KVB Monthly Beer Box
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This Month: The Dark Arrives
Three breweries. Six dark beers. November is when Kent gets serious.
Three breweries. Six dark beers. November is when Kent gets serious.
The pale ales are gone. The harvest is a memory. November is the month you stop looking for the last of the summer and start leaning into what the season actually is — cold evenings, long nights, and beer that earns its place in the glass.
This box is built for exactly that. Six dark beers from three Kent breweries, ranging from a 3.6% Kentish session bitter to a double stout brewed to a 1938 recipe. In between: a popcorn mild that shouldn’t work as well as it does, a German-style schwarzbier from a farm in the Kent Downs, and a limited-release special bitter named for the year that nearly ended brewing in Westerham forever. Dark, warming, and completely Kent.
What’s In November’s Box
Traditional — Tonbridge Brewery, East Peckham | Session Bitter, 3.6%
Start here. Tonbridge have been brewing in the historic heart of Kent’s hop-growing country since 2010, using a live yeast strain deposited in the national yeast bank in 1958 by the Barclay Perkins Brewery of Southwark. Traditional is their session bitter - light brown, mild toffee on the malt, fruity and floral from First Gold, Golding and Challenger hops grown in Kent. The kind of beer that tastes better as the evenings get darker. Gluten free, vegan, and brewed the same way every time. This is what session bitters were always supposed to taste like.
Start here. Tonbridge have been brewing in the historic heart of Kent’s hop-growing country since 2010, using a live yeast strain deposited in the national yeast bank in 1958 by the Barclay Perkins Brewery of Southwark. Traditional is their session bitter - light brown, mild toffee on the malt, fruity and floral from First Gold, Golding and Challenger hops grown in Kent. The kind of beer that tastes better as the evenings get darker. Gluten free, vegan, and brewed the same way every time. This is what session bitters were always supposed to taste like.
Pop Secret — Moot Brew Co, Rochester | Popcorn Mild, 4%
The talking point of the box. Pop Secret is a dark mild brewed with actual popcorn in the mash, and somehow, it works beautifully. Smooth, gently sweet, with a subtle caramel and toasted grain character that runs all the way through it. At 4% it’s easy drinking, but there’s a real complexity here that most milds don’t have. Moot brew on Court Farm in the Kent Downs, a regenerative arable farm, and they describe themselves as going from heritage styles to modern hazy pales. Pop Secret is proof they mean it. You won’t have had anything quite like this in any of the previous boxes.
The talking point of the box. Pop Secret is a dark mild brewed with actual popcorn in the mash, and somehow, it works beautifully. Smooth, gently sweet, with a subtle caramel and toasted grain character that runs all the way through it. At 4% it’s easy drinking, but there’s a real complexity here that most milds don’t have. Moot brew on Court Farm in the Kent Downs, a regenerative arable farm, and they describe themselves as going from heritage styles to modern hazy pales. Pop Secret is proof they mean it. You won’t have had anything quite like this in any of the previous boxes.
Umbra — Moot Brew Co, Rochester | Schwarzbier, 4.4%
A German-style dark lager from a Kent farm. Schwarzbier — literally “black beer” — is one of the most underrated dark styles: roasty like a stout on the surface, but clean and crisp underneath from the lager fermentation. Umbra brings roasted malt character, a subtle coffee note, and a finish that’s far drier and crisper than anything else in the box. The contrast beer. Drink it cold, alongside something savoury, and appreciate what Moot are doing bringing a style like this to the Kent Downs.
A German-style dark lager from a Kent farm. Schwarzbier — literally “black beer” — is one of the most underrated dark styles: roasty like a stout on the surface, but clean and crisp underneath from the lager fermentation. Umbra brings roasted malt character, a subtle coffee note, and a finish that’s far drier and crisper than anything else in the box. The contrast beer. Drink it cold, alongside something savoury, and appreciate what Moot are doing bringing a style like this to the Kent Downs.
1965 Special Bitter Ale — Westerham Brewery, Westerham | Special Bitter, 4.8%
In 1965, the Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham closed its doors — a victim of the sweeping consolidation that tore through British brewing in the postwar decades. Westerham Brewery was founded in 2004 specifically to revive what was lost. The 1965 Special Bitter Ale is named for that year and brewed in its memory: a rich, full-bodied special bitter carrying the flavours the Black Eagle made famous. Malty, warming, and quietly complex — this is the beer that shifts the box into its final gear. Limited stock remains. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
In 1965, the Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham closed its doors — a victim of the sweeping consolidation that tore through British brewing in the postwar decades. Westerham Brewery was founded in 2004 specifically to revive what was lost. The 1965 Special Bitter Ale is named for that year and brewed in its memory: a rich, full-bodied special bitter carrying the flavours the Black Eagle made famous. Malty, warming, and quietly complex — this is the beer that shifts the box into its final gear. Limited stock remains. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
Velvet Raven — Tonbridge Brewery, East Peckham | Stout, 5.2%
Here it is. Rich toffee, liquorice, chocolate and coffee — Tonbridge’s flagship stout brewed with Northdown, Fuggle and Bullion hops and a malt bill that takes no shortcuts. Pour it into a glass, let it settle for a minute, and drink it at room temperature. It deserves the attention.
Here it is. Rich toffee, liquorice, chocolate and coffee — Tonbridge’s flagship stout brewed with Northdown, Fuggle and Bullion hops and a malt bill that takes no shortcuts. Pour it into a glass, let it settle for a minute, and drink it at room temperature. It deserves the attention.
Double Stout — Westerham Brewery, Westerham | Double Stout, 5.1%
Save this one for last. In the 1920s and 30s the Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham brewed a Double Stout to a recipe they’d been refining for decades. The brewery closed in 1965. Westerham revived it to exactly the same strength as the 1938 original — pale malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, late-hopped with Kent Goldings, fermented with their heritage yeast recovered from the 1965 closure. Nutty coffee on the nose, warming and dark through the middle, a rich bittersweet finish. A 90-year-old recipe that still holds. Gluten free, vegan.
Save this one for last. In the 1920s and 30s the Black Eagle Brewery in Westerham brewed a Double Stout to a recipe they’d been refining for decades. The brewery closed in 1965. Westerham revived it to exactly the same strength as the 1938 original — pale malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, late-hopped with Kent Goldings, fermented with their heritage yeast recovered from the 1965 closure. Nutty coffee on the nose, warming and dark through the middle, a rich bittersweet finish. A 90-year-old recipe that still holds. Gluten free, vegan.
The Breweries This Month
Moot Brew Co, Rochester — a microbrewery set in the heart of Court Farm, a regenerative arable farm in the Kent Downs. Small batch, hop-forward, and quietly experimental — two beers in this box is a statement of how strong their dark range is right now.
Tonbridge Brewery, East Peckham — brewing since 2010 in the historic heart of Kent’s hop-growing country, using a yeast strain that dates to the Barclay Perkins Brewery of Southwark in 1958. Every beer gluten free, every beer vegan.
Westerham Brewery, Westerham — established in 2004 to revive the recipes of the Black Eagle Brewery closed in 1965. 100% Kent hops, Maris Otter malt, Greensand aquifer water, heritage yeast. The 1965 Special Bitter Ale and Double Stout are two of the most storied beers in the county.
Drinking Order
Ease in. Let November arrive properly.
- Traditional — Tonbridge, 3.6%
- Pop Secret — Moot, 4%
- Umbra — Moot, 4.4%
- 1965 Special Bitter Ale — Westerham, 4.8%
- Velvet Raven — Tonbridge, 5.2%
- Double Stout — Westerham, 5.1%
Suggested Pairing
A mature cheddar or Stilton alongside dark chocolate and roasted nuts. The toffee and floral notes of the Traditional work beautifully against hard cheese. The Double Stout alongside a square of 70% dark chocolate is one of the better food and beer combinations you’ll find anywhere in the county.
What's in the box this week
What's in the box this week
Box contents will appear here soon.
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