North East Beer Review

A review I decided to do on a brewery from County Durham which is an areas where I was brought up in and currently live. I love seeing new breweries pop up in the area and seeing Foxcub, this was no brainer for me personally. Born from a garage in Spennymoor, this is not too far from where I live. The beer which is the focus of this review is FoxCub Brewing Windfall which is a British Brown Ale. So during the course of this review I will cover the founding of Foxcub and Windfall, the pour, taste and aroma and finally my verdict on this beer.

A brewery born in Durham

The history of this brewery is from the FoxCub Brewing about page but I have kind of reworded it. Foxcub Brewing is nanobrewery based in Spennymoor, County Durham. This was founded in March 2025 by Jamie Fox who is the head brewer and Director. This was born from a home garage as a passion project, in which through various goals of quality, creativity and community blossomed into a local brewery. Jamie has a hands on approach to each batch he brews to show a high level of dedication, care and craftsmanship.

Foxcub Brewing has four values comprising of Sustainability, Community and Local Engagement, Creativity and Innovation and finally Quality and Consistency. Foxcub appear to utilise small batch brewing insuring that each brew has a major level of care shown to it whilst also ensuring boundaries are pushed. By sourcing local ingredients, it helps support local businesses by buying British ingredients whilst also ensuring Foxcub gives back to community in terms of minimising waste and taking care of their environmental footprint. Furthermore, Foxcub is a welcoming space for those to unite over the cause of loving a good beer and as a North East brewery, I certainly love to support breweries such as themselves.

Fox Cub Brewing Windfall is a British Brown Ale with an ABV of 4.6%. It is hopped with Olicana, Jester and Harlequin hops. Its fermentable ingredients is that of Extra Pale Malt, Crystal Malt (150), Cara Malt and Torrefied Rice. This is a beer brewed using British ingredients and giving a nod to the deep roots the brown ale style has in British brewing history.

A smooth and pleasing pour

The pour of Windfall is that of amber to ruby colour which has a slight haze to it. A bubbly off white head forms which left a small amount of lacing down the glass. In terms of carbonation, this was moderate however you could still see the streams of bubbles rising to the top of the glass. Overall, a typical and inviting Brown Ale pour.

A warm and easy drinking flavour profile.

Aroma

The aroma of Fox Cub Brewing Windfall is warm and inviting with flavours of biscuit alongside notes of caramel. As the flavour unlocks, a tropical flavour is noticeable which is that of perhaps passionfruit and pineapple. Overall, the Brown Ale gives a warm invitation to take a sip.

Taste

When it comes to the taste of Windfall, it takes on a lot of the flavour present in the aroma and more. Commencing with a flavour malt sweetness which is reminiscent of a toffee biscuit and caramel. Mid Palate, this is followed by fruity edge similarly to that of the aroma with flavour of faint passion fruit and pineapple. The finish is clean and slightly bitter which invites you for another sip. This is medium bodied and especially easy drinking. Overall, a tasty Brown Ale which does its best to flaunt its sweet malt bill.

Time for my verdict

Overall, I felt Fox Cub Brewing Windfall was a great beer for a relaxing night. It was easy drinking and session able whilst doing everything you would expect from a brown ale. As a fan of Newcastle Brown Ale, I would choose Windfall over it as it is a lot easier drinking and doesn’t leave you feeling gassy. I really enjoyed this beer and I am left wondering why I don’t drink brown and amber ales more often. Overall, I rate this a solid 4.25 out of 5. Cheers

Where did I purchase this beer from?

I purchased this beer directly from Foxcub Brewing themselves and this was £3.50 which I thought was extremely reasonable in the modern craft beer scene. I messaged beforehand for availability and Jamie was friendly and incredibly helpful even offering a sneak peak of Solaris which is the new NEIPA. Check this brewery out.

Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed this review you will love my review of Fox Cub Brewing Prankster.