The success of these ales is down to the quality of ingredients. The pale ale malt which forms the backbone of all the Old Dairy's beers is made from Maris otter barley, the only barley variety specially bred for brewers of cask conditioned ale. It is quite simply the finest brewing malt in the world. A portion of speciality malts are blended with this to give depth and variety to the flavour of our beer. The Old Dairy Brewery use only whole leaf hops, with several additions made for each brew. Hops added early in the boil give bitterness to the beer which balances the sweetness of the malt, but much of the aromatic oils from these early hops will evaporate - So they add more hops towards the end of the boil, and after the boil has finished, to ensure that their beers have a good hop aroma and taste. We use a mix of Kentish, continental and new world hops to make traditional ales with a contemporary taste.