CAMRA pioneered the concept of supporting local breweries with a scheme known as Locale. This encouraged pubs to sell their beers and real ale drinkers to buy it. Two of the advantages were that it supported local jobs and left a much smaller carbon footprint due to the short journeys involved with local deliveries. Our branch has supported this scheme and a number of pubs regularly sell at least one locally-brewed beer. The branch considers any brewery within 30 miles of the Mansion House, as the crow flies, to be a local brewery. Below are the breweries within our branch area.The branch asks that you will give their beers consideration when you are out and about in our local pubs

Doncaster Brewery

Established in 2012 this brewery is currently based at the back of a former shop on Young Street in the centre of town, This brewery produces a wide range of beers which often have a name associated with the history of Doncaster in some form or another. They have a tap room associated with the brewery and their beers feature in some of our regional pubs. Examples of their beers include Sand House, Cheswold, Town Fields, 1194 Charter and Mucky Bucket

Don Valley Brewery

This brewery was established in 2016 and changed ownership in 2018. Formerly based in Mexborough, the brewery can now be found in Sandtoft and has recently opened a tap room there. The move allowed them to double their capacity. The owners also own several pubs, most of which are situated in our branch area and includes the Don Valley Tap in the marketplace, The Plough Inn at Snaith and The Coach and Horses at Barnburgh. Examples of their beers include Gongoozler, Atomic Blonde, Go Your Own Way and Bit o’ That.

Gorilla Brewery

Co-founders, Jason and Phil, launched the brewery in 2020 in the buildings formerly used by Don Valley Brewery in Mexborough. The brewery is situated on the banks of the River Don and they have now developed their own beer hall there. The brewery is capable of 2-3 brews per week and each brew will produce up to 25 casks of ale. Examples of their beers include Vanilla Gorilla, Kong, Silverback Blonde and Monkey Magic.

Hilltop Brewery

This is another example of a brewery associated with a pub. It was established in outbuildings behind the Hilltop pub in Conisbrough in 2016. They are always available in the pub and have a good reputation among local drinkers. Examples of their beers include Hilltop Porter, Hilltop IPA, Hilltop Raspberry Blonde.

Imperial Brewery

The Dearne Valley is blessed with a number of breweries and the third one in our branch area is the Imperial Brewery in Mexborough which is, yet again, associated with a pub, the Imperial Club. It began in 2010 with the brewing system located in the basement of the club. Examples of their beers include Imperial Bee’s Knees, Imperial Bitter, Imperial Irish Stout and Imperial Blonde.

Old Mill Brewery

This is the biggest of our local breweries. It was opened in 1983 in a 200-year-old former Pubs & Breweries Local Breweries 10 Donny Drinker Spring 2023 malt kiln and corn mill. The brewery has a tied estate of 16 pubs and their beers are sold nationwide. They are based in Snaith and their beers can be found there in the Brewer’s Arms. They can also be found in the Punchbowl Inn in Thorne and the Bay Horse at Great Heck. Examples of their beers include Traditional Bitter, Blonde bombshell and La Bolsa Coffee Porter.

Stocks Brewery

This one is a bit of an anomaly in that the beer is actually brewed at Welbeck Abbey Brewery in Nottinghamshire. The history of Stocks’ Brewery is that it was originally brewed in the 70’s in the Hallcross pub in, what was then, the town centre. It closed many years ago and a pub with the same name was resurrected in the same building a few years ago. The owner discovered the original recipes for the beers and commissioned Welbeck Abbey Brewery to brew them for sale at the pub. So, as far as we are concerned Stocks’ beers are Doncaster beers. Stocks beers are Old Horizontal, St. Leger Gold and Select.

Pig Barn Brewery

One of the UK’s smallest breweries, Pig Barn is situated in a converted piggery at East Lound in the Isle of Axholme. It was launched by owner Chris Layton in 2020, just before the first lockdown. For some time, because of circumstances, Chris limited his activities to producing bottle-conditioned ales. Pig Barn is now producing cask ales too and his beers can be found in various locations in and around the Isle, most notably at the King’s Arms in Haxey. One of his ales, Haxey IPA, recently won the Beer of the Festival award at the Gainsborough Beer Festival. Among the beers brewed at Pig Barn are Fool’s Gold, Haxey IPA and Ken’s Bitter.

Some of the Local Classic Beers

Old Mill Brewery
Traditional Bitter 3.9%	Bitter	A full malty bitter balanced with a crisp hop aroma, a clean dry finish and delicate fruit notes.
Blonde Bombshell 4.0%	Blonde	A pale barley malt, wheat and bohemian hops make this a delicate and refreshing fruity beer with a sweet finish.
La Bolsa 4.5%		5 different malts blended with La Bolsa coffee beans to produce a rich, dark chocolate porter with a smooth coffee after taste.
Gorilla Brewery
Ape-X 4.5%		Full of mouthwatering flavours of pineapple, mango, passionfruit and guava. Yorkshire champion IPA at Rotherham Real Ale Festival. Made in conjunction with current TT champion who they sponsor. Named after Apex bend on race course in keeping with primate theme.
Kong 6%		IPA brewed using British malts and American hops to give a crisp, hop-forward IPA with powerful citrus aroma and flavour. Bronze award IPA at Rotherham Real Ale Festival.
Vanilla Gorilla 5%		A rich porter with chocolate and vanilla flavours. A complex malt flavour from dark crystal, chocolate and roast malts, combined with natural cacoa and vanilla extract.
Don Valley Brewery
Atomic Blonde 4.2%		Pilsner and Munich malts give this beer a deep body and a light blonde colour. The Goldings hops lend a British bitterness while finished with Cascade to deliver a floral and citrusy aroma.
Brown Sugar 6%		A classic porter brewed with 4 malts including chocolate and freshly ground coffee. Offering a sweet and creamy taste.
Teroborona		A light, floral, citrusy beer. Hopped with Centennial and dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin. 20p of each pint supports crisis in Ukraine.
Doncaster Brewery
Sand House Blonde 3.8%		A golden straw coloured beer made with Lager and Wheat malts using Cascade and Summit hops. A citrusy aroma with a refreshing tangy bitter flavour. Their best seller. The Sand House was a prominent feature in Doncaster from the 1850s intil the Second World War. It was a mansion-sized dwelling carved from solid sandstone by Victorian businessman Henry Senior.
Cheswold 4.2%		A Deep copper in colour made using Maris Otter malt among others and a single hop variety of East Kent Gouldings. A fruity/spicy aroma with a lingering spicy bitter finish. Cheswold Motor cars were made in Doncaster between 1910 and 1914 by EW Jackson and Son Ltd. The River Cheswold was part of the original River Don.
Rebellious Monk 4.5%		A beautifully malty, creamy, easy drinking session stout, made using 7 different malts including spelt and oat malt, then lightly hopped with only Northern Brewer and fermented using a Belgian yearst strain. Doncaster was home to both Franciscan and Carmelite Friars until they were dissolved in 1536 after being involved in an attempt to overthrow Henry VIII, who had recently taken control of the Church of England.
Stocks Brewery		The original Stocks Brewery was opened in the 1980’s at the Hallcross pub but closed many years ago. The current owners of The Hallcross decided to bring their beers back to life. The beer is now brewed at Welbeck Abbey Brewery using the original recepies and so as far as we are concerned these are still local classic real ales.
Select 4.3%		A full malty bitter.
St. Leger Gold 4.4%		At his is a new brew that has been available for around 4 years. It has a very strong dedicated following and is obviously named after a certain famous race at Doncaster.
Old Horizontal		This is the one everyone old enough remembers from the original days of the Stocks Brewery. It became The Hallcross’s most famous brew and became synonymous with the pub and Doncaster. The Hallcross is the only place in the World where it is permanently available.