Snowdon - Craft IPA

Snowdon Craft IPA is a session-strength India Pale Ale from Snowdon Craft Beer, brewed to around 3.4% ABV and sold in 500ml bottles. Described by the brewery as juicy, hoppy and bracing, it is built as a lighter, more approachable take on the IPA style, designed for drinkability rather than the higher strength and intensity associated with many modern American-influenced IPAs.

Snowdon Craft Beer is based in North Wales and was previously known as Great Orme Brewery, a business that began in a small shed near Glan Conwy, Colwyn Bay, in the mid-2000s. Over more than a decade the brewery built a reputation for both traditional cask ales and, increasingly, its own take on more modern styles, before rebranding as Snowdon Craft Beer in 2019 and later relocating to a new site near Conwy and Llandudno Junction. The brewery continues to draw on Snowdonia water as a core part of its identity across its range.

The IPA is brewed using a blend of Best Bitter, Munich, Crystal and Wheat malts, giving it a fuller malt base than many session IPAs, before being hopped with Equinox, Chinook, Comet and Sorachi Ace hops. That combination of hop varieties points towards a mix of citrus, herbal and slightly funky, lemon-tinged character typical of Sorachi Ace, layered over the more classic pine and grapefruit notes associated with Chinook. Despite its relatively low strength, the beer is dry hopped to give it a fuller hop aroma than its ABV would suggest, keeping it firmly within the juicy, hop-forward camp rather than being a thin, watered-down IPA.

Session IPAs like this one work well with a broad range of food, since their lower strength makes them easy to drink alongside a full meal. Spiced dishes, grilled fish, chicken and vegetable dishes with a citrus or herb element all pair naturally with the hop character here, and the beer's moderate bitterness means it will not overwhelm more delicately flavoured food in the way a stronger, more heavily hopped IPA might.

Snowdon Craft IPA offers a useful entry point into hop-forward beer styles for drinkers who want IPA character without committing to a high-strength beer. Brewed by a North Wales business with roots stretching back to the original Great Orme Brewery, it reflects the more contemporary side of Snowdon Craft Beer's range, sitting alongside its traditional bitter and lager as part of a broader modern Welsh beer offering.