Desert Island Beers #10: Ian Bradford

Ian Bradford’s brewery is a tale of two Staffordshire towns: Newcastle under Lyme, most famous for its hatting trade, and Stone, where they’ve been brewing beer for 1,000 years. Ian spent a small percentage of that time cutting his nose at Titanic in Stoke, where he brewed for 12 years before setting up the family-run Lymestone Brewery.

Lymestone’s beers range from the 2.8% Stoney Broke to the 6.6% Stone Dead. In addition Ian has used the honey produced by a colony of bees on the brewery roof to brew Stone Brood, a 4.4% chocolate honey beer (which should hopefully be available in bottles around about now!)

Ian Bradford (Brad) and his Lymestone bees

The Beers

Hello Ian! So, which 5 beers would you want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island, and why?

1. Marble Ginger (Manchester – 4.5%)
   “I drank this in the Marble Arch before going to the National Winter Ales Festival. Best drink I had all day.”
2. White Horse Village Idiot (Oxfordshire – 4.1%)
   “Andy Wilson’s beers are top notch and this one flies out through the door. A tremendous beer.”
3. Bank Top Pavilion Ale (Bolton, Lancashire – 4.5%)
   “Dave Sweeney still hasn’t got over Stoke hammerin’ Bolton in this year’s FA Cup semi final. I’d love to think of him suffering whilst I’m sipping this cracking pint on my island.”
4. Crouch Vale Brewer’s Gold (Essex – 4.0%)
   “A modern classic amongst beers. Great every time.”
5. Kinver Light Railway (Stourbridge, West Midlands, 3.8%)
   “Kinver are one of my favourite breweries and this is a superb beer.”

And which beer (of those selected) do you regard most highly?

“It’s a tough call but Pavilion by Bank Top gets my vote. At this level, all the beers are top stuff and you’d be delighted with a glass of any of the above.”

Crouch End Brewer's Gold

The Meal

You can also take one meal to go with your beers, what would it be and why? Is it a ‘last supper’ or a perfect pairing for one of the beers?

“New potatoes, frozen peas, barbequed buffalo burgers and free range eggs with pineapple rings.
Mixed summer fruits with cream
Cheese and crackers.
My hoppy beer selection will cut through and compliment the meat perfectly.”

The Books

You might be waiting a long time on your lonesome on the desert island, so we will automatically allow you a few books to keep your mind busy. You can pick between two beer books and two tomes: ‘The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food’ by Garrett Oliver, or ‘Beer’ by Michael Jackson; plus The Bible, or another appropriate religious or philosophical work

“Beer books? Whichever is thickest and most suitable for fire lighting… Tome: Bonewits’s Essential Guide to Druidism by Isaac Bonewits and Philip Carr-Gomm.”

And a non-beery, non-philosophical book, something a little less taxing on the brain, what would that be?

Essential Bushcraft by Ray Mears. [Sensible choice!]

Stoke City mad Brad! (We think this pic might be for Dave Sweeney's benefit!)

The record

You have a CD/mp3/long player but you can only take one album. Choose wisely!

“Souljacker by Eels. Stunning album. Crank up the volume with some of the biggest, loudest most raucous music ever recorded. Contains the track Dog faced boy… Ma won’t shave me, Jesus can’t save me, dog faced boy…. Air guitar!”

The Luxury Item

And finally, what luxury item would help make your stay on the island bearable?

“A large brightly coloured golf umbrella.”

A full house of English real ale and man food for Ian, who’ll be playing air guitar under a brightly coloured umbrella and burning beery bibles on the Desert Island. That Ray Mears guide might come in handy…
Have you tried Ian’s favourite beers? Let us know! And if you’d like to be involved in our Desert Island Beers feature please contact us via twitter or email mark(at)real-ale-reviews.com