A Very Peculier Rebel

By Timothy Hampson

original getting its distinctive red colour as a result of the use of rye, Slater and the Theakston team turned it gold. A blonde, hop-forward beer, Cwtch Gold is made by using Munich and other specialist pale malts to impart not only a different colour but also add subtle, more malty flavours to the Welsh classic.

A new brewing collaboration is bringing the disruptors and establishment together to celebrate cask ale. T&R Theakston and Tiny Rebel have joined forces for a brewing event designed to highlight the craft, beauty and taste of cask beer and grow consumer interest in the category.

As part of the collaboration, brewers from Tiny Rebel took over Theakston’s historic Victorian tower brewery in Masham to craft their tribute to arguably one of the country’s most famous cask beers, Old Peculier. Led by Tiny Rebel’s head brewer Mark Gammons, the team brewed a radical interpretation of the classic, using chocolate malts, pure cocoa, Fuggle and Progress hops, to create the distinctive Chocolate Old Peculier.

During the same week, Theakston’s head brewer, Mark Slater and his team took a trip to Newport, South Wales to create a Yorkshire expression of Tiny Rebel’s famous Cwtch Beer. With the

Theakston joint MD Simon Theakston said: "Brewing is in our blood and so when given the chance to develop a beer in collaboration with the highly creative and innovative brewing team at Tiny Rebel, one of the most successful brewers of the modern era, it was too good an opportunity for us to miss. We are incredibly excited at the prospect of tasting the two new beers."

Tiny Rebel chief demand officer Mo Syed said: "In the world of cask beer brewing they don’t come much bigger than Theakston’s of Masham, so to be associated with them in a collaboration, is a matter of enormous pride to us. We look forward to the outcome of our brewers’ skills and hopefully further brewing collaborations between us in the future."

The two beers, Chocolate Old Peculier (5.6 per cent ABV) and Golden Cwtch (4.6 per cent) will be featured in a number of special seasonal ale programmes during the months of July and August. Further details will be found at theakstons.co.uk and tinyrebel.co.uk. The beers will also be available in Tiny Rebel’s Brewery Bars in Newport and Cardiff, and Theakston’s Black Bull in Paradise in Masham