The world of beer and pubs has made me many great friends, but none have had quite the same impact upon me as Pete Elvin.
Pete (right) was a multi-award-winning brewer. Here he is accepting one of many CAMRA awards from then Cornwall branch deputy chairman Dugg Polman in 2017
Pete, owner of the Star Inn, Crowlas, with his partner, Tracey, and founder of the Penzance Brewing Co, situated at the rear of the pub, died on Christmas Eve, aged 65, after a battle with cancer. He continued to work until very recently, passing on his incredible brewing skills to nephew Rob Wilson, who has now taken the helm at the brewery.
It was 22 years ago that I first set foot in the Star. The wife dropped me off while she visited mother-in-law, who lived in the village, as I’d heard the pub was serving James Vincent’s Ventonwyn beers (the framed pumpclip artwork still adorns the Star’s walls). It soon became my local — not geographically, as I lived five miles away in Hayle, but there was a good bus route, the stop being right opposite the pub.
In those days, Pete wasn’t brewing. He’d moved to the Star after a period brewing with Cotleigh, and his ‘hall of fame’ Cotleigh pumpclips were hung at the end of the bar, where they remain. A mixed career had involved a spell in the Merchant Navy, and time as a firefighter. But he’d always been a brewer, on a home kit at first, then stepping into a career after getting a job at Cotleigh, at first as a delivery driver and barrel washer, but within three months he was brewing. There’s a great interview with Pete conducted by bloggers Boak and Bailey in 2015. This tells you much about Pete’s character and how he eventually ended up in Crowlas.
Until 2008, Pete concentrated on bringing the Star up to date, undertaking most of the painstaking work himself, including the laying of a magnificent slate floor. Long-term friend Steve Bidwell was on the bar most of the time, but once a week, at least, Pete took a turn behind the handpumps. His dry wit wasn’t always appreciated, well, not fully understood, let’s say, indeed it’s fair to say, as a customer noted this weekend, that he didn’t suffer fools gladly. He’d be the first to admit that he was actually quite shy, though, but once you got to know him you got a very valued friend who would do anything to help you.
He offered five regularly changing guest beers, with popular favourites including Harviestoun’s Bitter and Twisted, Oakham Ales’ JHB, Magic and Golden Lance from the then Andy White-owned Keltek Brewery, down in Lostwithiel.
An impressive brewing legacy
The Star quickly found fame as, in the words of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, “a Mecca for real ale lovers”. Then came the glorious day when brewing commenced in the outbuildings and Pete was able to show off his skills to a whole new audience. It will be his ninth creation, aptly named Potion No 9, for which he’ll probably be best remembered, but there’s a whole string of hit brews that folks will travel miles — sometimes literally hundreds of miles — for.
My personal favourite has always been IPA, a benchmark English style IPA, in the vein of Marston’s Old Empire, while others prefer Citra-hopped, golden Trink. There is a consistently strong fan base for the Mild, a 3.6% easy drinker packed with malt and fruit flavours. But others, so many others, just consistently hit the spot. American Pale Ale, Lamorna Gold, Crows-an-Wra, West Coast Pale, the enigmatically-named WOB. It’s an impressive legacy, now being carried on by Rob. It was a seamless changeover. Rob has his uncle’s passion and skill, and we are assured for all the favourite brews well into the future.
While he was undergoing cancer treatment, Pete would often text and suggest a coffee, picking me up in his Land Rover (he loved a Land Rover, well the older ones, anyway. “What do you think of those new Defenders?” I asked him a year or so ago. “Pile of shit,” he replied.) There was nothing important to discuss, generally. He just liked a good natter and always, always had a hot drink on the go. As he says in the Boak and Bailey interview, he was never one for drinking for the sake of it. He preferred a cuppa. If we did go out for the day to a beer festival, he’d be treated like a celeb, either by fans of his beers or by his fellow brewers, who held him in enormous regard. The late Roger Ryman, St Austell Brewery’s head brewer from 1999 to 2020, would make a point of stopping off in the Star if he was in west Cornwall, hoping to catch a chat with Pete.
Facebook tributes this weekend tell you what a huge gap this man will leave in the lives of all who know him. If we were creating a wordcloud, ‘brewing legend’ would probably be at the centre of the image. By the time I met Pete, in 2000, I had an interest in beer, specifically real ale. It would be four years before I created Beer Today, and he played a major part in educating me about beer and brewing, and introducing me to some great characters along the way. In 2017, I told him to let me know if he needed a hand on the bar any time. I’ve been there more than five years now. It’s a magnificent pub. The pub that Pete built, serving the most incredible beer. I’ll be on the bar from 5pm today, and I know we’ll be reminiscing about the great man and raising a glass or two to him. Rest in peace, my friend.
