Raising the Bar - SWB Beer Blog

A Year In the Life of Beer.

2011-12-31T18:21:00.000Z

2011 has been a whirlwind of a year in the British beer scene, a raft of new bars, many styled as 'World Craft Beer Houses' showcasing the best of beer the world has to offer, continental styles, US kegged beers & the best of British in both cask & keg, alongside hundreds of bottled beers from all over the world, these new wave bars are proving to be meccas for beer connoisseurs nationwide.

Fizzing beside these new bars has been a staggering new array of creative brewing from BRITISH brewers, new styles created, old ones re-styled & classics remade.

When I look back at SWB's 2011 it has truly has been a blur in places the rate of progression with the beers, brand & our new bottling & kegging facets of our operations which have become considerable parts of our business in no time at all.

Bottle, Cask, Keg & Aged Beers, 2011 the year dispense diversity took off.

Highlights from our year include, launching Diablo IPA at NWAF Manchester unbelievably just 12 short months ago (hard to believe it's only been around a year, feels like forever the amount we've brewed of it!).

Various meet the brewers, Port Street Beer House & The Free Trade Inn's first MTB's amongst others were highlights.

Brewing the Nerotype series of Black IPA's the 7C's beers, The Benz, Rouge Hop, Kahuna, Cohort, KopiKat & the Saisons. Establishing beers such as Diablo, Barista & Teleporter to become popular nationwide favourites.

Who could forget International IPA Day back in August? A coming together of Brewers, Bars & Beer lovers to celebrate the world's most iconic beer style.

The launch of our bottled beers & online store just 3 short months ago...

And an acceleration of brewing & ideas towards the end of the year saw us finish with a record quarter.

All in all an amazing year, all of which would not have been possible if it wasn't for all the amazing people in & around this industry.

Brewers, licensees, bloggers & drinkers alike,

I salute you all,

You are the BEST kind of people,

You are BEER people. :)

Happy New Year to you & yours, here's to an exciting, prosperous & opportunity filled 2012 with many beery treats from us in store...

Barrel Bounty

2011-11-27T15:54:00.000Z

So this past week we laid down our Imperial Vanilla Coffee Stout 'KopiKat' into whisky barrels for ageing until spring & it's got me thinking about barrel ageing in general & the huge difference individual barrels can make to beer in them, whisky, bourbon, sherry, wine etc...

It's something we really would like to get into to ensure we've always got something very special to release throughout the coming years.

So I've started to look for inspiration & ideas & it seems that US brewers are leading the way in experimentation in this field, none more so than the Avery Brewing Company who have released this video where Andy Parker, Chief "Barrel-Herder", talks about his passion & hard earned expertise in this field.

Our barrel aged research has just begun, but see the stack of barrels behind Andy? That kind of space is already on this head brewers plan for the new place...

KopiKat's home for 6 months & the start of our barrel aged odyssey.

High Strength Beer Duty - Why the Government have go it so wrong.

2011-10-16T13:40:00.013+01:00

If you're reading this blog you most likely are aware of the introduction of HSBD (High Strength Beer Duty) this month, whereby all beer above 7.5% in alcohol will be levied with an extra 25% duty.

I've read lots of justified reaction on this poorly researched & knee jerk piece of beerophobic legislation, I would just like to add a collection of reasoning as why I think they have got it so wrong...

1) ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IS FALLING.

This is an excerpt from a BBC article back in February this year:-

"There is a received wisdom that we must be drinking more," says Neil Williams of the British Beer and Pubs Association (BBPA).

Its own figures, which are based on sales and not self-reporting, suggest alcohol sales peaked in 2004 and have fallen by 13% since then.

"In reality, we see a fairly deep-rooted decline in alcohol consumption which dates back to 2004. That's not something you see acknowledged in the media."

"It's frustrating that the true story is not getting out there", says David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, an association of drinks producers in the UK.

"With newspapers, the headline is always the same: 'Shock rise in binge drinking'. But you look at the figures, and you see alcohol sales are DECLINING".

"It's a myth that we need to make alcohol more expensive [to stop people drinking]. These trends are being reversed on their own."

Historically, sales of booze rose and fell with the economy. Recessions in the early 80s and 90s were coupled with a slump in drinking. And the current downturn is having a similar effect. From 2008-2009, alcohol consumption in the UK fell by 6%.

Despite perceptions people are drinking LESS.

But that decline started long before the credit crunch kicked in - 2004 according to the BBPA and 2002 by the ONS figures. So what happened?

THE HEALTH MESSAGE GOT THROUGH, THAT'S WHAT.

Alcohol concern state that despite falling alcohol consumption, alcohol related hospital admissions remain high, well if this is indeed the case and it is proven that the majority of the British public are drinking LESS despite the cost of alcohol reaching record levels. Surely the issue NOW boils down to the education of a minority who's behaviour is clearly & completely unaffected by price.

If what alcohol concern claim is true, then minority of problem drinkers remain unaffected by price.

More complex idea's like education & rehabilitation programmes are required in this area, the blunt instrument of tax is now longer working & is now only serving to punish those who do drink beer in moderation.

2) BEER IS NOT THE PROBLEM DRINK.

Beer is largely a low alcohol beverage & is largely consumed responsibly in a social setting, beer is not the problem in the UK, but the solution. Drinking moderate amounts beer has health benefits which are not widely reported, not mention the community setting of the pub where social drinking lends itself to this governments 'Big Society' ideals, government RHETORIC promotes it yet government POLICY (The Beer Duty Escalator) perturbs it! Go figure!

Community centres like the Great British Public House are allowed to suffer through increasing beer duty at 2% ABOVE inflation year on year whilst the government allows the social fabric of the UK to be undermined with cheap alcohol from the supermarkets, but if you can find anyone in Westminster with the appetite to go anywhere near this issue then Lucifer better stick the heating on.

The new HSBD beer tax SOLELY singles out BEER, our national beverage of which we have a proud world leading history & which is currently undergoing renaissance in the cask ale & craft beer market as the root cause of alcohol related problems. Take time to look & you will find we are a responsible industry who are trying to create jobs in an economic environment that desperately needs them.

So the government solution to aid our tax heavy industry?

Create a piece of legislation that hits our creative, close knit, community supportive, job creating industry for six! Just to target a tiny section in the supermarket, single facings of four pack super strength beers.

Granted this poorly targeted warhead will increase the price of super strength four packs, but more worryingly it will attack the emerging creative British Brewing scene that is bringing a wealth of new beers to market that also sit in the blast zone, Imperial Stouts, Barrel Aged Beers, Old Ales, Double IPA's & more.

Not to mention the importers bringing these type of beers into the UK from the EU & North America who now face monolithic challenges to their businesses, the retailers selling these beers will no doubt see sales suffer & you the responsible law abiding beer connoisseur have to pick up the tab for poorly thought out legislation.

Talk about using a bolster chisel for a lobotomy.

Poorly researched, poorly advised, hastily implemented piece of clunking, impotent, knee jerk, health-body pacifying rubbish.

There is no denial that these products will now become prohibitively expensive for some 'problem' drinkers but if the government believe that the people will simply take one look at the shelf edge label price & turn around & leave the store & stop drinking they are COMPLETELY DELUDED.

Instead they will move down the isle to cheap ciders & wines.

WHY? They are cheaper!

Why are they cheaper?

See next paragraph....

3) CIDER & WINE SUFFER LESS IN THE DUTY STAKES.

Other fermented beverages are taxed less.

Lets go back to the supermarket where the 'problem drinker' has just seen the price of his super strength four pack, the government believe he will now walk away, WRONG!

Price has now become an issue for him but by not being overly concerned within which beverage his 'alcohol' is contained within, he trudges grumbling down the isle where a large 3 litre bottle of low cost cider catches his eye, £2.95! 'That will do the job' he says to himself.

Now surely if you are going to tackle problem drinks then surely you would make a level playing field for all alcoholic beverages ensuring they will all be taxed at a comparative rate, WRONG.

By volume of alcohol, the excise duty on cider is lower than any other drink. The duty, as of 2011, was £35.87 per 100 litres of cider of up to 7.5% alcohol. 100 litres of table wine or alcopops would attract £241.23 of duty, wine under 5.5% was charged £102.21, £139.28 for 100 litres of 7.5% beer, and £191.40 for the equivalent alcohol volume of spirits.

HSBD singles out beer, a widens the gap between beer & cider yet further, cider enjoys very low levels of duty in comparison with beer.

Beer has become the fall guy, when the reality is WE tidied up our act a long time ago, our now tax intensive businesses mean we sell our produce at price points that are no longer attractive at all to the alcohol fix seeking minority.

As alcohol goes with beer you get the least bang for your buck & have done for a long time, whilst cider & wine continue to seduce the problematic booze seeking minority in the price stakes.

The next time you see an 'Imperial Stout' fueled drain on society don't forget to write to Mr Osborne & tell him he got it spot on!

If you are going to aggressively attack the beer industry then put the entire alcohol house in order as we are sick of getting the negative press AND the tax bill!

Neither of which we deserve!

4) NEW LEGISLATION IS ACTUALLY A TAX BREAK FOR HUGE CORPORATIONS.

Coupled with the new HSBD was an attempt to sugar coat this bitter pill with the introduction of a new lower rate of duty for beers 2.8% or less.

Firstly smaller brewers like ourselves are not eligible for this lower rate as we receive SBR (Small Brewers Relief) but we do however have to feel the full force of HSBD.

So who will this lower rate reduction help?

The huge brewers who produce own brand low price bitters & lagers for the supermarkets. Also if they choose to bring their super strength beers in at 7.4% they will have received a tax giveaway during economic meltdown, no wonder some around the consulting table for the alcohol review welcomed the proposals.

SUMMARY

Yet AGAIN beer above all other alcoholic beverages is demonised & attacked with the tax hammer when the truth is we are not, nor have been the problem for a long time now.

Time to wake up Westminster, the alcohol industry requires precision surgery & you insist on using a piece of flint to butcher us!

STOP & THINK before your ill advised policy destroys our national drink forever!

Maybe you should consult someone who knows what they are talking about, like Kate Fox, Director of the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC).

She wrote a world of sense recently.

I'm not the only person who thinks you've got it wrong on Beer Duty, just take a read of the following:-

http://broadfordbrewer.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/point-break-duty-on-high-strength-beers/
http://hardknott.blogspot.com/2011/10/low-abv-low-duty-low-iq.html
http://www.magicrockbrewing.com/blog/new-tax-on-high-strength-beers/
http://ghostdrinker.blogspot.com/2011/09/1-week-till-judgement-day.html
http://beermerchants.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/today-my-job-changed/
http://beersay.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/7point5/
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/07/beer-the-bitter-taste-of-bad-legislation/
http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com/2011/10/higher-strength-beer-duty-my-view.html
http://thebeercast.com/2011/10/big-beer-month.html
http://pdtnc.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/an-open-letter-to-my-mp-meps-on-beer-tax/
http://blog.buntingfordbrewery.co.uk/?p=202
http://wortnall.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-high-strength-beer-duty-actually.html
http://gaddsbeershop.blogspot.com/2011/10/brewing-betrayed.html
http://www.jamesclay.co.uk/beer-suppliers/news/562-highabv
http://moorbeer.co.uk/news/you-can-make-a-difference
http://real-ale-reviews.com/high-strength-beer-idiotry/2011/10/

I'd like to take this opportunity to call upon CAMRA with its huge number of members, 130,000 at the last count to consider putting a full page advert in the next edition of What's Brewing to call upon members to sign this petition:- http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18346

If we can secure 100,000 signatures it will go back to Westminster for review.

Time to sit up & refuse to let our beloved beverage, beer keep taking the hit for broken Britain!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Lets hear it for the American Green!

2011-10-13T20:01:00.002+01:00

This is a video from the guys at The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing San Marcos California, the video details the magical time of year in the Yakima Valley, the hop harvest.

I was literally salivating hearing them talk about walking the through the bines of of plump ripe Simcoe & Chinook cones.

It's definatley on my itinery to visit the Yakima Valley during hop harvest some day, something I think every brewer who appreciates American hops should do.

This video has just ramped up the excitement a few notches as the anticipation of the new season US hops starts to rise. Kevin will not like this video, but I don't give a f**k.

The world would be a darker place without US green, FACT.

Watch & drool...

Beer in the limelight!

2011-10-03T19:48:00.000+01:00

You may have come across these two videos which hit twitter & facebook today & regardless of what you think of their content, it's great to see beer in the mainstream media!

The CAMRA & Keg ruckus hits Channel 4 News!

The @BeerBeauty doing a great job promoting beer on National TV!

More press like this will go a long way to getting our National drink the recognition it has so long deserved, exciting times in this industry I'm sure lie ahead!

SWB has got some Bottle!!

2011-09-23T12:00:00.005+01:00

Ok, so we've finally bowed to pressure & got our act together & started bottling our beers, exciting enough in itself, but you can now buy them online from our new website here.

There are initially four beers available; Diablo, Kahuna, Rouge-Hop & Barista all in 330ml bottles. Delivery is £7.50 for everyone in Zone 1 see delivery info & is typically a next working day service on orders placed before 10am.

We have big plans for our online store & plan to launch new beers into the store every month so keep your eyes peeled at the end of October when new beers such as 'Hermes' Pale Ale 5.0%, 'Cohort' Black Belgian Rye PA, 8.6% & Lime & Coriander Saison 6.0% will hit the store. We plan to always have a good array of styles available at any one time so that you get get a wide variety of styles in a one stop shop.

And as an opening gift we are offering a FREE Summer Wine Brewery branded stemmed glass with your 1st order (limit of one per 'new customer order' offer ends 30th Sept 2011.)

We look forward to shipping you some of our beers soon...

The Southampton Arms, Kentish Town, London.

2011-08-27T17:06:00.002+01:00

During our trip to London for IPA Day our first stop straight from the train to the capital was The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town. A much vaunted ale house that was a destination pub ideal for whiling away our afternoon.

Upon arrival were greeted by barman Ash, whom Andy was acquainted with from a previous visit, looking briefly down the bar the first thing that amazed me was a the spartan nature of the bar, no ugly macro beer fonts glowing obtrusively. Simply 12 hand pulls filled with cask ale from independent brewers from all corners of Britain not to mention the 6 hand pulled ciders, also quietly nestled at the end of the bar are two small keg fonts serving beers from Camden Town Brewery.

We moved down the bar to see which beers were on & we were truly spoilt for choice, Redemption Brewery's Urban Dusk, our very own Nerotype #4 Herkules Black IPA, Magic Rock Curious, Buxton Brewery Axe Edge, Dark Star Carafa Jade & Kent Brewery Zingiber to name but a few.

We started off with a Magic Rock Curious, Kent Brewery Zingiber & a pork pie a piece, the beers were in top nick & Ash is a clued up barman who makes sure everyone who comes to the bar finds a tipple that suits their palate. But let me just spare a minute for the PIES! Holy moly, their pies, sausage rolls & scotch eggs are of stunning quality & hugely moreish!

This bar needs no gimmicks, happy hour or glowing signs it is no nonsense & focuses on well tended beers & ciders from well thought of breweries & simple bar snacks is really all that is needed.

We proceeded to work our way down the bar taking in Buxton Axe Edge, a stunning IPA not dissimilar to our Diablo IPA, Dark Star Carafa Jade, Nerotype #4 & many others, a combination of great chat, great beers in a no fuss pub focused on on top beers & great snacks all too easily devoured hours of our afternoon. We left feeling relaxed after our lazy afternoon & amazed by what a no bollocks cracking pub this really is.

The bar is a like a London boozer of old, pub dog rolling around on the floor, original tiling behind the bar, dimpled pint pots, worn floor & a record player in the corner behind the bar whisking the hours away with an amazing array of classic vinyl.

ALE, CIDER, MEAT. This place has the important things at it's heart & that's what makes The Southampton Arms bare bones CLASS!

Go There!

Follow tweets about the amazing beers they have on the bar @southamptonNW5

International IPA Day Feast at The Dean Swift, London.

2011-08-07T17:47:00.001+01:00

So, August the 4th took us to the Dean Swift, London, in our capacity as the European host brewers of International IPA Day. Planned over the previous few weeks, Max Chater (Manager & Host of the Dean Swift) Momo Medi (Head Chef) & Rick Furzer (Food & Drink Blogger) got together to plan a stunning evening of IPA & food matching.

Before I go into some detail about this truly memorable evening I'd ask you to watch this two minute video montage so you can get a feel for the spirit of the evening & gauge what dizzy heights food & beer matching CAN reach.

The Dean Swift International IPA Day Feast Menu

1st Course
Type: Black IPA
Food: Toulouse sausage scotch egg
Beer: The Kernel India Pale Ale Black (keg), BrewDog Abstrakt AB:06

2nd Course
Type: Canned IPA
Food: Calamari with sweet chilli sauce, timbale of avocado and crayfish
Beer: BrewDog Punk IPA, Maui Big Swell

3rd Course
Type: Centennial IIPA Resurrection
Food: Grilled goats cheese and roasted peppers
Beer: Kernel Centennial #100, Centennial 2010

4th Course
Type: IPA and Spice?
Food: Tandoori Chicken with Cauliflower Velouté
Beer: Stone Brewing Co. Ruination

5th Course
Type: Draught IPA: UK vs. US
Food: Lamb Mechoui
Beer: Summer Wine Brewery Kahuna, Stone Brewing Co. IPA, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Great Divide Titan

6th Course
Type: Dessert IPA
Food: Raspberry and limoncello jelly tartlet
Beer: Mikkeller Sorachi Ace

7th Course
Type: Quadruple IPA, Freeze Distilled.
Food: Aged goats cheese, Vintage Gouda, Monastery Cheddar
Beer: Sink The Bismarck!

The Fresh fruity IPA's were perfect with Seafood.


You simply haven't had a Scotch Egg until you've had Momo's Toulouse Scotch Egg.

Toby & James discuss the subtleties of the canned IPA's.

The whole beer & food movement has been gaining momentum lately & with it being International IPA Day what better opportunity to demonstrate beers extreme diversity of flavours ability to gel with amazing foods.

The most amazing thing about the night was that the beers & food courses were matched supremely well by Max, Momo & Rick & it was clear a lot of thought & time went into developing the menu.

Max Chater is a natural host, Momo is an incredibly talented Chef & Rick is a pure glutton with an amazing palette, marrying their skills together produced an amazing menu.

Andy & James talk about the British Brewing Scene.

If we are to establish beer as a legitimate beverage to match with food then these guys have a the recipe sown up. I believe we will see more events like this in particular at Dean Swift as I know Max has plans to do much more around this fascinating concept.

I'd like to extend our gratitude to Phil Strongman, Max Chater & James Watt for their incredible generosity on this truly memorable evening, also the guys from The Kernel, Toby & Nate. Rick Furzer, Peter Millar, James Bendall & Patrik Strandberg for making it such a pleasure.

Haven't visited the Dean Swift? You really must as this place has an extremely bright future & a crucial role to play in establishing food & beer matching in the UK.

The night was capped off with stunning hard cheeses with Sink The Bismarck & Black Tokyo Horizon.

Now if you'd like to read the detail of how each course married up get over to Rick Furzers fantastic new blog 'Gastroturf' Rick is very talented & without a doubt has a great future in this area.

This was just one highlight of our trip to London, I'll be blogging about the other delights in due course.

Announcing International #IPADay August 4th!

2011-07-07T18:00:00.016+01:00

INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION OF IPA, IPA DAY 4th AUGUST

We are humbled to have been chosen as the sole European Host Brewery for this event:-

Announcing International #IPADay: A Social Celebration of Craft Beer

Attention all craft beer evangelists, brewers, bloggers, and suds-savvy citizens! On Thursday, August 4^th 2011, you are cordially invited to participate in the largest international craft beer celebration and virtual conversation the world has ever seen.

International #IPADay is a grassroots movement to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide through social media. On Thursday August 4^th, craft beer drinkers across the social sphere and across the globe will raise pints in a collective toast to one of craft beer’s most iconic styles: the India Pale Ale. This celebrated style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories, and regional flavor variations – making it the perfect style to galvanize craft beer’s social voice.

#IPADay is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. #IPADay is opportunity for breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. Getting involved is easy; the only requirements are an appreciation for great beer and the will to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPADay hashtag, and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend!

http://ipaday.eventbrite.com/

OFFICIAL #IPDAY LOGO

Tips on How to Take Part:

1. Organize an #IPADay event at your brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, home, or office (Ex: An IPA dinner/cheese pairing/comparative or educational tasting/cask night/tap takeover…). Share your events on the official #IPADay forum at http://www.ratebeer.com.

2. On August 4th, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes, and thoughts with the world. Be sure to include the #IPADay hashtag in your posts Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WordPress, RateBeer, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Untappd or any other social media site.

3. See what other people are saying by searching “#IPADay” on Google, search.twitter.com, et cetera…

4. Track down your favorite IPA’s, ones you’ve been meaning to try, and ones you’ve never heard of; share them with friends and share your thoughts with the world.

5. Have a good time and know that by sharing your experiences online, you’re strengthening the craft beer community at large.

We have managed to team up with some of the UK's top craft beer outlets, The Port Street Beer House, Manchester, The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle, The Rake, London, The Southampton Arms, London, The Dean Swift, London, Mr Foleys, & Northbar, Leeds ... To run #IPADay events, mini fests, live blogging, tastings & more! Also being the week of The Great British Beer Festival what could tie in better with the UK's largest beer festival than a day dedicated to the world's most loved beer style!

You are encouraged to share links, blog & tweet about the event & above all use all types social media to promote International IPA Day on August 4th. The twitter hashtag is #IPADay.

Get involved in this Worldwide collaboration & give IPA it's very own day!!

Register Yourself on the Event Brite IPADay Page.

The Good Ship SWB Goes Port Side...

2011-07-05T21:32:00.001+01:00

Monday July 25th sees the good ship SWB go Port Side, for an evening of exclusives, great beer & informal chat. We have the great honour of hosting The Port Street Beer House's FIRST 'Meet the Brewer' event, we are deeply honoured as we know the guys & gals at Port St. go to great lengths to be avante garde in everything they do, check out their fabulous American Beer Festival & the amazing beers they sourced in all formats.

The evening starting at 6pm is going to be one not to be missed, the beers we will be showcasing are:-

(Cask '7 C's of Rye', Rouge Hop, Valencia & Teleporter)

(Keg 'Diablo IPA' *Exclusive* Summer of Saison 'Lime & Coriander' *Exclusive*)

Port Street will be amongst the first to take 7 C's of Rye in cask form, & have national exclusives in the first ever kegs of Diablo & the first Summer of Saison brews (Lime & Coriander).

The event will kick off at 6pm sharp & will involve a tasting session of beers with an informal talk through by myself & Andy. Finishing by 8pm for casual drinks with whoever wishes to join us.

There are 60 tickets available, priced at £8 & they're available from the bar at Port St.

So come along & join us at arguably the North's finest cutting edge craft beer house for national exclusive beers & great conversation. We look forward to seeing you!

Your Beverage Needs You!

2011-07-03T20:44:00.001+01:00

So this weekend saw the online beer Twitterati lay siege on Saturday Kitchen on BBC1 at 10am. The idea championed by Hardknott Dave & others using the #saturdaykitchen hashtag was to suggest beer to match foods that were being prepared on the show. The show has previously been entirely biased in only recommending wine matches to suit the food so much so it prompted Dave to make a complaint to Ofcom regarding the complete ignorance of beer as a versatile beverage suitable for food matching by the BBC.

I myself back Dave 100%, the point which he is trying to readdress is the fact that compared to beer, wine gets an inordinate amount of coverage by the national media.

As people who care about beer we saw something completely organic happen in our time lines on Twitter happen on Saturday. Something wonderful, something incredibly positive & a joy to behold. A huge number of beery twitter folk spontaneously backed Dave's suggestion by using the hashtag & taking part.

It was the use of social media at it's best, being used by a group of people who care about something enough to make their voices heard completely off the cuff. During the show there were approximately 1500 beer/food related tweets directed at the programme, recommending a huge diverse range of beers suitable for a range of dishes on the show.

These suggestions were almost certainly certainly picked up by the production team. Hopefully we will see some impact on the show & get the amazing cornucopia of exciting beers in the UK some national television coverage as a great & versatile accompaniment to food.

We may have already seen an acknowledgement from Olly Smith who is Saturday Kitchen's resident wine expert as this morning a piece about beer for wine lovers appeared in the The Mail. A piece for which Olly should be praised for as it brings some balance to the wine over beer coverage imbalance. You can & should follow him on twitter @jollyolly as he appreciates & is knowledgeable about his beer.

The main message that spoke volumes to me on Saturday was that for all of the negativity that permeates the online beer world it was incredibly refreshing & powerful to combine instantly over common ground to unite & the promote the beverage we all love!

When we unite together & fight under the beer banner we ARE capable of doing great things. I will certainly think twice before I publish any blog post in the future & ask myself;

'Will this forward the cause of beer or add value?'
'Or foster conflict & negativity?'

If it's the latter I will now think long & hard before hitting the publish button, I urge you to do the same. It IS possible to bring lots of new drinkers into the amazing world of modern British beer.

IF we talk about the positives!

See you next Saturday 10am sharp on Twitter with the hashtag #saturdaykitchen

If we get a result here, we can go elsewhere into getting Beer the coverage our national drink deserves.

The Slip Inn Battle of the Breweries Photoblog

2011-06-26T13:11:00.001+01:00

Here are a few photos from the excellent Battle of the Breweries at The superb Slip Inn, Clementhorpe, York. A great event surrounded by great people & great beer made for a memorable day & credit to Paul & his staff at The Slip for ensuring the beers were all available via handpull & all on fine form too.

This pub is a real hidden gem just outside the City walls. The photos tell a little of the story but if you'd like to read more check out Nick's post about the day over at The Beer Prole.

I'd just like to say thanks once again to everyone who attended & made this great concept a real winner, lets hope others replicate it too!

Southern Hemisphere Green Arrives

2011-06-19T14:48:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd do a quick post as were taking a delivery of new season New Zealand hops on Monday. I'm excited about the new season Nelson Sauvin & Riwaka varieties.

Nelson for its unmistakable fruity hop punch with almost a white wine zing & Riwaka for their pungent citrus grapefruit quality, superb for aroma.

We also have some NZ Cascade arriving which I have never brewed with before, but I'm expecting a similar outcome as US Cascade that we all know & love.

Can't wait to stick my head in a bag of NZ's best.

Also in another exciting development the 'Galaxy' variety from Australia is due to arrive next month, another punchy high alpha variety with an amazing aroma. Some of you may have been lucky enough to try this hop in a Thornbridge special 'Galaxia' a few months back. It's the first time this variety has become commercially available in the UK so expect some new exciting beers debuting around the country.

Cones brimming with Lupulin

As yet I'm still undecided on what to brew with these goodies but you can certainly expect some tasty low abv pales with a NZ influence & a big South Pacific IPA or two, will have to get my creative cap on & come up with some innovative southern hemisphere inspired stuff.

As for this week we've got a full brewing schedule which will include our new session pales 'Polestar', 'Ensign' & 'The Benz'.

'The Benz' is going to be different to say the least, it's a pitch black mild come stout at 5.2%, a soft roast bitterness, low hop bitterness profile finished with an insane amount of dry hopping just to mess with your head.

I've decided to describe this beer as an 'aromatic black ale' & as ever I look forward to hearing your feedback once it hits the pumps.

Beer is Trending

2011-06-12T16:45:00.001+01:00

Over the past few years the craft beer world has developed a way of expressing itself in the here & now, it has taken to creating trends & then seeing them explored by brewers UK & worldwide. There is a top layer of brewing in the UK & US at the moment which is bubbling away with creative & innovative brewing.

No drink in the world comes close to offering the diversity beer does, something for everyone!

Where the next big thing comes from is a mystery, sometimes an iconic beer spawns others in it's image & style as I think Brewdogs Bashah Black IPA did a few years ago, in the resultant few years brewers throughout the UK have explored the Black IPA phenomena with a heavy hand, we ourselves can be included in this bracket with our 'Heretic Black Imperial IPA & our extremely popular single hopped Black IPA series 'Nerotype'.

I think we are coming to the end of exploring this interesting style & some high quality permanently brewed lines have appeared in the UK like The Kernel Black IPA, Buxton Black Rocks, Thornbridge Raven & Windsor & Eton Conqueror, but the market is now inevitably moving onto other styles & ideas. Other ideas we have explored are hoppy red ales with 'Red-Eye' & 'Rouge -Hop', another that comes to mind is Thornbridge 'Colorado Red' however I think this style has still got legs yet.

The Periodic Table of Beer Styles, there's space for a few new hybrids yet...

We announced our 'Summer of Saison' last month our plan to brew four naturally flavoured Saisons, it will be interesting to see if we'll see other brewers trying their hand at Saison, Dark Star have been producing a Saison for a couple of years & it seems to have a cult following when available, so it may be a style that has legs under the 'a la mode' heading over the next year.

In the coming six months we are planning a Milk Stout & a Cranberry Wheat beer, amongst others.

The beauty of brewing is that there are so many styles to explore, not to mention the grey areas in between which can be the most fun!

There are ever present styles that will always attract the masses in particular 'IPA's' seem to be THE style that shows no sign of going away, thankfully. IPA is a style we love to brew here, in fact our flagship beer 'Diablo' is an IPA & our recently brewed '7C's IPA' has also proven popular.

Where are we destined for next on the beer atlas?

Sometimes hops come along & cause a style wave all of their very own like 'Nelson Sauvin' hops did a few years back, this year the heady 'Citra' hop variety which has created a smorgasbord of new 'pale ales' in the UK.

What styles would you like to see explored this year? I use the word 'styles' in the loosest sense as I'm not one for working to set style guidelines, some of the best ideas are cross pollinated from each other...

If you have seen the 'I am a Craft Brewer' video you will know there is a line in the video saying 'We don't don't follow trends, we create them!' This adage has never held more water in the craft beer scene as it does today.

Who knows what styles are about to take the limelight, I all can say is we'll be there riding the crest of the wave...

The Odell Thing...

2011-06-04T13:37:00.001+01:00

I came across this video on CraftBeer.com it is a video by the guys at Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

In the video they talk about their ideals & ethos & about making beers that engage people, beers that aren't just novelty but beers with originality & uniqueness. If I had to try & sum up craft beer as an ideal, as a way of life, as a passion, as a life's work, I really couldn't do better than this video. Brewers like this continue to influence the craft beer scene & long may it continue. Odell's beers are supremely balanced & classy & the good news is they're becoming widely available in the UK now. Mr Foleys on the headrow in Leeds has Odell IPA on draught right now, so get down there & taste what they're all about. Odell don't try to define craft, they embody it!

Craft Brewing - Odell Brewing Co. from Odell Brewing on Vimeo.

Marble vs SWB The Slip Inn, York. June 25th.

2011-05-20T22:39:00.002+01:00

Saturday June 25th sees a new phenomena in the beer world roll into York. Rest easy there trooper, it's not a continuation of York's historic battle ridden past, it's the beer equivalent! Except this time round it will be a much more benevolent affair, a jovial afternoon with a bar full of ours & the legendary Marble beers from Manchester.

With at least seven beers from each brewery individually paired off in competition & it will be your job to choose the winners in the face a off. On the day I can tell you the beers from us will be:-

SWB: Zenith, Gambit, Odyssey, Polestar, Rouge-Hop, Barista, Diablo & our new West Coast IPA '7 C's'.

Thus far the Marble beers confirmed will be:-

Marble: Pint, Manchester Bitter, Best, Lagonda, Chocolate, Utility 3 & possibly the Marble & Fullers John collaboration ESB.

There may also be a few other little goodies but you'll have to come & see us to find out!

We will be there on the day from noon & will be joined by Colin & from Marble, so come & enjoy a day in our company, we look forward to seeing you there.

You really don't want to miss this day, it is sure to be a cracker especially if the weather plays ball, a summer afternoon in the historic city of York with some of the North's finest beers, what more could you ask for...?

See the The Slip Inn events page for more info.

Beer, we drink it round here!

2011-05-13T21:10:00.003+01:00

Beer Song by ElbowSkin from Alister Robbie on Vimeo.

Glyn Roberts aka @rabidbarfly posted this video here last Saturday, it hasn't had half as much coverage as it should, so here it is for your amusement, a work of genius! It's in aid of Melbourne Good Beer Week 16th - 22nd May. Thanks to Glyn for putting this one out there!

Summer of Saison

2011-05-08T17:04:00.001+01:00

So we've had it good weather-wise & this has focused our attentions on the impending summer months. Last summer was devoted to 'Project 6' our series of 6.6% IPA's which were very successful, following that was the ever popular 'Nerotype' black IPA series, the current one being #3 hopped exclusively with Bravo & hitting the pubs & bars round about now, this will be concluded next month with the final in the series #4 hopped exclusively with 'Herkules'.

So you've probably guessed we like to explore styles thoroughly before moving onto the next project so this leads us nicely into our SUMMER of SAISON, we are going to brew 4 gyles of saison at 6.0% abv. each with differing dominant flavours, Nettle & Ginger, Lime & Coriander, Lemongrass & Fennel & Orange & Rosemary. As for the hops we are to use, we have lined up some noble goodies in the form of 'Perle', 'Sterling', 'Saaz', 'Bobek' & 'Tettnang' other varieties used will include 'East Kent Goldings' & 'Liberty'. The selection of hops are designed to compliment & work with the range of ingredients were using.

It is the plan to have these beers ready almost simultaneously. Available in Keg & Bottle format only as we feel saison as a style is best suited to an elevated level of carbonation to bring out that zesty, spicy, estery freshness of this rustic farmhouse style. Hopefully the good weather will continue throughout the coming months & you'll get to try these limited saisons which we hope will really capture the essence of the summer.

There will be other goodies flowing from the brewery through the summer, with the popular 'Rouge-Hop' sticking around for a while, the very limited imperial stout 'Cossack' & new specials such as 'Polestar' & '7 C's' our 7% seven 'C' hopped IPA making appearances in due course.

All in all it's shaping up to being a great summer!

Looking for Clarity...

2011-05-01T21:36:00.003+01:00

In the UK we still have an annoying hang up when it comes to beer, something that goes no further than our shores & something never crosses the mind of the continental beer drinker. This is the search for perfect crystal clarity in beers. In the UK outside of the esoteric beer scene there are lots of regular drinkers who still associate haze in beer with the beer being bad, off or not well made I have to say folks, it's absolute bollocks, infact entirely the opposite is usually* true.

This pic was taken by @alcofrolichap on Twitter, the beer on the right is our Diablo IPA & it is dry-hopped quite aptly to hell!

I have been in pubs in close proximity to drinkers who have ordered a beer, the beer hits the bar top the bar staff turn to the till & the beer begins to settle from the bottom up, the punter glances down & waits for their change to be returned. As half of the beer loses it milky appearance they hold the beer aloft & peer through the beer in the glass, & without a moments thought the immortal words trip off the tongue 'this beer is'nt right' 'it MUST be off, its cloudy'.

STOP! Stop right there!

How about taking a sip & taking in the aroma first? You fell into the awful trap of drinking with your eyes! Why? Because you are vain, your car shines, you have 20-20 vision, your windows have just been cleaned & you have HD TV! Bad practice sunshine, stop, stop right there & have a word with yourself!

People in the UK have been conditioned on macro uber filtered, lifeless, hop-less crap for 30 years, beers with incredible gleaming polish & in their mind anything from there on in with a haze is automatically associated with having something wrong with it this is not usually correct. I'm not for one minute saying pin bright beer is a bad thing on the contrary, beer produced to specification with good brewing processes should drop bright. Clarity starts to change when brewers use differing techniques to achieve certain flavours & aromas either through adjuncts like wheat, different yeasts, dry-hopping & non use of finings.

The new wave of intensely dry hopped beers sweeping the UK for example can have a 'hop-haze' when serving in this case this is usually a sign of quality & that the brewer has used an extreme amount of hops for dry hopping in trying to wow you. Smell the beer & you will know instantly if that's the case & appreciate the fact that the brewer is trying to give you an experience with flavour and aroma. Take a sip & forget you can't see your hand on the other side of the glass, the beer is great, enjoy it.

BrewDog pack in the dry hops, it's all about the flavour baby.

In europe there are thousands of bars where a customer would be more alarmed if served a crystal clear beer rather than a hazy one, for this kind of drinker it is about FLAVOUR, they have never yearned for the vanity of their beer & they love it all the more as quality, flavour & aroma trump clarity every, single, time!

So as the wheels start to turn ever faster in the hugely exciting UK beer scene & as we as brewers strive to amaze your senses, take the vanity of your beer & put it at the bottom of your list right now! Open your mind, take the mantras of flavour, aroma & quality with you wherever you go & you will be amazed by what you find!

You can read what Justin, the head brewer at Moor Beer Company thinks about clarity in beer here.

This blog post barely scratches the surface about the science of beer clarity, but I wouldn't want to bore you with pages & pages, the post is intended to create debate & provoke thoughts.

*Occasionally you may find a beer that is hazy & off, or poorly made, taste it, smell it & you will know.

Keg, CAMRA & Dinosaurs.

2011-04-02T15:05:00.006+01:00

Camrasaurus trudge on bemused by what is about to occur.

Sixty-Five million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped out by something beyond their control, why? Because they weren't advanced/evolved/intelligent enough to do something about the fate which befell them. However the race which crawled from the primordial aftermath eventually evolved into Homo Sapiens with intelligence & who now have the capability to counter such a threat that the dinosaurs faced long before it would happen.

So what am I getting at? Yes you guessed it! The Camra/Keg debate.

Earlier this week Camra's monthly newspaper was released & it contained an article written by Camra's very own messiah Mr Roger Protz the Editor of the Good Beer Guide. These are excerpts from his article:-

“Far from joining hands with CAMRA round the birthday cake, some craft brewers and beer writers have chosen this year of all years to attack the campaign for – and I almost have to suspend disbelief as I type these words – refusing to embrace keg beer.”

“At the risk of patronising them, many weren’t born or were too young to appreciate just how dire the beer scene was in the early 1970’s. The likes of Watney’s Red, Worthington E and Double Diamond were spreading like some dreadful bacillus across the country. Breweries were either closing or switching to keg production.”

“And yet, in spite of these facts, CAMRA is being criticised for refusing to embrace keg beer. It seems scarcely credible, yet the question of CAMRA and keg raised its over-carbonated head at the annual SIBA conference in February. Some SIBA members are either making keg beer or are considering doing so and wanted to know what the Campaign’s attitude would be. My reply – and it was a personal one – was that if some brewers want to make keg they are perfectly free to do so but, given the current success of cask beer, I thought they would do better to concentrate on real ale.”

Now Camra celebrates the fact it has 120,000 members yet how many have the same views as Roger? I doubt it's even a few percent, & yet how is it their policy is dictated by the minority? Surely average members voices should be heard like Neil's thoughts here.

There are those closer to the top of the organisation who have a very fuzzy hole ridden argument about why the new wave of keg beer should not be credenced:-

They harp on about keg beer of the 70's being awful dead filtered beer, a fact that no-one can deny. But they incorrectly describe keg beer as a 'style', keg is NOT a style of beer, it is a mode of dispense as is cask beer. I read a comment in reply to Roger on the BeerCast blog from Mark at the BeerBirraBier blog & he hit the nail on the head so instead of regurgitate his comments I'll copy & paste them:-

"Maybe having lived through the 70’s is preventing Roger from seeing the difference between a poor beer being put into a keg and a great beer being put into a keg. GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT. A brilliant beer doesn’t become poor just because it’s put into a keg.

The method of dispense is a means to an end. Some styles are enhanced by one particular closure whereas others are worsened. Put a beer in the container that presents it in the best possible way to the drinker. Simple."

"For hop-forward, American style IPA’s and IIPA’s, nothing beats the higher carbonation and extra chill of a keg. Sampling any of them at the GBBF bar that CAMRA forced into gravity dispense casks proved that … although it seems the mere presence of them at the festival is testament to CAMRAs forward thinking …"
BeerBirraBier.

Now herein lies the very crux of the issue, Camra say keg is a style which was characterised by pasteurised dead beer from the 70's. The crucial differences here are the beer being kegged by the new wave of craft brewers is non-pasteurised, largely unfiltered beer that is of infinitely higher quality than 70's dead keg.

You drink our cask ales & enjoy them, then believe we sneak around in the early hours pasteurising & dumbing down our wares ready for keg with a mind to destroying ever popular cask ale in the UK? C'mon Roger surely not even you believe that! The fact that most new wave keg beer is 'KeyKeg' which is essentially real ale in a keg the only difference is it is slightly pre-carbonated & served without a beer engine or a sparkler, no extraneous C02, none.

This is about handing choice & diversity to the consumer to grow our market share, not to destroy our beloved cask ale in the UK. It's a about having a diverse show with many facets to take yet more share from the macros.

There are many outlets around the country installing guest keg lines & it is proliferating, fast! So what will be your response? To ignore, to denigrate? Does that not make you as ignorant as those who ignore cask ale?

You are becoming defensive to what the current wave of exciting UK brewers are doing & instead of talking to us & finding out solid facts about what we are doing you quickly scurry back to the hills waving the 'evil keg' banner. We are not saying we are going to overnight shift our production into keg, cask will always remain king in Britain, all we ask is some credence for our innovative efforts to draw more drinkers into the quality beer market.

I'm excited about where this industry is going & what we have the potential to be, the US market is currently the perfect antimatter to the UK market, the majority of their beer is keg but cask beer is growing in popularity over there & guess what?! They are positively embracing it, as they believe it adds value to their industry, just as superb quality keg beer adds to our market.

I'll leave you with @neil_bowness thoughts because he is a Camra member & I am not.

"I would like to challenge you and CAMRA on this front: stop preaching, stop lecturing and try educating by helping drinkers make an informed choice, not just telling them that it is good because it comes from out of a cask."

"Far too often I’ve seen beer being lauded for it’s real ale and local credentials, but the liquid has been verging on the undrinkable. I am fortunate enough to live in Cumbria, a county with over 30 breweries and which I’m happy to help promote but - hand on heart - I cannot truthfully say that all of their beer is good, but I will continue to support them."

"Yes, cask beer may have been lost in the UK* had CAMRA not been established, and yes, the real ale market is doing very well, but don’t think for one minute that every pub in the land would suddenly see a massive reversal in fortunes off the back of introducing more cask ale.

To bring this to conclusion, I feel your article shows that you and many CAMRA members are still in a mindset that was relevant in the early 1970s - to illustrate, in the very first paragraph, you make reference to Spitfire aircraft in the last world war. This outlook reflects a generational attitude which CAMRA could do well to distance itself from should they wish to continue in any meaningful fashion for another 40 years."

Surely it's time to stop looking backwards & back patting for a victory 20 years since won & embrace what's ahead, if not you will end up becoming a 'liberation remembrance club'. You could learn an awful lot from SIBA's progressive all embracing stance & evolve with the times to become relevant, potent & fit for use in our modern, dynamic beer world, if not, it's the way of the dinosaurs I'm afraid.

Showcase Weekend @ The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle.

2011-03-12T13:53:00.000Z

On the 24th March we will be kicking off a very exciting event at The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle. We will be hosting a meet the brewer from 7pm on the 24th March & our beers will continue to flow at the Free Trade into the weekend until the 27th.

Myself & Andy are are looking forward to this event at what is widely regarded as one of the most exciting up & coming craft beer houses in the North, the licensee Mick has worked extremely hard on bringing in the best beers from around the world lately & is putting his legendary outlet at the top of the tree in the Northeast & we are both excited & humbled to be a part of it.

If you live in the Northeast we would be delighted to see you on the 24th to thank you in person for how you really have taken us & our beers in as your own.

There promises to be 12 of our beers including our entire core range available as well as the first two Nerotype brews, of which Brew #2 'Columbus' is a national exclusive to the event as is 'Valencia' our new 4% Citra session beer.

So if you can make on the 24th we look forward to sharing a beer with you, if not I hope you get to make it to The Free Trade to try the beers over the weekend.

If you are on Twitter you can follow Mick's entertaining tweets @TheFreeTradeInn

Wikio Blog Rankings - March Preview

2011-03-04T20:48:00.002Z

So the jolly nice people at Wikio have this month kindly offered me a sneak preview of the new beer & wine blog rankings for March.

1	Pencil & Spoon +1
2	Pete Brown's Blog +1
3	Beer Reviews +3
4	Master Brewer at Adnams +13
5	Bibendum Wine
6	Zythophile
7	Drinking Outside The Box
8	Reluctant Scooper
9	Sour Grapes
10	The Wine Conversation
11	Spittoon
12	Tandleman's Beer Blog -4
13	Are You Tasting the Pith? -4
14	Called to the bar
15	Raising the Bar +31
16	Rabid About Beer -6
17	EpicBeerKel's BeeRevolution
18	The Good Stuff +4
19	The Pub Curmudgeon -12
20	Real Brewing at the Sharp End

Ranking made by Wikio

Plenty of movers & shakers this month but the first thing I noticed was BrewDog's absence from the rankings, I have no idea whether this is deliberate omission or not. They were usually hovering around the top spot & I had heard rumblings from other bloggers that they felt BrewDog's blog is an advertorial & doesn't belong in the rankings, so maybe Wikio have addressed this but I'm not sure.

I am delighted with how my blog rose 31 places to 15th in the rankings but I believe this may be a temporary effect of the huge interest my post regarding Kevin created.

Congratulations to Mark from Pencil & Spoon for taking top spot this month I particularly enjoyed his BrewDog post recently.

Also a mention for Andy from Beer Reviews which climbed to the lofty position of 3rd! Well done Andy!

And a mention for Leigh at The Good Stuff, for sticking around the top 20 for his informative & enjoyable musings on a wide range of beers wherever he may find them, Leigh's blog is Leeds longest running beer blog & it's nice to see his dedication paying off.

So there you have it, BrewDog gone from the rankings, do you agree or disagree?

***UPDATE***
Apparently BrewDog are still in the general rankings, they are 341st in the overall blog ranking system out of over 18 & a half thousand blogs, but have disappeared from the wine & beer category for some strange reason.

Proud of Our Industry

2011-03-01T18:33:00.001Z

Today SIBA released a 'Proud of British Beer' video & whatever you may or may not think of it, it's message is one that is full of integrity & pride in our industry. It's about time we united & made it perfectly clear to the government we are not the problem in Britain, but the solution. We are incessantly hit with tax hikes & bad press in the media when we are in fact a bunch of socially responsible people with wholesome ideals, we are first & foremost a British manufacturing industry, we employ people, we contribute a huge amount of tax, our product is crafted with care & is consumed with dignity in the greatest social setting, the great British pub.

I am delighted with how SIBA have set their stall out to be a progressive breath of fresh air in our industry & credit must go to them & Pete Brown for this great piece of work. So the next time someone knocks our industry either through the media or through higher taxes don't sit back & take it, take issue & support British breweries & pubs & be proud of your national product before we are taxed out of existence!

The Nerotype Series

2011-02-13T19:57:00.000Z

February sees the launch of our single hopped range of black IPA's.
First up, Simcoe, a resinous, piney & spicy hop, that delivers notes of strawberries & grapes, a much unsung hop that should make waves this year. There will be at least four in the range, depending on the popularity of the project. There will be 'Columbus', 'Warrior' & 'Herkules' versions to follow in a monthly sequence. The series will see us explore the black IPA phenomena thoroughly after the success of our 'Heretic Imperial Black IPA' which used a blend of hops, it will be interesting to see how some of the big new US varieties play out in the beers. Brew One can be found at the White Rose Festival at Magna in Rotherham along with our new flagship IPA 'Diablo' starting on the 2nd March.

If you see it out & about in the coming month we'd love to hear your feedback!

CAMRA - The Campaign for Real Alienation

2011-02-10T21:16:00.014Z

Yesterday we received an email from a proud CAMRA member, here it is...

Hi,

I have just seen your website & feel obliged to comment. In the current state of decline how can you possibly believe that importing American hops is going to assist this country. The finest hops in the world come from Kent & always will. Surely if you wish to add improvement to your own ales, would it not be a little more diplomatic to be a little quieter about America & more praiseworthy of local grown? Why not save yourself more financially & grow or by from local sources? 1st the Germans now the Americans - how do they know how to brew ale anyway - were they around in the stone age? Come on lads - be British & Campaign For Real Ale (not America Beer).

Regards Kevin (Camra member)

Now I'm a pretty placid guy but this REALLY annoyed me & left me almost speechless, so I decided to collect my thoughts & respond to every point Kevin has made.

Kevin's Utopia is certainly not mine.

'In the current state of decline how can you possibly believe that importing American hops is going to assist this country.' Firstly, Kevin what exactly do you mean by current state of decline? Cask ale is the only growth sector in the market, surely you would know that as a CAMRA member? Regarding American hops that are imported, as a brewer & a business man I source the best ingredients available to me to improve my product, there are no similar English alternatives to the vast array of US hops.

'The finest hops in the world come from Kent & always will.' In your opinion Kevin & your quite entitled to it, I know thousands who would disagree.

'Surely if you wish to add improvement to your own ales, would it not be a little more diplomatic to be a little quieter about America & more praiseworthy of local grown?' There is no room for diplomacy in a commercial environment Kevin, your product dictates whether you live or die & I assure you if all of our beers contained homegrown hops we couldn't compete in this highly competitive industry. Also, why would I want to be quieter about America? They are brewing stunning beers & growing the worlds best hops, I have a habit of talking about things that excite me & I won't stop that for you.

'Why not save yourself more financially & grow or by from local sources?' Possibly your most uneducated comment, as my fellow brewers & brewsters will tell you, US hops are currently roughly half the price of English hops, & don't get me started on quality! So it would actually cost us more as a business to use more English hops.

'1st the Germans now the Americans - how do they know how to brew ale anyway' - were they around in the stone age?' Talk about a xenophobic insult, no the Americans weren't around in the Stone Age but you are clearly stuck there Kevin. A bigoted, introverted & highly insulting comment. I'd say they know an awful lot about brewing beer, I just hope there are no Americans or Germans reading this blog for your sake.

Now this brings me onto the organisation of which Kevin is a member, CAMRA.

Last week Pete Brown made a post regarding a comment made by Micheal Harding, one of the original founding members of CAMRA, here's Michael's quote:

“I must point out that we’re not fighting against anything, we’re fighting for something,” he says, as measured as a well-poured pint. “There may be some members who give a different impression and I apologise to the general drinking public for the fact that we’ve recruited those people.”

I think Kevin is one of 'those' people to whom he is referring. I fear however there are rather more CAMRA members like this than they would have you believe. It is a tired arguement to keep labelling these people as a minority as these spats are becoming more & more frequent.

I personally know members of CAMRA who are ready for wholesale change of the organisation & are in fact calling for it, however, I feel as long as the 'Kevin' element exists CAMRA will be unable to move forward.

The beer world is changing, fast! If CAMRA does nothing they will be maginalised over time & seal their own demise with the attitudes played out above. The alternative is to move on with our dynamic, eclectic, exciting, fast paced industry & become a useful force instead of hankering after their past glories, the term 'Real Ale' no longer encompasses what we as brewers are doing. We are progressive not regressive, we are innovative not traditionalists, we package beer in new ways, we dispense in new formats. Stop trying to reign in our activities, if you persist then we are better off without you!

In your current format you are not standing still you are going backwards, it seems you are becoming impotent & irrelevant. You claim to have lobbying power yet you efforts to prevent extra pressures on the industry always fail, huge beer tax hikes in recent years & closing pubs, you celebrated a break in duty for beers sub 2.8% but you failed to prevent tax hikes on stronger more popular beers.

At branch level I feel you rule by fear, I know licensees who are afraid of addressing their concerns to CAMRA branches as they fear their business will suffer as a result, you have become a toothless self-interest group riddled with politics & resistance to change.

My message to you CAMRA, if you won't modernise, fine! But stop your members meddling in the affairs of those who are modernising & attempting to take craft beer to the next level!

The new wave of exciting craft brewers, new breed licensees & outlets WILL move this industry on, with or without you!

And finally to you Kevin,

I won't apologise for brewing cutting edge beer.

I won't apologise for using the best ingredients available to me.

I won't apologise for brewing beer you don't like.

I won't apologise for endorsing great beer regardless of where in the world it is brewed!

And finally, I certainly won't apologise for not subscribing to your xenophobic & bigoted views nor your precious pre-historic organisation!

Bottled It!

2011-02-07T09:00:00.002Z

What's your ideal size?

They come in a multitude of shapes, sizes & colours with different sizes suiting different abv's & different beers, but when it comes to setting your stall out to produce popular accessible beers which size suits best?

In the picture the bottles start at 750ml descending to 660ml, 500ml, 375ml, 355ml to finally 330ml, the beers were a varying array of style & abv's.

The 660ml & the 355ml are US stalwarts, more commonly known as 'Bombers' & '12oz' ers respectively, then we have the UK standards 500ml & 330ml & a couple of odd sizes in 375ml & 750ml (champagne sized bottle).

Recently in the UK smaller measures have been forced into the limelight, no better example is BrewDog's standard 330ml bottles for all the beers they produce apart from the Abstrakt range. We have Evin at The Kernel releasing his 6% plus beers also in 330ml format, this size bottle is far from the norm in the UK, in the UK craft brewing scene the 500ml bottle still rules the roost. However, due to the huge popularity of BrewDog's 330ml revolution I believe we will shortly see more & more UK craft brewers adopt 330ml bottles to showcase their wares in.

We ourselves plan to bottle our beers in 330's as we feel the size is best suited for the abv's of the products we plan to bottle, but that isn't to say we won't produce limited special edition beers in varying sized bottles, as it is sometimes nice to have a large 'sharing' bottle of something special.

I do think glassware in UK beer scene has had some effect on the adoption of smaller sized bottles, particularly stemmed glassware often around the 350ml size are perfect for serving a 330ml bottle of beer allowing for head space, I think 500ml bottles have remained popular due to the pint pot (568ml) as a perfect serving vessel also allowing for head space, maybe various glass sizes will mean a proliferation of varying bottle sizes in the UK, who knows?

But for now I think the 330ml format is in for serious growth in UK & choice can only be a good thing, right? Also with canned beers having now put a toe in the door in the craft brewing sector, what are your thoughts on your ideal serving size? Are you a sharer, a traditionalist or are you more comfortable with 330ml becoming more common?

The Americans are Coming!!

2011-02-01T19:27:00.002Z

Something is happening very quickly in the beer world, right before our very eyes & we almost are oblivious to the woods because of the trees. Well what is it I hear you cry?!

The Americans are coming!!

The influence of American beers, American hops & American craft breweries is starting to ooze a little more throughout the British beer scene everyday.

The use of US hops has never been more prevalent in British brewing, more & more breweries are brewing US style pale ales, average IBU's of beers is on the rise, US yeast is becoming commonplace & British beer has never been never been in such a rude state of health.

In the past 5 years more & more British breweries have opened heavily influenced by US styles & ideals, BrewDog being the most obvious, but I would include our brewery in that our beers are dominated with US hops & brewed with an American yeast strain. Only yesterday a new brewery just a few miles from us was opened by a good friend, Richard has opened (Magic Rock Brewing) Richard admits “The intention is to brew modern flavour-forward beers inspired in part by US craft breweries in order to take advantage of the current real ale boom and an expected increase in discerning drinkers seeking more flavourful beers,”

But why are US beers, hops & breweries so irresistible?? The answer partly lies in the very nature of Americans...

If something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing!

Big flavours, big ideals & big volumes, it is this intrepid nature that is at the very heart of the US craft beer movement. Those in the American craft beer movement want beer to grab you by your senses, to enthral you & to capture your imagination. It is merely not enough for beer to be a social lubricant, it must be more, it must be at the very heart of the reason to socialise, to talk about the very beer you are socialising over.

These ideals are sinking into British beer & I for one welcome it, the time of insipid faceless beer is on the wane in the UK, and US hops are giving a more than generous hand. There will always be those who are very wary of US influence, some believe it will eclipse British beer, the truth is it won't! As the very beers being made with the stunning array of hops coming from the US are being brewed on British soil & therefore ARE British beer! Also the fact that British beer styles are also embraced by the American craft beer movement, not to mention the growing popularity of British hops in US pale ales, I met an American brewer recently who swears by certain UK varieties to finish his beer. It is give & take, the market is mutating & evolving & the prospective outlook is looking nothing short of sensational.

As I brewer I have a plethora of superb US hops waiting to grace a new beer, such varieties include: Citra, Chinook, Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, Summit, Bravo, Herkules, Simcoe, El-Dorado, Willamette, Santiam, Sterling & Liberty. The truth is British hops just cannot compete on the vast array of flavours & aromas that can be achieved through the liberal us of what I like to call 'sunshine hops', bright green oozing with sticky lupulin, these hops were only destined for one thing, to make stunning beer!

British pale ales have never been more exciting & US hops are the biggest reason!

Love them or loathe them, they are growing stunning hops & brewing stunning beer & the US influence will continue to grow for a long time to come in the UK. I for one welcome it, because it's dragging British beer kicking and screaming out of the dark ages in back to the top of the tree where it belongs!

The outcome of this mingling of influences will be a creative, inspirational & diverse British craft brewing scene which will be nothing short of nirvana for all beer lovers.

The Americans are waking up to something amazing & I can assure you we won't be far behind!

You may have seen this video, but watch it again & be inspired about what is to come...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5OZS75qaY

National Winter Ales Festival 2011

2011-01-23T15:43:00.005Z

Last Wednesday saw the commencement of the annual National Winter Ales Festival at the Sheridan Suite, Oldham Rd, Manchester. The second festival at this venue, & boy what a venue, a homely, comfortable & amenity filled space that succeeds superbly in setting the scene for a comfortable & friendly gathering of ale drinkers from far & wide.

The day started with a pre-fest warm-up in the Marble Arch for those who don't know it's the Marble Brewery Tap, the choice was mind bogglingly good, Driscoll's End, Dobber, Utility Special, Chocolate Dubbel, Pint, the list goes on, we started with a pint of Driscoll's End, & talk about setting the bar for the day, a full bodied beauty of a beer, dry hopped & oozing quality it slipped down so easily, a stunner!

Halves of the superb Utility followed, before the exodus down to Oldham Road commenced, waiting at the busstop a vast swathe of us piled onto the first unsuspecting bus, upon arrival, programmes & glassware were frantically purchased.

A group of us including Dean, Nicki, Kate, Brian, Rob & Matt made our way quickly down to the Champions bar eager to make our first beer a good one, we launched ourselves into various halves of interesting winter beers, most were palatable & worthy of a spot on the champions bar, the beers were lacking condition but this is to be expected on the first day of the festival, as the beers are fresh on & not yet able to breathe & take in oxygen to bring them into life.

The day quickly descended into beery chatter amongst familiar & unfamiliar faces, always my favourite part of a such a gathering is catching up with like minded people, the beer almost becomes a bonus. Hours passed as we drifted around the great & good of the UK beer scene. Announcements were made on the winners with Hopback 'Entire Stout' scooping the top gong followed closely by the ever popular Marble Chocolate. A couple of stand out beers for me were Fullers Reserve No2 & Outstanding Matron's Delight, both on the higher end of the abv. spectrum, but incredibly well crafted beers.

We had a couple of beers at the festival in Zenith a 4.0% Pale Ale & Diablo a 6.0% IPA, both beers that are in our core range for 2011 & I was more than pleased with the feedback we received. The day seemed to quickly race away & it became time for a dignified exit as I had brewing duties the next morning.

All in all a great day amongst great people & great beer, credit must go to CAMRA & Tandleman for such a well organised festival that should surely become a regular at the Sheridan Suite as I know there's talk of the festival moving next year, but judging by the way people have taken to this venue in just two years they really should think long & hard before moving this now legendary fest elsewhere. If you didn't attend this year, get your diary out now & pencil this one in for next year, you will not be disappointed!

If you'd like to read more detailed accounts of NWAF 2011 check out the following great blogs:-

The Beer Prole & The Good Stuff

Next stop on the beery calender is The White Rose Festival at Magna in Rotherham, 2nd-5th March 2011 & judging by the pics this should be a cracking venue...

Schooner the better!

2011-01-06T20:11:00.000Z

News that the 2/3rd's of a pint measure is to be legalised in the UK leapt into the limelight this week & has had mixed receptions in various quarters. Speaking with a beer lovers hat on I have to say this news is most welcome, the way beer is served in the UK is getting a lot of 'airtime' in the beer world at the minute & this news will refocus the debate yet again.

The nature of beer in the UK is changing, stronger beers are becoming more popular in that brewers are brewing more of them, consumers are drinking more of them so it seems wise to facilitate more ways of serving them. There are voices who see this as step towards making Britain more continental in style, cafe-bars, restaurants & craft beer houses serving smaller measures of artisan higher abv. beers that are better enjoyed in smaller quantities. I certainly see this as an opportunity to bring beer closer to the food industry giving scope to match beer in a more appropriate measure with food is an avenue that should be explored.

In the US there is a culture of drinking smaller measures of higher abv. beer, small amounts of quality over copious amounts of mediocrity. I do see the UK adopting some of this mentality & to a certain extent it's happening already & this move will only facilitate the beer market to evolve further.

However the 'session' beer served pints is still the king in the UK & will continue to be so, as I think the pint is deeply ingrained in British drinking culture. This new measure does not pose a threat to the pint nor the British pub, it is infact one of those welcome sideshows that will enable craft beer to blossom in the UK.

Also the ability to showcase beer in stemmed glassware & to rival wine & appeal to a wider market including the huge potential of attracting more female beer drinkers into the market she not be underestimated.

All in all a good move, giving the drinks trade more flexibility in the current market is not a negative move & can only be good for the industry.

Up the beer revolution!

Laying the foundations for 2011.

2010-12-30T14:09:00.002Z

So, 2011 is just a day away & here at SWB have been working hard to finalise the finishing touches of our assault on 2011. There is no doubt 2011 will be our biggest & most exciting year yet, a new settled core range full of beers that are there on the merits of flavour & quality, a new range of 330ml bottles, a foray into kegging some of our beers, exciting quarterly projects following on from the phenomenal success of the 'Project 6' IPA series, monthly specials & experimental one-off brews, will make for an intense year.

As a brewer I really should be daunted by the sheer workload I will have in 2011 but conversely I have never been more up for the challenge nor more excited about craft beer & where this dynamic industry is going. 2011 will throw up lots of challenges to the trade, but I'm sure the creativity of brewers, the passion of licensees & most importantly the appetite of craft beer lovers will grow stronger than ever before!

So here we have our core range line-up for 2011, a mix of classical & evolutionary styles that for me really capture the essence of modern British brewing.

Resistance, Dark Mild. 3.7% abv.

A flavoursome dark mild, packed with depth for a relatively low abv, multiple layers of malt character combine to give a slightly roasty sweet full bodied backbone that is paired nicely with just enough bittering hop to balance the beer on a knife edge, & late addition hops that lift the beer gently. So drinkable & moreish, you may try to resist than second pint, good luck!

Zenith, Pale Ale. 4.0% abv.

Our flagship pale session beer for 2011, pale golden almost blonde in colour, Zenith is packed with zingy Centennial hops which give a citrus bite & flavours of lime all set against a pale malt backdrop. Low in abv but big in the flavour stakes & all set off with a massive dry hop aroma, this beer ups the stakes in the pale & sessionable market.

Gambit, Bronze Ale. 4.2% abv.

Gambit is an interesting devolution of two styles, this beer is neither golden nor amber, it falls directly between the two, what can only be described as 'bronze', the body is light enough to be a session ale but is hoppy enough to give some IPA's a run for their money. A juicy hop bitterness dominates throughout, with grapefruit & orange notes punctuating followed by a huge Amarillo dry hop finish, I'm excited about this beer, so should you see it in 2011, let me know what you think.

Barista, Espresso Stout. 4.8% abv.

Barista is a 'black as the night' stout, a dark malt bitterness leads to roast coffee set against a sumptuous creamy mouthfeel. Real ground Arabica is added to this beer at the end of the boil & allowed to steep, giving you a 'real' coffee hit throughout. The beer finishes with a touch of forgiving sweetness, if you love stout & coffee, then you have found your utopia.

Teleporter, Ten Malt Porter. 5.0% abv.

Teleporter is a smooth yet full bodied porter brewed with TEN malts that take you through a myriad of flavours from dark fruit berries & nuts through to cocoa, it has balance in shovels, the danger in this beer is the fact it's so moreish & at 5% abv. should be treated with respect. Let it take you & you will be 'Teleported' to another place!

Diablo, India Pale Ale. 6.0% abv.

Diablo, for me is the most exciting beer in our core range this year, a 'Citra' hop led bruiser of an IPA, bring it to your nose & take in the intensity of tropical pineapple, mango, lychee & papaya, with undertones of lime & resinous pine. Take the first sip, a smorgasbord of tropical bitterness swathes across your palate, underpinned by definitive sweetness, as the huge dry hop flavour gently dies it's replaced with resinous hop flavours that gently fade against the sweetness. This is one beer you should NOT miss in 2011!!

So there you have it, that's what you can expect from us in 2011 & more! We look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible in 2011, keep tuned to @swbrewery on twitter or here on the blog with news of our travels & beers, we look forward to having a beer with you!

First stop the 'National Winter Ales Festival' 19th January 2011 where 'Diablo' will debut, we hope to see you there!

Very best wishes for a prosperous, craft beer filled exciting year.

Have Taste? There's a tax for that!

2010-11-30T22:27:00.002Z

Today the government released their 'Review of Alcohol Taxation' and after consultation with the companies listed at the bottom of the linked document their proposal to encourage responsible drinking & to tackle 'problem products' that cause social problems & place pressure on the NHS is to put a premium rate of beer duty on any beer at 7.5%abv. or above & to lower tax on beer at 2.8%abv. or below.

Firstly to to the lower end of the spectrum, beers at 2.8% or below? Are you serious? I can only conclude that this is a token gesture to sweeten the bitter pill of a premium tax rate for 7.5%abv.plus beer. I cannot name one single product that is currently on the market that fits this bracket & don't expect a rush of brewers clambering to fill this niche! It is of little consequence to microbreweries in the UK anyway as we cannot claim this relief if we are already on SBR (Small Brewers Relief).

Onto the higher taxation for 7.5% & above beers, now lets get this straight the proposed rises in tax have singled out 'strong beer' for special attention, from this point the logic of the proposed changes collapses. Cider has been largely overlooked with just an introduction of a minimum juice content to help push the price of 'industrial cider' up. Whilst beer has been singled out as the 'bad boy', so naturally lets look at the problem beers in the UK above 7.5%abv. that are causing social meltdown... I can name but one... 'Special Brew' so according to government policy makers this beer is single-handedly causing the majority of alcohol fuelled social problems in the UK... Really?? Give me a break, apart from a smattering of permanently inebriated drunks on park benches 'Special Brews' in brown paper bags is hardly the single biggest blight of modern Britain! Those who buy it do so because it is a relatively cheap way of buying as many alcohol units as possible.

So to you, the craft beer lover, the connoisseur, you pay your taxes, you cause no social nuisance, no strain on police nor on NHS resources, but you regardless of the reasons you enjoy strong craft beers YOU will be penalised as what you enjoy the government classes a 'problem drink' & what I hear you ask is your crime??

You have taste!

Welcome to modern Britain!

Aroma, because it's worth it!

2010-11-28T13:51:00.003Z

A few nights ago whilst drinking a bottle of BrewDog 5am Saint I inhaled the aroma coming from my glass & paused, the first thought to enter my head was why can't all beers smell this good? The short answer is, they can!

The role of dry hopping(putting dry hops into fermented beer) for added aroma is a commonly used technique in the US craft beer scene, but relatively recently it has found favor again with British breweries. If you have ever had the pleasure of taking the cap of a fresh bottle of 'Stone IPA' for example, the aroma is simply stunning & for me is just as much a lure as the flavour. I believe aroma should play as large part of the experience of drinking great beer as savouring the flavour.

Most British brewers add 'late' hops to the copper either minutes from the end or at flame off to add aroma, this is a tried & tested technique which works & lifts the aroma of the resulting beer whilst adding little bitterness as the hop oils are not isomerised. However the aroma that can be achieved by steeping dry hops into fermented beer for at least a week is truly unrivaled.

So why don't British brewers use this technique more? In 2007/2008 hop prices hit record levels & due to the amount of hops required for dry hopping it became cost prohibitive, in some cases it could have added 40% to the cost of producing a beer. Also in the UK brewers are much more financially constrained, for example duty on beer is ELEVEN times lower in the US not to mention their larger market, the price of fuel etc... Giving US brewers much more scope to just produce 'wow beer' regardless of cost, so in short UK economics & commodity prices directly affect the quality of British beer.

In the last year hop prices have decreased significantly, in particularly US varieties, now making it financially viable to dry hop beers without increasing costs significantly. This is great news for craft beer in Britain as it allows us as brewers to increase the quality of the finished product. The brewers dilemma is at what point is a beer of sufficient quality whilst still remaining profitable? It simply boils down to simple economics, if a commodity is cheaper we can use more whilst still being competitive on price. So with one eye on 2011 I for one am excited at the prospect of using bale after bale of US green goodies to dry hop more of our beers & give them that wow factor!

Farewell Mr Thornbridge!

2010-11-08T12:55:00.001Z

It is time to bid farewell to the man who puts Passion in Innovation, Passion, Knowledge. We should all thank Kel for his services to British Brewing, his huge enthusiasm for his art is unrivaled. Kelly always has the time to chat to anyone who is passionate about great beer & is happy to share his wealth of knowledge with all who enquire & that is a trait that will serve you well anywhere in the world Sir. So farewell Kel & Cat, happy & safe travels... Hope to see you back on these shores someday in the not too distant future!

All the best mate,

From us all here at SWB.

An Audience with SWB!

2010-10-18T14:42:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday the 27th of October @ 1930 we will be in Leeds for a 'Meet the Brewer' event at Mr Foley's Cask Ale House, 159 The Headrow, Leeds LS1 5RG.

The evening will commence with a brief talk from myself & Andy regarding where the brewery has come from & where it is going over the next exciting years.
To follow will be a tasting of the selection of beers available. Through Dean's (Mr Foley's Manager) generosity, there will be free tasters of the beers. I will then lead a brief tasting of the beers culminating in the tasting of Project 6 Brew Five, the latest brew in our Project 6 series of 6.6% IPA's.
We will not keep you all for too long, as an evening of conviviality & light snacks will follow where we would be delighted to take any questions you may have.

So don't miss out, get yourself into Leeds on the 27th October @ 1930 we'd be delighted to see you there!

The Key to Real Keg?

2010-09-27T21:59:00.002+01:00

In the past twelve months the idea of Keg craft beer in the UK has been brought to the fore by several high profile craft brewers in the UK these include BrewDog, Meantime & Thornbridge. For so long a taboo in the UK craft market as it was seen to be too close to what the huge fizz producers did on the bars up & down the country.

Recently there has been a softening to varying dispense methods for beer in the UK, this seems to have appeared naturally along the side the growth of cask ale. There are now also a handful of progressive beer outlets in the UK who have fowarded the idea of guest beers appearing via keg & rotating on the taps just like guest cask ales on the pumps, examples include The Rake in London & The Sheffield Tap to name just two, & judging by the response they have recieved by pioneering guest keg beers it is surely something that has a role to play in the UK beer market.

Britain is the world pioneer of cask ale & champions this style & quite rightly so as it is hard to beat this method of dispense if executed correctly, i.e. correct glassware, correct serving temperature & beer that has been nursed into condition, bursting with life, cask ale really is hard to beat as method of dispense. But as the UK beer market has evolved keg has a method of dispense has naturally come to the attention of micro owners up & down the UK & during the past month I too have become aware of a new innovative method of kegging beer that requires no extraneous CO2 to dispense the beer in the keg the product to which I am referring is KeyKeg.

Picture Courtesy of KeyKeg.

Available in 20 & 30 litre versions KeyKeg is a disposable plastic ball enveloped inside a cardboard outer, inside the plastic ball of the KeyKeg is a foil bag system into which the beer is filled, the video here demonstrates the inner workings of KeyKeg. The Keg can be filled either by filling it with ready carbonated beer i.e. beer with CO2 dissolved in it or can be filled with beer that has a degree of conditioning left to do once inside the Keg thus building up condition & pressure inside the Keg I believe this is a German idea which is catching on.

The most impressive thing about KeyKeg is that at no point during serving does oxygen or CO2 come into contact with the beer, compressed air or gas is pumped into the ball between the bag a ball causing a gradual collapse of the bag thus forcing the beer out of the bag & out of the open tap, at no point is EXTRA CO2 added to the beer, the dispensed beer contains only the CO2 added during packaging or that has occured through natural conditioning in the KeyKeg without oxygen, 'Real Keg' in my eyes. The greatest advantage for micros is that KeyKeg can be filled individually by hand in the brewery without the need for an expensive kegging line, see the video here.

Now we all know CAMRA's hard line & almost papal view of anything that is not cask or bottle conditioned, well this product kinda falls between all CAMRA's governance as it IS keg dispense as the beer is pushed out & not drawn out via the suction created inside a beer engine, but at no point does extraneous CO2 enter the dispensed beer. I saw a tweet from Kelly Ryan at Thornbridge the other day saying he was showing Stratford CAMRA around the brewery & he showed them the dispense technology of KeyKeg & apparently they were amazed by it, CAMRA members amazed by keg... I know, I thought exactly the same, but it may be that we have come across a product that CAMRA as an organisation may be able to credence within the trade in Britain.

However regardless of CAMRA's stance on such a product I believe this product has legs in the UK as it opens up 'kegging' to micros of all sizes & that can surely only be great for the consumer, the more breweries offering keg the more likely you are likely to see it on the bars of craft beer outlets up & down the country. I know BrewDog & Thornbridge are already using this technology to great effect.

We for one will be taking delivery of KeyKegs & making our beer available for the select outlets that do rotate keg beers in their outlets. Some narrow minded people may see this as an attack on cask beer, not at all, it is our lifeblood as brewers, but it can SUPPLEMENT cask as a new exciting part of our amazing craft beer scene, cask will always be king in Britain but some very good sideshows like 'KeyKeg' may well bring craft beer to the masses who will still only for some ingrained reason drink from the font....

A diversion from cask... No, a new piece of the craft beer jigsaw in the UK...?

I think so....

Hop Frenzy

2010-09-03T21:08:00.003+01:00

Yes folks it's that wonderful time of year again, the hop harvest. Our fertile rocky third rock from the sun has completed an orbital circuit around our home star, & the photons that streamed from the sun hitting those most wonderful bines causing photosynthesis in our most beloved green matter across the planet, allowing growth of the female hop flower clusters we know as Humulus Lupulus or Hops have come to bear.

This year the interest in hops has literally exploded, new varieties popping up all over the world, green hopped beers growing in popularity & American hops gaining yet more fervor world over. I have certainly gauged an excitement in the online world this year, frequent tweets from Eddie Gadd @gaedd about the hop harvest & their green hop beer with a staggering 45kg of fresh green hops going into the copper. Further north news of Thornbridge's 2010 Halcyon brew starts to trickle out, oh & as I type a new tweet from Sierra Nevada Brewery 'Our wet hops have just arrived. We start brewing our Northern Hemisphere Ale today' it seems green hopped beers really are coming to the fore this year.

I read a tweet from Paul Corbett at Charles Farams earlier stating the news from the Savinja Valley in Slovenia is good, yields are of good quality & certaintly looks like a beautiful part of the world in the pic below. Slovenian hops are much underrated & you will see greater volumes used in the UK in 2011.

Savinja Valley, Solvenia. Courtesy of Paul Corbett.

The excitement is palpable this year, and from experience in the brewing trade there are many brewers waiting with baited breath for news about the most sought after hops varieties like Nelson Sauvin, Chinook & the amazing new Citra variety pioneered by Sierra Nevada & whose stunning attributes were brought out so beautifully by Thornbridge in their limited special Larkspur.

I currently have a hop wish list as long as my arm & I will certainly be schmoozing the guys at Charles Farams for first dibs on some rarer varieties, as I have some exciting beers planned for the new year that will showcase some old favourites & some stunning new varieties that have slipped in under the radar.

All in all 2011 looks to be shaping up as a great year for new and unusual varieties gracing the UK's fine ales, what if any new varieties are you looking forward to trying in beers this coming year? I plan to get my mits on some Summit, Bravo, Apollo, Columbus, Citra, Chinook Warrior, Galaxy, Pacific Gem as well as all the usual favourites the list goes on... I also enjoyed employing the passion fruit/peach notes when dry hopping with Rakau from New Zealand this year so will be back for some more.

I await those containers hitting UK shores bursting with Lupulin with a childlike excitement & all I want for Christmas is a few bales of Citra, please Mr Corbett be good ol' St. Nic for a day!

The On-trade going Off?

2010-08-22T15:17:00.005+01:00

The Institute of Alcohol Studies have recently released their 'Drinking In Great Britain Factsheet' an in depth look at alcohol consumption, pricing and units for the UK and it makes for interesting and in places startling reading, it shows alcohol consumption in the UK is FALLING regardless of what some quarters would have you believe and more worryingly that alcohol consumption in the On-trade is in marked decline whilst Off-trade sales remain broadly unchanged.

*Source 'Insitiute for Alcohol Studies'

As you can see above there is a stepped decline in On-trade alcohol consumption & for England & Wales at least, Off-trade alcohol sales remain steady (Scotland seem to be swapping the pub for drinking at home at an alarming rate), there could be a variety of causal factors for England & Wales' figures, it could be that we are drinking more low abv. alcohol products at the pub i.e 'Session Beers' or that hikes in alcohol prices in the On-trade are due to external pressures like inflation & decreasing footfall. When we take into account the price per unit of alcohol from 2005 to 2009 the figures would argue that prices per unit in the On-trade are directly responsible for the decreasing volumes in the On-trade.

*Source 'Institute for Alcohol Studies'

During the increases in alcohol unit prices in the On-trade you will see that Off-trade unit prices have remained almost unchanged, now this is where we get to the crux of the issue, are the Off-trade unit prices we see unchanged due to the Off-trade artificially holding them lower i.e large volume cheap supermarket alcohol or does the trend show that operational costs of the On-trade have increased so highly as to force their hand on pricing?

Either way the gap is widening worryingly, for me this means the poor pubs & bars alike have to 'up' their games and make sure they don't unduly hike prices & make sure that the pub offers added value, this can include quality of 'cask products' that have condition and correct serving temp, correct glassware that is immaculately clean, knowledgeable staff, cleanliness of premises the list goes on... Tandleman is a stickler for all of these and rightly so!

I applaud the many top outlets that get it right time and time again but there are still pubs out there that are flattering to deceive.

There have been recent examples of poor pub experiences that demonstrate my point in the blogosphere here and here.

After all the wider the difference in price the more picky the customer will become about the pub & they will be less & less tolerant when they get it wrong. The On-trade must up their game to make sure that they meet their punters demand for quality or they may lose them to home drinking forever, this is the harsh reality that pub operators really need to wake up to, it is easy to point fingers at ridiculously cheap alcohol which granted is a contributing factor but there is an old saying 'people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' get your own house in order and lets take it from there..

Only then can we hopefully arrest this decline in On-trade sales before too many of our national treasures are lost forever!

Do these figures also forward a case for minimum pricing? It wouldn't affect the On-trade and would close the gap between On & Off trade pricing, the jury is still out in this but take a look at the report and draw your own conclusions.

Solid Bronze

2010-08-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

Next week we will be launching our new monthly special 'Gambit', which is an interesting little number, bronze in colour 4.2 abv. bittered with English hops & heavily dry hopped with American varieties, this beer will have a balanced bitterness with some juicy American hop notes. Inspiration came from drinking Odell's excellent beers, the balance they achieve in their beers coupled with the wonderful Anglo-American feel their beers have inspired me to produce something really moreish with poise, balance & a little bit of wow factor.

Also you may notice this is the first beer to sport our new style pump clip which will be gracing our entire range before the year is out. This is the last remaining piece of the full re-brand we undertook at the beginning of the year, leaving us settled to concentrate on producing some of the best cask ales around at the moment.

Also on the Project 6 front Brew Four is in the tank and acquiring some gorgeous aromas and flavour from the masses of dry hops in there, Brew Four is an Amarillo dominated IPA, with masses of floral tangerine goodness! Sure to please the most avid of hopheads!

Also to accompany 'Gambit' & Project 6 Brew Four this month we have 'Orion' a fruity & ridiculously session-able Blonde ale at 4.0% abv. Couple that with our core range of Nine great beers, you really are spoilt for choice this month! As I sign off this post I raise my glass which is full of Odell IPA & say cheers for the inspiration Doug!

Red is THE Colour...

2010-08-14T15:19:00.002+01:00

A style of beer that has always appealed to me has suddenly been thrust into the limelight:

'Red Ale'.

The Thornbridge/Odell collaboration 'Colorado Red', Hardknott's Infra-Red, Brewdog's 5 am Saint & others, you can see Zak Avery's take on Hardknott's Infra-Red Oxymoronic IPA here.

This style really is 'a la mode' as our Gallic friends might say.

As a style subset this is a really interesting area, there is a lot a flexibility within this style for the brewer, grist make-up can vary quite dramatically, you can really get away with adding any type of malt to a 'Red ale' although in some cases small amounts, i.e. Chocolate malt used sparingly can give a deep ruby colour and some interesting malt notes, Amber malt for a touch of colour and smokiness, Munich for colour and malt sweetness the list goes on...

When it comes to hops the combination's are also truly endless, something that seems to be a relative standard in this style is a quite assertive hop bitterness and a heavy aroma addition, the levels of variables in this style lead me to think this will become an area that will be heavily explored by the UK craft scene in the coming years. I see a range of benefits from this; a staging point for stalwart brown bitter drinkers to take a sidestep and enjoy some variation and who knows a widening of their vision towards other styles, it also for some may prove to be a welcome diversion from the hugely popular pale & hoppy style sweeping the UK craft sector.

Although 'sessionable' red ales for the on-trade will be a whole new challenge altogether, something we tackled earlier this year a special called 'Redwood' at 4.0% abv. we brewed with plenty of Munich malt & loads of Simcoe hops & it proved to be really popular as it seemed to fill a gap in the market & really appealed to licensees.

I hope this style really is here to stay & be explored for the foreseeable future and who knows there may be some real new stars born. It is an area I will be devoting my 'full' attention to later this year but in the meantime I'll be sure to be seeking out these gorgeous redheads for further attention.

Hops: Seasonal Variations

2010-08-05T18:18:00.000+01:00

Hops are in my opinion the most pleasurable vegetal matter known to mankind, they can be anything to the senses; fruity, piney, spicy, sweet, citrussy, lemony, pithy, earthy, tangy & floral, to name but a few characteristics. But as with all naturally grown products they are completley at the mercy of mother nature on how they grow, yield, taste, smell etc, just like any fruit or vegetable you would buy.

Seasonal variation of hops is something that is talked about very little in the UK, those in and around the beer scene will be aware that the alpha acid content of hops varies from crop to crop, this is due to entirely to natural variation, this means although certain hop varieties remain the same by type or strain i.e the same seedlings the same variety of hop can yield differing results in the brewing process from year to year.

Take example the current crop of Cascade hops from the US are slightly down on alpha acid content from last year and for me are not packing the same 'Cascadey' punch as the previous years crop from the US, now in some cases this can present a problem for a brewer in that a core range beer that is permanently available needs to remain the same in bitterness & flavour regardless of the year or the crop used, bitterness adjustments are fairly simple to achieve with a few simple mathematics but something that cannot be catered for is the change in the flavour characteristics of hops which will inevitably change the finished product.

In this mass produced ever more consistent & dumbed down world we live in this may provide a dilemma for the more un-educated drinker, in that a beer they consume and enjoy one year may taste very different just a year later, there are other varying factors like levels of certain compounds in malt & water which also varies but thats for another post.

Organic Hops Growing at Sierra Nevada

Now the beer world seems much less tolerable of products that 'change' year on year, yet the seasonality of grapes in the wine industry is what the very industry is about, i.e a 2007 Cabernet maybe for example accepted as a better year than a 2009. This is part of the very psyche of the wine world, yet seasonality in the brewing world is not acknowledged by most nor talked about. I have to say i'm a fan of seasonality as it throws variety into life not to mention challenges to a brewer keeping you on your toes & it also reminds me that the flavour profile of beers should always be checked, managed & improved. It is worth noting that you may have not quite enjoyed a craft beer you liked sometime ago but is worth revisiting to see what annual variation has played out on the beer.

The brewing trade is very lucky at the moment as there are a multitude of new hop varieties appearing from all over the world which gives brewers an ideal opportunity to brew one off seasonal brews with sometimes staggeringly good results, the wine world is not so lucky grape varieties for the most part are established.

So why do we as brewers & drinkers not embrace the roulette of varietal changes in hops & strains in the same way the wine industry reveres a 'good year' on the vineyards?

The huge yellow fizzy manufactures spend millions on analysing every discreet batch in a multitude of ways to ensure, colour, bitterness, viscosity, pH, etc. remain the same day in day out week in week out & so on, some people may like this 'reliability' (used in the loosest form) but I myself find the subtle variance of craft beers all part of the nature of our intriguing industry it provides an unending challenge to a brewers skill.

Beers may change for better or for worse but for me it is all part of the nature of the craft beer industry.

They say variety is the spice of life, if so, the magical hop will keep life very interesting...

What will the next crop & the new varieties flooding out of the US & around the world throw at the craft brewing industry?

Who knows...

That's what keeps us on the hop!!

Brewdog: Good for Craft Beer??

2010-07-24T17:55:00.006+01:00

Now that the rodent filled furor of Brewdog's latest headline grabber has started to subside & the avalanche of press coverage it's created wanes, it's time the look back on their eventful year and ask the question;

'Are Brewdog good for craft beer?'.

If you look at it from a beer purists point of view they have sent craft beer hurtling into the world headlines thus raising the profile of the entire craft scene in the UK & all over the world. I am in no doubt that there must be more craft beer lovers in the UK now than before Brewdog's 2007 conception.

Brewdog have been heavily criticised over the recent year not least for the abv's of some of their offerings but some of their marketing tact too. However if you look a little deeper at Brewdog, past the headlines and into their business brains, what you will find is two savvy young business men who have managed to engage such a captive audience who hang on every latest announcement with bated breath like some kind of mass hypnosis!

In marketing terms you cannot buy this kind of coverage & access to media, regardless of your personal stance on Brewdog, EVERYONE is talking about them and they wouldn't have it any other way!

In my opinion Brewdog have earnt the right (to use an Americanism): 'run their mouths' because the beers they are producing are world class & get people talking about great beer isn't that what WE ARE ALL ABOUT?

From a business point of view what Brewdog have achieved in just 3 short years is staggering & unprecedented for a small brewery, surely they at least deserve some credit for this alone.

I only hope now they have hopefully settled the crazy quest for the world's highest abv. with 'The End of History' beer, they will get back to producing great innovative beers in sufficient volume for us all, after all we don't want their creative energies burning out just yet.

Whilst Brewdog won't be receiving Christmas cards from, Alcohol Concern, Portman Group, over zealous animal lovers,(although how taxidermy of roadkill is offensive I'll never know) oh & maybe a few Germans, this is a list I'm sure James, Martin & Co. nor the Craft Beer world will lose any sleep over. As long as no-one gets hurt, what's the problem?? It's all good natured with one thing at it's heart, something that James Watt has stressed again & again;

It's about Great Craft Beer!

And if they want to have fun in the process of raising the Craft Beer World's profile, why the hell not?!!

But lets get back to sanity & reality. & brew some beers we can all buy & drink....

So guys ...What about this new 15% stout loaded with Cocoa & Coffee...?

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article.php?id=331

* Disclaimer: No Squirrels or Stoats were harmed in the production of this post.

It's a Revolution...

2010-07-17T17:00:00.002+01:00

As this is my first post I will keep it short & sweet, I want to try and set the tone for the kind of things you'll find on my blog, I will attempt to chronicle the goings on in the world of craft beer.

As a beer blog reader you will probably be well aware of the kind of transition the beer world is going through from the huge volume downturn from the multi-national conglomerates and the huge explosion of the Craft Beer movement all over the world.

We are in very important & exciting times in our embryonic industry what happens in the coming decade or so will lay the foundations & framework for the future proliferation of Craft Beer worldwide.

The craft scene in the UK, US & mainland Europe is already diverse & wonderfully complex leading the the very thing that is driving this amazing phenomena: variety & choice!

The sheer number of styles and strengths of beers appearing the world-over have really given the consumer a never ending stream of new exciting beers to get to grips with & most importantly availability has exploded, this must surely be a product of the simple forces of supply & demand through a plethora of beer retailers both on-line & shops like the fantastic Beer-Ritz at Headingley in Leeds. The customer is now demanding more choice than ever before, the very word 'choice' must be the buzzword of our burgeoning industry right now.

No-ones beer holding need ever be dictated by large volumes of unremarkable ubiquity again, flavour & availability are now in the driving seat, I foresee years & years of enlightening the masses to come, you may have experienced it yourself, the moment a friend tries one of your beers and their eyes widen & glaze over as they hand you back the glass whilst savoring the flavours & utter the very words that are music to any craft beer lovers ears...

"WOW! I didn't know beer could taste that good!" at precisely that moment your conscience whispers "my work here is done..."

I will never forget the look of amazement on our fantastic new draymans face (a lowest common denominator lager drinker of 25 years) face when he chugged back his first mouthful of our our American Pale 'Apache' and uttered the immortal words after a long pause... 'all those wasted years!'

As you probably well know once your senses are opened to the world of craft beer there really is no going back....

The Revolution has begun.