Successful Derby-based Wentwell Brewery have launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance upgrades to their existing equipment. Set up in 2010 and having already self-financed a move from a 0.5 BBL kit located in a domestic garage to a 2.5 BBL plant, Wentwell also has 2 pubs of its own and would like to be in a position where it can not only meet demand from its own outlets, but also supply its beers to the wider free trade. In this case, rather than again upgrading their kit to something larger…
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Moorhouse’s, the Lancashire-based independent brewer is to launch a bewitching special edition of it’s ‘Black Cat’ dark ale (3.4%), a former winner of the coveted CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain. Primarily available as a 4.6% cask beer, there will also be a 7% version with limited cask availability – the latter will also be available in bottles, to be sold exclusively by the Booths supermarket group. Moorhouse’s describe the beer as “An intensely dark beer, Black Cat Reserve conjures deep complex notes of roasted coffee chocolate and mocha, balanced by…
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Earlier today I was shocked to read this article in which it was made clear that Leicester brewery Everards was on the verge of driving a small independent Scottish brewery out of business over the most phenomenally overzealous intellectual property issue, and something you’d expect to see from the likes of Starbucks rather than a family-run British brewery that seemingly prides itself on traditional values. Elixir Brew Co was seemingly facing extinction over trademark issues – Everards filing a trademark application brought about by the release of a seasonal ale…
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How long have you been brewing for? I have been brewing for about twelve years. How did you get into brewing? Did you homebrew? I have a passion for beer and I decided to study for this at the Heriot Watt University to gain a degree in brewing. I have worked at Jennings and Holts breweries. I think most people have home brewed at some point in their life and I am no different! Who/what inspired you to be a brewer? I have a passion for beer and I could…
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CAMRA’s 2013 Great British Beer Festival took place earlier this month at London’s Olympia and one of the highlights of the festival was the 2013 Champion Beer of Britain award, as well as the awards in each beer category. The festival itself and the award ceremonies took place in a fantastic Grade II listed Victorian venue approximately of approximately 15,000 square metres with capacity for some 10,000 ale and cider lovers! Competition and CAMRA chair, Colin Valentine, had this to say about the overall winner – “It was a really…
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Tell us a bit about your brewery. We are a micro set up in 2012 with the aim of producing classic session beers all below 5% with the focus on championing English hops. We are never going to be pushing the boundaries in terms of brewing but have gained a good reputation for producing easy drinking session beers which people seem to enjoy. How long have you been brewing for? We did our first brew in September 2012 so we are still young in terms of our brewing. How did…
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Batemans Mocha is a strong stout from the traditional family brewers Batemans who were founded in 1874. Their company slogan is “Good Honest Ales” and a strong stout that has chocolate and coffee as the predominant flavours ticks all the boxes as far as I’m concerned so I have high hopes for this one. Mocha pours a darkish mahogany colour as opposed to the more traditional jet black stout and no matter how it was poured from the bottle it was impossible to retain any head for longer than 30…
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In light of the recent 1p duty cut, one brewery has opted to make a difference rather than pocket the difference. Jonathan Hughes of Great Orme Brewery, North Wales, has decided that instead of seeing an increase in profits from the reduction in beer duty, that he will give the difference to the National Association of Children of Alcoholics (NACOA) in order that those affected by alcohol misuse may benefit instead – an idea which quickly drew support from from SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers). Established for over 20 years,…
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Tell us a bit about your brewery. Ilkley Brewery was founded in 2009 with an aim be Deceptively Different: to combine traditional English brewing techniques with inspiration from across the world. The brewers try to remain curious, constantly innovating and developing. The process from grain to glass is an exciting journey, and we want our passion to be tasted in every drop. The original Ilkley Brewery and Aerated Water Company was founded 140 years ago, utilising the local water, famed for its purity. We wanted to revive the proud brewer’s…
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The Pied Bull is an historic Chester city centre pub that has origins as far back as 1155 and is reputed to be the oldest licenced premises in Chester. The strengths of the pub lie in the wide selection of real ales on cask (along with a couple of their own brews which I’ll get to in a bit), and the cosy traditional style of the interior. Given that it’s a city centre pub with history you can expect to bump into a variety of characters in there ranging from…
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