is quite light and refreshing but a bit flavour-light as far as I’m concerned.

Special Bitter 3.9%

Lovely, lovely, lovely – well balanced with a great depth of flavour that sits in many layers. It isn’t too “bitter” and it’s packed with charmingly rustic notes.

Blue Lagoon 5.1%

This is the brewery’s Wheat Beer and it really delivers on fresh zesty punch – really refreshing after a day exploring St Paul’s catacombs.

Winter Ale 8%

This is a huge beer – apparently enriched using local carob honey. It’s like drinking Christmas cake (NB – I really, really like a nice moist fruity chunk of Christmas cake…..).

It’s juicy and unctuous with hints of candied peel and spice