Eyebrows were raised when an email dropped into the KentOnline inbox titled ‘Canterbury is the second best craft beer city in the UK’.

But ever-diligent and ready to unearth the truth behind the headlines, reporter Rhys Griffiths headed out on a fact-finding pub crawl to put the claim to the test…

Brewing is a subtle art, precise measurements and careful calibration are key to making a great beer. But to arrive at the conclusion that Canterbury is Kent’s leading centre for craft beer, and among the best in the land, the PR firm behind this bold claim appeared to have employed a rather rough-and-ready formula.

They had taken into account the number of breweries and pubs local to each city named, and then put those figures up against the size of the local population. By this crude reckoning, Canterbury had found itself runner-up only to north-eastern powerhouse Newcastle.

Our approach would, if such a thing were possible, be even less scientific. We would hit the streets in search of places to drink, planning to speak to a few of the people at the forefront of the city’s brewing scene. A glorified excuse for a pub crawl on a summer’s afternoon, we hear you cry. How cynical! This is vital journalism. Let the investigation commence.

First stop, Floc brewery and taproom on the Wincheap Industrial Estate, just outside the city centre. The brewery was founded in Margate during lockdown, at first producing small batches of canned beer before expanding and opening in Canterbury a little more than two years ago. Known for producing hazy, hoppy pale ales and IPAs in a modern style, these guys are very much in the vanguard of the city’s beer scene.

After grabbing a pint of Whisper, the brewery’s most popular pale ale, we sat down with Eddie Hollis, who runs Floc alongside business partner Ross Shields, to talk about all things beer in Canterbury. What did he make of the suggestion that Canterbury is one of the country’s go-to destinations for craft beer?

“Historically in Kent obviously there is lots of brewing history, but it is more traditional,” he said.

“Ours is American, hazy-style beer, so there aren't that many in Canterbury. There is a scene, but it's not concentrated around Canterbury. It's spread out around the whole of Kent.

“Part of the reason the bar, particularly, is a success is because there aren't many other spaces like this. If you go out with a pram and two kids in Canterbury city centre you'll struggle to find space in pubs and you’ll probably have a more difficult reception.

“Whereas here it's a bit more like the American-style taprooms, where you come with your family, you drink a couple of pints and you take away six with you, and you have a nice time with your family. There's obviously a lot of space, and as you can see we've got highchairs and people bring their prams in and park them all over. I think that's kind of what we wanted to create.”

The set-up at Floc’s Canterbury HQ is certainly different to your more traditional British pub. The bar is located inside a large, airy industrial space where the brewing happens. The aim has been to create a space that is attractive to all ages and demographics, with a focus on producing the very best beers of the modern style.

“The modern hazy, hoppy beer that we're making and people are drinking at the moment is perhaps a bit less bitter and a bit more fruity,” Eddie explained. “Therefore it’s more interesting to lots of people who didn't like traditional beer flavours.

“I guess it's more popular with young people, and both men and women seem to drink it more. Sometimes beer was a bit ‘chewy’ back in the day, and this is soft and fruity and all those kinds of buzzwords that people use.

“I think tastes have just changed over time and we have better access to these kinds of ingredients - American hops, New Zealand hops - that bring different flavour profiles to beer, and that's why it seems to be working.

“There's still a lot of space in the market for traditional bitter, and also lagers are probably still the best-selling beer in the country, and Guinness is doing really well too.

“I think probably people are more mindful now about the amount they’re drinking, so you've just got to make sure you're making something that appeals to people when they are deciding to spend their money on beer. That's why you have to make sure that every beer that goes out the door is something you're really proud of.”

In an ever-evolving beer landscape, it can be a little tricky to pin down exactly what we mean when we talk about ‘craft beer’, a term which has become something of a catch-all for anything that is not the beers, usually in the lager style, mass-produced by the huge multinational brewing companies.

Ultimately it comes down to smaller, independent breweries producing much smaller quantities of beer, preferably created using traditional methods and ingredients. If anything, given that the label ‘craft beer’ is sometimes even applied to certain styles now created by the giant corporations, it probably comes down to an attitude as much as anything: brewers who see themselves as artisans crafting distinctive products with care and creativity.

Jon Mills, the owner and head brewer at The Foundry in Stour Street, is clear that what the craft beer world could do with less of is any sense of different tribes battling between themselves, when they all share a common cause of producing great beers that drinkers love.

Like the guys at Floc, Jon has been inspired by the experiences of taprooms and brew pubs in the United States, where the craft beer revolution began back in the second half of the last century. He is not particularly keen on debating the ins and outs of how we label certain beers or breweries, but thinks that here in Kent we should be celebrating every facet of our centuries-long brewing history as one big success story.

“It is a small city, and we all know that, but look at what it's got, you've got some great pubs,” he responded when asked about Canterbury’s status as a centre for craft beer.

“I think we in the craft world all too easily dismiss companies like Shepherd Neame, for example. Oldest brewery in the UK? Any American would consider that the most incredible thing. It's a jewel really.

“I think the Sheps pubs are enormously beneficial to the city. You do have the odd craft pub, but I don't like using ‘craft pub’ or ‘real ale pub’ because splitting things into sections is completely the opposite to what beer should be. Beer should be welcoming to everyone and that's what we've tried to develop. Everyone can take part in the experience and I think that's really important. I think we've got a lot going for us.”

The Foundry opened in 2011 and has grown to the point where visitors can enjoy a dozen or more of its beers on tap, as well as a range of award-winning spirits also produced at its brewery and distillery in the city centre.

Even if Canterbury may not quite merit the title of Kent’s craft beer capital, Jon believes that beer can be added to the county’s flourishing wine industry and its culinary scene to produce a food-and-drink experience that can draw in the tourists.

“The more quality beer that's in the city, the more opportunity for beer tourism,” he said.

“We have got wine tourism, the distillery tourism, and you've certainly got beer tourism. If you're a beer tourist and you come to this part of the world, what can you do now? You can go to Floc, you can come here for dinner, and you're going to do a Shepherd Neame tour in the afternoon, to the oldest brewery.

“Maybe we are the capital? When you think about it, where can you go and do that? Maybe we underestimate ourselves a little bit, and we need to get ourselves more organised as an industry today, because tourism is a big part of our business now. For us, from now until November, tourism will be 60-65% of our trade. We are sitting on so much potential.”

Buoyed by Jon’s optimistic take on the potential that this part of Kent has for beer tourism, we head out into the summer sunshine in search of more places to enjoy a quality pint.

The next stop is the Thomas Tallis ale house on Northgate, which promises an ever-changing selection of more than 30 beers at any one time. It is quite the menu to select from, and we pick out halves of a Kölsch and a sour beer, both of which are perfectly refreshing on a summer’s afternoon.

After finishing up here we head over to The Dolphin in St Radigunds Street, as much for the beer on offer as the spacious beer garden to the rear. The evening is approaching, and the place is heaving as the post-work crowd merges with the day-drinking students who have been enjoying a lazy day in the sunshine.

It makes for a fine scene, the best of what a great pub should be all about. A convivial atmosphere and a very fine pint, Timothy Taylor's Landlord on this occasion.

So what have we learned? Surveys in press releases should be taken with a pinch of salt, for sure. That Canterbury has more than its fair share of excellent watering holes? Absolutely.

The truth is there are probably many other places in the UK that deserve to be more lauded for their craft beer scene than Canterbury, but we’re lucky to have places such as Floc and The Foundry where passionate people are producing such excellent beer, and that is certainly something worth raising a glass (of locally brewed beer) to. Cheers!