The Brewers Journal Jul-Aug 2017, iss 4 vol 3 by Reby Media

the magazine for the professional brewing industry

Brewers T H E

J O U R N A L

july~august 2017 ISSN 2059-6669

kew

David Scott on why uk ingredients are the star of his beers

P.46

Beer Noveau: heritage beers

P.52

Tailgate beer: focus on flavour

P.56

Brewhouse: make the right choice

l e a d er

Find

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hen we set up, we had some pretty high hopes for it. These weren’t for it to become the UK’s most sought-after brewery, they weren’t for it to become the UK’s biggest brewery, or even for it to become just large enough and just famous enough for a multi-national to come along with a multi-million pound cheque and buy us out,” explains Beer Noveau founder Steve Dunkley . “Our high hopes were that people would like our beers as much as we did. It’s a great feeling as a brewer when you see someone buy one of your beers, and better when you see them enjoy it. What tops this though is the feeling you get when you see a drinker come back for a second one, especially in this market where the choice of beers is so great that we’re truly spoiled.” Dunkley, through his Manchester-based brewery, has seen people come back for more than just their second. He recently surpassed the goals set in a crowdfunding programme that involves the brewery working with craft maltsters to recreate the grains used by breweries of the time, with beer brewed using recipes and processes researched by beer historians. Such is the insatiable appetite for heritage beers that he dedicated his talk at the Edinburgh Brewers Lectures to the subject. For more on Dunkley's journey to date, turn to page 46. Thanks also to David Scott, founder of Kew Brewery, who graces the cover this issue. An advocate for looking after the environment as much as he is for producing good beer, Scott's brewery donates a portion of profits from each beer sold to the World Land Trust. An initiative that has recently allowed them to purchase and protect nearly 50 acres of threatened wilderness and all of its wildlife. “I'd like to see more UK breweries use UK hops from an environmental perspective. It’s fantastic to see Chinook, Bullion and Cascade grown here, while varieties such as Oilcana are not at all English in the qualities they offer. I want people to look more at UK hops and I want people drinking a beer for that reason. I want to challenge their preconceptions,” Scott explains on page 38. We also caught up with some leading UK beer purveyors on page 29 to get an insight into what their customers are drinking, how those tastes are chang-

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Editor's choice Breweries continue to innovate and push the boundaries with what they can do with beer, and are asking for the same from their maltsters. - Page 68

ing, as well as to learn their views on supermarkets increasingly encroaching into the craft beer space. It's a time when Tesco and Marks and Spencer continue to furnish their shelves with additions from breweries such as Fourpure, Stone Brewing Berlin, Thornbridge and Adnams. Waitrose recently responded to a 33% jump in speciality beer sales with the introduction of 25 new beers from names including Redchurch, Five Points Brewing Company, Alchemy and Wild Beer Co. And most recently, Northern Monk started supplying Morrisons with exclusive multi-packs. Finally, a massive thank you to everyone that spoke at, sponsored, and attended our lectures event in Edinburgh last month. Roll on Bristol and London later this year! And with our next issue marking the start of The Brewers Journal's third year, we want to ensure we go from strength-to-strength. Just where does the time go? I hop you enjoy the issue! Tim Sheahan Editor

July~August 2017 | The Brewers Journal 3

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UK One year: £29, two year: £54 Rest of the world One year: £39, two year: £69 The content of The Brewers Journal is subject to copyright. However, if you would like to obtain copies of an article for marketing purposes high-quality reprints can be supplied to your specification. Please contact the advertising team for full details of this service. The Brewers Journal is printed at Stephens & George Print Group, Merthyr Tydfil, UK.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The Brewers Journal ISSN 2059-6650 is published bimonthly by Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Subscription records are maintained at Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. The Brewers Journal accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its publishers. Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom.

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c o n t en t s

c ontent s 52

Cover story

38 - Kew Brewery founder David Scott on why more breweries should turn to UK hops, malt and other ingredients to broaden their beer range company profile 22- Complete Bottling on supporting the industry Comments 23- Jonny Garrett looks at macro beer rebrands 25- Saxon Packaging on the importance of PACK the big issue: beer trends 29- Leading UK beer purveyors reveal what their customers are drinking and discuss the evolving challenge of supermarkets and craft beer

Meet the brewer: beer noveau 46 - Why brewery founder Steve Dunkley is looking back in UK brewing history as the Manchester brewery takes the next steps in its own development foreign focus: tailgate beer 52 - How focusing on flavour has helped Wesley Keegan's brewery expand beyond the US

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technology: brewhouses 56 - Investing in a brewhouse is one of biggest decisions a brewery will make in its lifetime. So knowing the specification that works for you, and the beer you will be producing, is key. ingredients: malt 68 - Malt demand continues to increase, and so do the demands placed on maltsters both in the UK and Europe. Breweries continue to innovate and push the boundaries with what they can do, and so they are asking for the same from their maltsters Science: Brettanomyces 74 - Gary Spedding of BDAS, LLC takes a closer look at the metabolic flavour production of Brettanomyces yeast strains Science: Bacteria 78 - Lallemand's Robert Percival on the increased prevalence of sour beer and the need for reliable and consistent production

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MARSTON’S ACQUIRES CHARLES WELLS’ brewery

arston’s has agreed to buy Charles Wells’ brewery and brand sales interests that include Bombardier, Courage, and McEwan’s for £55m. Charles Wells is selling its brewing business to Marston’s for £55m, a deal that does not include the former’s pubs in the UK and France. Charles Wells’ Bedford brewery site produces Bombardier, Courage, and McEwan’s. The sale to Marston’s also includes UK distribution rights for Kirin Lager, Estrella Damm, Erdinger and Founders as wells the exclusive global license of the Young’s brand. In addition, wine merchants Cockburn & Campbell will also transfer but Charlie Wells and John Bull beers will remain part of Charles Wells Ltd. Employees at the brewery in pro-

duction, national sales, and brands marketing divisions will transfer to Marston’s. As a result of the sale, Charles Wells will invest in a small new, Bedford-based, brewery to supply beers to its pub customers in the UK and Europe. Brewing and supply agreements will be made with Marston’s for interim brewing and longer term exclusive pub distribution services. The announcement for Charles Wells signals an exit from higher volume national sales in favour of a more “local and smaller scale brewing future” in Bedford. Justin Phillimore, chief executive of Charles Wells Ltd, explained: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Marston’s to acquire our brewery and become a close trading partner. “After a detailed review of our strategy we had decided to re-

balance the company more towards retail investment and that meant finding a partner we could work with for the future. There are opportunities for both companies in this deal and we look forward to bringing them to life” Ralph Findlay, chief executive officer of Marston’s PLC, added: “Marston’s is delighted to have reached this agreement with Charles Wells and is absolutely committed to the future of brewing in Bedford. This agreement offers us opportunities to extend our trading area into new areas. “The acquisition of the Charles Wells brewing business builds on Marston’s established brewing prowess and is a further step in our objective to develop the leading premium beer business in the UK market, something that Bedford’s Eagle Brewery will play an important part in.”

FOURPURE TO BOOST CAPACITY 400% FOLLOWING £2M INVESTMENT

ourpure Brewing Co will boost its production capacity by 400% to 14m pints a year following a £2m investment in new equipment. Bermondsey’s Fourpure is to follow last year’s £1.6m investment in a canning and packing line with a new four vessel Craft-Star brewing system from GEA and additional new equipment. The Craft-Star brewing system is the first of its kind to hit the UK, while the £2m spend also includes an upgraded centrifuge, a carbonation module, additional indoor/outdoor chillers, malt and spent grain silos and 12 x 200hL fermentation tanks. The equipment will be installed over the summer and will be producing beer by September. “Tom and I founded Fourpure in 2013 and over the last four years we

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have invested personal savings from previous ventures in building the business. We are extremely proud to have built a successful brewery that now employs a team of almost 50 people, explained Dan Lowe, cofounder of Fourpure. He said: “We are funding this most recent expansion of our business in a traditional way through a combination of lending, borrowing and reinvestment. We are delighted that so many people enjoy our beer and this investment will help us to continue this exciting path to becoming one the UK’s leading craft brewers.” Lowe added: “No one would argue that we’re lacking in affordable housing but once London is wallto-wall with blocks of flats, where are all the people going to work? “When demand for our products was outstripped by supply, it

would have been easy to find large, cheaper premises outside of London. “However, London is our heartland and is integral to our brand, so we are determined to grow into the city we love, rather than move out of it. This latest investment will allow us to quadruple our production and stay true to our brand heritage.”

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UK BREWERIES COLLABORATE FOR COFFEE BEER FESTIVAL

even top UK breweries are collaborating with coffee roasters from the UK and Republic of Ireland for the Uppers & Downers festival of coffee beers this September. Breweries such as Magic Rock, Brew By Numbers, Cloudwater and Weird Beard are collaborating with seven coffee roasters for Good Beer Hunting’s Uppers & Downers event later this year. The festival, which aims to showcase the best in coffee beer, is the brainchild of Good Beer Hunting’s Founder and Director Michael Kiser and World Barista Champion Stephen Morrissey. It is designed to focus on coffee as a specialty brewing and blending ingredient with origin. The festi-

val promoting unexpected styles, extraction methods, and blending techniques. The collaborations are: • Brew By Numbers (London) x Workshop Coffee (London) • Beavertown (London) x Caravan (London) • Boundary (Belfast) x Roasted Brown (Delgany, ROI) • Cloudwater (Manchester) x Square Mile Coffee (London) • Magic Rock (Huddersfield) x Dark Woods Coffee (Huddersfield) • Northern Monk (Leeds) x North Star Roasters (Leeds) • Weird Beard (London) x Has Bean (Stafford) Good Beer Hunting’s Michael Kiser explained: “Bringing Uppers & Downers to London is both an in-

credible outreach and homecoming for us. We’ve had people from all over the world venture to Chicago for the fest, and because of that interest and awareness we’re now able to bring it to them, which creates a platform for local brewers and roasters to showcase their own beer and coffee cultures, and experiment through collaboration. "And no place outside the States has been more important to us than the U.K.” “Our audience there is growing at an incredible pace, consistent with the growth of its craft beer scene, which has become quite ambitious in its own right." Kiser added: I’m excited about Uppers & Downers in London going forward.”

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DARTMOOR BREWERY EYES MAJOR GROWTH with £400K SPEND

artmoor Brewery is aiming to double the amount of beer it produces within four years following a £400,000 investment in the brewery. Princetown, Devon-based Dartmoor Brewery has taken the wraps of a major investment at the company, which includes the expansion of its production space and a new state-of-the-art boiler system. The extension, which is partfunded by the South West Growth Fund, increases floor space of the brewery complex by 40%. It provides additional storage and processing space, ensuring “grain to glass” quality control and beer consistency. This improved infrastructure ensures on-going compliance with the brewing industry SALSA quality scheme, within which Dartmoor Brewery has recently achieved compliance. Richard Smith, Managing Director of Dartmoor Brewery, explained: “The craft ale sector is booming, and with our well-established local ales and our new brewery extension, we are well placed to grow our

share. “Dartmoor is our birthplace, our home, and the inspiration for our ales, and this new extension really underlines our commitment to growing our production here on the moor. “Good news for our business, and our customers, but also a real boost for the local economy and for the profile of Dartmoor throughout our

UK markets.” Paul Gilbert of SWMAS Limited, a partner to the South West Growth Fund, added: “It’s great to see a business with such provenance and high quality products seizing the opportunity of this growth market. It’s been a real privilege to assist the business with its next phase of growth.”

BEAVERTOWN LAUNCHES NEW DOUBLE IPA

eavertown has detailed its latest Double IPA, Humuloid, an 8% beer with a soft, rich mouthfeel, mild bitterness, with pithy papaya flavours. The London-based brewery has unveiled its latest beer launch in the form of Humuloid, which it describes as the natural extension of its popular Lupuloid IPA. The double IPA features plenty of wheat and oats for a rich body, and fermented with Vermont yeast to lend some fruitiness. Humuloid has low bitterness in the boil but then dry hopped with 18 g/l of Citra and Azacca for hoppy aromatics balancing out the sweetness of the finishing gravity, the brewery explained. Coming in at 81.7 IBU, the

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beer also features Golden Promise, Golden Naked Oats, Wheat, Flaked Oats, Dextrin, Acidulated malts. Beavertown added: “It pours as cloudy apple juice, a real murk bomb, with the ripe tropical aromas blasting away your nose hairs. Typical of New England style IPAs and DIPAs it has a soft, rich mouthfeel, mild bitterness, with pithy papaya flavours striding through. “This is a powerhouse of a beer. Dense like cloudy apple juice you know this is going to smack you hard with massive slugs of rich, ripe mango and pineapple on the nose and maybe just a hint of shortcrust swaggering around in the background. “It weighs in heavy on the palate courtesy of plenty of wheat and oats. Stacks more sticky mango then

orchard fruits, apple and crunchy pear finishing with a builders tea like bitterness to pick you up, dust you off and get you ready for another round.”

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BREWDOG UK SALES JUMP 97% IN 2016

rewDog experienced a 97% increase in UK sales in 2016, which contributed to a £72m turnover for the year. BrewDog recorded a £72m turnover in 2016, shipping 214,000HL of beer during the period. Sales of Punk IPA continued on an upward trajectory with sales

increasing 130% while the brewery’s Dead Pony Club beer grew 157%, making it the third best-selling craft beer in the UK. In addition to the opening of its new 300hl brewery in Ellon, Scotland, BrewDog also opened new bars in locations that include Berlin, Norwich and Southampton.

WIMBLEDON DOUBLES CAPACITY

imbledon Brewery has doubled its brewing capacity with the installation of two new 60 barrel fermenters. A second expansion in under two years has doubled brewing capacity at Wimbledon Brewery, with each of the brewery’s new fermenters holding the equivalent of 17,000 pints The brewery, which was established in July 2015, supplies beer to a wide range of pubs, bars, off

licences and restaurants across London and in M&S food stores. Mark Gordon, founder of the Wimbledon Brewery, explained the move. He said: “The new fermenters allow us to step up our production to 5 brews a week, which is needed to meet the increased demand from our growing customer base across the UK. We will also have some capacity to test the waters internationally during 2017.”

REDEMPTION OPENs FIRST PUB

edemption Brewing Company has opened its first pub, The Angel of Bow. Redemption has partnered with The Angelic Pub Company to open the brewery’s first pub, located in Bow, east London. The brewery’s Redemption’s cask beers are permanently be available on tap, alongside a rotating selection of the local beer from more than 15 of east London’s microbreweries. Seafood from Billingsgate Market will headline the food menu, while Seafood Saturdays and an Oyster

16 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

Bar are planned for Friday and Saturday nights. Homemade pie and mash will also feature, alongside a daily changing menu. Sunday’s will offer live jazz music. Andy Moffat, founder of Redemption Brewing Co, said he hopes the plans will ‘breathe new life into the public house, bringing it back to the spotlight as a great ale and food house. Moffat, alongside Dominic Gibson of The Angelic Pub Company plan to open six Angelic Redemption public houses in the coming years, with a focus on redeeming dilapidated London pubs.

James Clay partners with Stone Brewing Importer and distributor James Clay is to start importing Stone Brewing’s best-known beers for the UK ontrade. These include Stone IPA, Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, Stone Ruination Double IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale, and will also be complemented by special and seasonal releases. The core range James Clay will import will come from Stone’s new site in Berlin. “We’re excited to see the interest in craft beer continue to grow in Europe and as the UK has an established craft beer market, we look forward to fans enjoying cans delivered as fresh as possible from Berlin.” said Stone Executive chairman & co-founder Greg Koch. He added: “We looked for a distributor partner as committed to delivering fresh craft beer as we are and one that would handle our beers as carefully as we brew them. James Clay meets all of those high standards.” Ian Clay, founder and MD at James Clay, explained: “Stone Brewing is one of the world’s most celebrated craft breweries and is a pivotal inspiration to the remarkable global craft brewing revolution. “Their IPAs are rightly considered modern classics, so we are delighted that James Clay is partnering with them in the UK, distributing these award-winning beers across the country.” The brewery's Stone IPA, Stone Go To IPA, Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, Stone Ruination Double IPA, Arrogant Bastard Ale and Little Bastard Ale are available in returnable, 30 litre kegs and 24×33/50cl cans.

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WEST BERKSHIRE BREWERY GEARS UP FOR LAUNCH

est Berkshire Brewery has detailed parts of its expansion programme ahead of the launch of its new brewery this August. The final preparations are taking place at West Berkshire Brewery ahead of the launch of its new brewery and packaging line this summer. The investments will enable the brewery to contract packaging to other brewers using its kit that can package into can, bottle, keg, and cask. West Berkshire Brewery will accommodate contract packaging in volumes from 30HL to 210HL thanks to an investment in CFT equipment. The high line has the ability to run 5000 bottles or 12000 cans per hour. A raft of bottle label configurations are available; Front, back, wrap and neck, as well as a full can wrap option. The brewery can package beer into four different bottle varieties or three different can sizes as well as being able to rack into keg or cask. The production run can also be split

so that one brew can be packed into the four different formats as required. The WBB Packaging business has also invested in equipment such as a Westfalia centrifuge/separator, 3 stage depth filtration to 0.45 micron, and a Venturi carbonator. The brew team at WBB will be providing full product analysis for customers in their newly installed brewery laboratory. As part of its expansion, new brewery kit also comes from CFT and includes a three vessel 60HL brewhouse consisting of mash kettle, lauter Tun and copper whirlpool. West Berkshire Brewery CEO Simon Lewis explained: “It’s been a

transformational few years for WBB the team can’t wait to start brewing and packaging on our new kit. “The contract packaging offer is an important part of the development plans for the business and we look forward to providing offering our new customers unrivalled quality; supreme flexibility and an excellent service when it comes to packaging their beer. “Our move to the new site has been planned over the last two years and is now an imminent reality. The new brewery will bring together every aspect of our business to include the brewery and the amazing new packaging line and the site will be home to our stunning new shop with bar and café facilities”.

BROOKLYN SCORCHER IPA HITS UK IN CAN AND KEG

rooklyn Brewery has launched its Scorcher IPA in both cans and keg in the UK. The 4.5% IPA, which is brewed with Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade and Bravo hops, has been available in bottle but its presence is expanding through the two new formats. Brooklyn Brewery’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver said the beer reflects drinkers’ changing tastes. He explained: “It’s funny to note that we actually first released Scorcher in 2004. At the time, most people seemed to only want massive IPAs but other brewers were really big on Scorcher. “Fast-forward to 2017 and we’ve updated the beer with even brighter

18 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

hop notes and it’s now our go-to beer for barbecue food and evenings out in the pub.” The beer is distributed through Carlsberg UK, which handles the Brooklyn Brewery beer portfolio in the UK. Liam Newton, vice president of marketing at Carlsberg UK, added: “Building wider interest and access to Brooklyn Brewery’s craft beer portfolio in the on-trade is a priority for us as a brewer this year, where it complements our premium beer portfolio. We’re thrilled to introduce Scorcher into the on trade on draught and into the on and offtrade in cans for the first time in the UK, building on its existing popularity as a quality bottled beer.”

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BRAINS starts canning craft beer range

arlsberg is aiming to revitalise its Carlsberg and Carlsberg Export brands in the UK with a new £15m marketing campaign. The company has put the spotlight on its history and Danish provenance as part of a new campaign in the UK. Brains has moved its Brains Craft Brewery range into cans to celebrate the latter’s fifth birthday. Four beers from the Brains Craft Brewery portfolio have been launched to mark the brewery’s fifth year in business. The beers will be available across the Cardiff, Wales-based brewery’s 111 managed pubs, as well as a number of UK supermarket chains. The initial four beers, distributed in 330ml cans, are Point Break, Gin Lane, Black Mountain and Barry Island IPA. Point Break is a 4.5% lager brewed with 100% lager malt, Californian lager yeast and the Hallertau Blanc hop. 5% Gin Lane features lemon and lime aromas that give way to herbal,

spicy hop flavours and finally a dry, pleasantly bitter aftertaste created by adding gin botanicals to the brew. Black Mountain, also at 5%, was brewed in collaboration with The Craft Beer Channel. “It starts with coffee, liquorice and burnt toffee,” the brewery explained. “Then, after a few seconds there’s an explosion of hops from the mountain of Amarillo, Pacifica, Citra, Summit and Apollo, before the final say goes to the chocolate malts and their moreish smoky finish.” Finally, 5% Barry Island IPA uses a trio of hops from the US in this pale coloured ale, which is “bursting” with citrus aromas. Brains head brewer Bill Dobson said: “The Brains Craft Brewery has been a big success since it first went into production in May 2012. “We’ve brewed more than 100 craft beers across a wide range of styles and many have become firm favourites with our drinkers. “The natural progression for the Brains Craft Brewery is to launch a

CARLSBERG TO CONFRONT LAGER DECLINE WITH NEW CAMPAIGN

arlsberg is aiming to revitalise its Carlsberg and Carlsberg Export brands in the UK with a new £15m marketing campaign. The company has put the spotlight on its history and Danish provenance as part of a new campaign in the UK. The company is placing the emphasis on its Danish roots and is part of a multi-platform initiative designed at “confronting the longterm decline in the lager category”. In addition to TV marketing, PoS and digital marketing, more 200,000 Carlsberg Export ‘København’ glasses will be available in the off-trade as a gift with purchase. Liam Newton, vice president of

20 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

marketing, Carlsberg UK explained: “Denmark is known as being one of the happiest nations in the world, and their philosophy on life forms the centerpiece of our campaign. “Consumers will see Carlsberg sharing the Danes’ rituals and philosophies throughout the year, helping them to live life the Danish way. “Some consumers see mainstream lagers as interchangeable, and we know from extensive research that it’s incredibly important for them to be aware of the heritage of the individual brands they consume. We want our campaign to celebrate our Danish origins and bring new meaning to the iconic ‘Probably’ line.”

range of cans and what better time to do it then on the five-year anniversary of our first brew. “It was a no-brainer to include Barry Island IPA, which is our bestselling craft beer, Black Mountain and Gin Lane are two beers that are very popular in our range and we’ve also added Point Break, our firstever package craft lager. “We’re really excited about the new range and can’t wait to see it behind the bar and on supermarket shelves.”

Butcombe Brewing launches new beers Butcome Brewing Company has launched two new beers, ‘Forty Two’ and ‘Invader’. Butcombe said the new beers give the brewery the chance to showcase its craft brewing credentials outside of the classic range. Its ‘Invader’ is cool fermented and conditioned cold for longer, which makes it a strong, malty lager. “With a light amber colour and sweet, malt, biscuit character, the clean ferment ensures a crisp, dry finish with soft spicy German hop undertones,” they said. Elsewhere, its black ‘Forty Two’ beer features Galaxy hops as well as a wealth of roasted and caramel characters.

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July~August 2017 | The Brewers Journal 21

AD V ERTORIAL

C o mpl e t e

b o ttl i n g

The Complete Package Complete Bottling celebrates two years in business in 2017. Its founder Kieron Atkinson, an ex-Army captain, came into beer from a wine background. He has seen growth in both industries and his goal is simple; to help breweries grow and take the next step in their business.

e have invested in the best equipment out there, allowing control over variables that would be difficult to achieve elsewhere, such as oxidation, filtration, carbonation and cold stability. Each part of the process is carefully managed by our trained technicians to ensure minimal losses and maximum product quality. But what is key each and every time is the requirements of our clients. If you don’t pay attention to that part then you are doing it wrong,” explains an enthused Kieron Atkinson. “We are growing and seeing new customers all of the time. It’s interesting, when I started there was a big debate about bottling and canning, and where it all fits in with the wider beer industry. And that is still the case. When we started, canning was somewhat of niche option for most breweries in the UK, but that has changed.” Kieron Atkinson is an award winning wine producer and vineyard manager. An ex-Army captain, Atkinson served in Iraq and Afghanistan across a 10-year career in the Forces before returning to the UK and starting a new occupation in the British drinks industry in 2011. Based in Derbyshire, he founded The English Wine Project, a company that produces award-winning wines and sparkling wines at vineyards in Renishaw Hall, North Derbyshire, as well as in Warwickshire and Staffordshire. But in 2015, Atkinson pushed ahead with a move into bottling to complement his wine business. “Derby is the real ale capital of the UK but there are no bottling facilities locally and those that are available elsewhere are all hugely over-subscribed,” he said at the time. “Bottling issues is therefore holding back many real ale producers and microbreweries from expanding and reducing their ability to sell their high quality produce to more outlets both in the UK and abroad.” And in those two years, Atkinson has continued to develop the business to cater for the growing UK beer industry but canning isn’t on the agenda. For now. “There’s now denying that canning is becoming an increasingly popular option for breweries. I don’t

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Kieron Atkinson

see an effect from our side but at the same time, a canning line would be a nice add-on. The hard part of that would be to secure a line that is as good as good at canning as it is at bottling. If you want to look at the cost of the filling station, the equivalent in canning is three times as much. So you need to make the right decision,” he explains. Atkinson is proud of the equipment setup at Complete Bottling. “Like all machines, they want to run,” he adds. The company operates the brother of Cimec, double pre evac, 12 12 1, which is capable of 12000 500ml bottles an hour. They can fill 330ml, and 500ml but can do other shapes and sizes, too. The beauty of the machine, Atkinson explains, is that it can handle a large array of bottles, with a recent project involving a Vichy champagne-style 500ml bottle. Through The English Wine Project, Atkinson has been involved that sector since 2011, the same time as London’s By The Horns started business. And he draws parallels with the growth across both industries. “Beer for me, it’s exciting. I started wine in 2011, the same time as By The Horns who we actually bottle for. And in that time, one thing has stayed constant. If you make good beer and you market it properly, then you can drive sales, you can grow and grow quickly,” And that is exactly what Atkinson and the team at Complete Bottling plan to do. “We are fortunate that we get to deal with breweries of all shapes and sizes. They are all different entrepreneurs. Each have their own story and their own personal goal,” he explains. “We also have ours. We want to create jobs and support this industry.”

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bra n d i n g

C o m m en t

Rebranding Woes Macro rebrands are bound to fail because either the focus groups have failed to spot the real issue, or it has been wilfully ignored, explains Jonny Garrett from Cave Direct Beer Merchants and founder of the Craft Beer Channel.

t was with great amusement that I saw Carlsberg relaunch their Export brand recently – or, in other words, splash the cost of 15 brewery start-ups to make it look like an IKEA house beer and inadvertently changes the pronunciation of the beer from Export to “expurt”. They also have done their homework finding drinkers’ associations between craft and Scandinavia, which they have summed up as plywood and proceeded to build their taps out it. To be fair, it looks clean and trendy in a flat-pack furniture kind of way, and it would likely work for a new brand. But it won’t work for Carlsberg because the issue isn’t, and never has been, the issue. These macro rebrands are bound to fail because either the focus groups have failed to spot the real issue, or it has been wilfully ignored. You see, I am not creating a new form of marketing by saying that if a product isn’t selling, the first thing you check is the product. If it hasn’t changed then the consumer must have, and therefore the product needs to follow suit. Ten years ago that wasn’t the case. Back then, all the bland macrolagers tasted the same so the only way to differentiate them was the marketing. Consumers made choices based on the way they felt about each brand, which is exactly what has led Carlsberg to their IKEA Malm-bed-set style reinvention. But the beer industry – indeed the whole alcohol sector – is faced with the same customer-led problem. Their young, target market don’t drink as much as they used to, and when they do they are far more discerning. They may be lulled into trying Export, but they won’t try it again because the issue is the flavour. Drinkers are moving on and the Carlsberg recipe is out dated in a way that the old brand never was. When I see campaigns like this I can’t help but

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think what could be achieved if £15m was spent on product redevelopment rather than rebranding. The declining macro-lager market points to one clear thing – people want provenance, quality and sustainability. Carlsberg think this relates to the brand, people marketing for craft breweries know it relates to the product. This is what they need to fix, and then they can look at getting the new message across. This rule isn’t restricted to the macro breweries. Regional brewers in this country have had one eye on the craft beer movement and many have decided to take the plunge. The worst of them simply added “crafted” to their pack copy in a distressed font (they didn’t have £15m to waste) but a few developed new products that, where done well, have been a success. Some did exceedingly well – Fuller’s and Adnams continue to maintain their hold on the real ale market while producing a few beers that even the most hopobsessed beer drinker is happy to try. Even better, St Austell’s Roger Ryman has built himself a stunning test kit and now makes all sorts of Belgian and American-inspired beers that are genuinely brilliant (try their saison if you don’t believe me). Sadly though, no brewery I know of in the UK has had the guts to rework their core product, which is exactly what Carlsberg need to do. Stone Brewing Company did just that when they brought out Stone Ruination 2.0, a replacement for their original Ruination double IPA. The new recipe was inspired by the fact that technology and tastes had moved on since the original beer was conceived. To stay relevant, the beer had to change and improve. Quite why macrobreweries refuse to see this is beyond me. The sluggish, uniform nature of beer and stranglehold they have distribution has saved them for now – if a technology company was so complacent it would be out of business in a matter of years.

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P ackag i n g

C o m m en t

Get your priorities straight Although packaging quality is the most prominent concern when looking for a beer packaging supplier, there are also other factors that come into play. Here Saxon Packaging explain why you should always think of ‘PACK’ when it comes to choosing a supplier.

lthough packaging quality is the most prominent concern when looking for a beer packaging supplier, price comes in at a close second place. Packaging suppliers should offer a competitive price so the best thing to do is make an informed decision. Compare tooling and material costs with other companies, and then factor in the quality of the work you have been shown. Price also hugely varies depending on what your requirements are such as what board material is used, the order quantity and the printing option you decide to go for. It’s also important to know that there is a tipping point when lithographic printing which is the highest quality print, becomes considerably cheaper than digital printing per unit price the higher the order quantity gets, so litho is definitely an option more than worth considering. Print finishes have the potential to propel a product’s packaging to the forefront of innovation, and when thought of in conjunction with the packaging artwork can really make for some industry leading, premium beer packaging. Therefore when asking for quotes, explore the printing options the company has to offer and ask

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for several quotes with variations on both quantity and print. It’s also worth looking at what services the company offers internally that makes them stand out from other companies, such as design & artwork help or project management.

appearance

packaging company should always be striving for the highest quality standards possible for the packaging they manufacture and produce. This means continued investment in the latest machinery and processes is necessary. One way to guarantee high quality products and services is ensuring the packaging company you work with is certified by the industry standards. You can utilise the company’s web page to find recent projects and accreditations, for example you can find out about our achievements and accreditations in our ‘Why Saxon?’ section. Appearance is also effected by what printing method you opt for, consequently it’s important that the company educates you in the vast array of print options available for their packaging, as well as which process produce the quality and standard they expect for the right price. For example digital printing is often seen as the

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P ackag i n g

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;go toâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; option for high quality printed packaging for a relatively low unit price, but lithographic printing produces printed packaging to a higher standard whilst also providing endless options for print finishes, all of which are opportunities for the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience of the packaging to be enhanced. Look for a company who can provide several methods of printing in-house so should you decide to change the print process used on your beer packaging for another order, the option is there and available.

customer service

ook for a packaging company who place a strong emphasis on the level of client support. When requesting a quote how quickly do they respond? Monitor these levels of responsiveness and reliability as when making repeat orders and working to deadlines it will be crucial for the company to respond to you efficiently in a proactive manner. The sales team should also be a source of knowledge and support throughout the process. Again, a company with established links to the brewing industry is a must as their team are much more likely to provide educated information regarding how the packaging is designed and engineered.

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An often unavoidable aspect of a quick turnaround in a canning or bottling line is that cans and bottles are packed when they are still damp. A packaging company well associated with the needs of the brewing industry would take extra precautions when designing packaging for these moist conditions, such as including a kraft inner liner and a waste based fluting to support and prevent damage to the boxes.

know-how

t goes without saying that you should look for a company with years of experience in the packaging trade to guarantee excellent client service and support. In addition to having experience in the packaging industry in general, you should also gauge whether the company is well associated to the brewing and drinks industry. Packaging companies that deal with a large number of clientele in the industry are more likely to have a superior range of tooling available that are specific to your needs and requirements. They will also have expert knowledge and insight into exactly what works for the brewing industry, having many tried and tested fit for purpose packaging solutions in use and on shop shelves.

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Beer Trends and the Supermarket Challenge What beers are people drinking, why are they drinking them, and what will they be drinking next? We speak to some leading UK industry purveyors to find out just that, and also discuss the ever-increasing challenges of supermarkets selling quality beer.

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he UK beer landscape is changing. Consumption levels in the off-trade last year, once again, overtook the amount of beer being drunk in pubs and bars. We are in a transitory drinking landscape, one of changing habits and developing tastebuds. It's one where people increasingly choose to drink their beer away from the confines of the UK’s 145,000 traditional on-trade establishments. And while the appetite for quality beer continues on an upward trajectory, it’s unsurprising that supermarkets want a piece of the action. Tesco and Marks and Spencer continue to furnish their shelves with additions from breweries such as Fourpure, Stone Brewing Berlin, Thornbridge and Adnams. While Waitrose recently responded to a 33% jump in speciality beer sales with the introduction of 25 new beers from names including Redchurch, Five Points Brewing Company, Alchemy and Wild Beer Co. Elsewhere, Leeds-based Northern Monk broadened its presence in UK retail with the move to sell multipacks of its New World & Eternal beers in Morrisons. But the brewery was quick to allay fears that it was turning its back on independent retailers that have helped build the brewery’s name in recent years. They explained: “Beer shouldn’t be for an elite or a chosen few. Beer should be accessible for people from all walks of life. As beer drinkers we believe in the option to buy good beer at an affordable price point from a convenient location (while you’re doing your weekly shop?!) which you can then supplement with more limited release beers. “Independent bottle shops and bars have been crucial to us and our growth and we remain committed to working with and developing products exclusively for them. We believe the more exposure progressive beer gets, the more everyone in our industry benefits, with craft beer in the UK currently far behind the US in terms of market share. We hope a four pack of Eternal and/or New World will be a gateway to a world of new beer styles available at independent bottle shops and bars across the country.” They added that the new deal meant they Northern Monk was not compromising on its selling price, while the creation a whole different product category in the multipack helped ensure that its products in Morrisons do not compete with our products in independent bottle shops. The growing beer sector is one of challenge and opportunity for independent retailers and suppliers, so with that in mind we spoke to some popular UK businesses in this space to get their thoughts on the supermarket challenge, and a whole host of other issues impacting beer in 2017. Jen Ferguson and Glenn Ferguson are the cofounders of Hop Burns and Black, a shop and tasting room in London. Offering more than 350 beers, they also hot sauces, ciders, meads and and wines.

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The UK brewing sector is more buoyant, but also more competitive, than ever before. How do you decide what new breweries to stock? And what advice would you give to new breweries looking for space on your shelves? J Ferguson - “We try to get out there and sample as often as we can and also use Twitter, Instagram and Untappd to see what’s getting all the hype as well as recommendations from people whose tastes we trust. We love championing new and unknown breweries but they have to pass the taste test first! Our advice to newcomers: Be good. Be consistent. Learn your craft before putting your beer out there.” Beer Merchants was one of the UK's first online beer retailers. The company is part of the Cave Direct family that imports and distributes speciality beers to the on trade and has been in the industry since 1979. Jonny Garrett explains that it’s actually getting easier to decide what beers they sell on their site. J Garrett - “Five years ago coming across reliable, quality, flavour forward beer was considerably harder and we had to be pretty strict on our tasting policies. Our focus has never been marketing or reputation, it’s literally the liquid that matters. Now we have some breweries we can trust implicitly to make great beer, and we take samples from unheard of breweries a lot more seriously as some have been brilliant. As quality has increased in general, so has the quality of what we’ve been able to stock,” he explains. “For brewers who want to be stocked on Beer Merchants (or any good online retailer) there are some key things to know. First, take a look around you and make sure the beer you’re selling is up to scratch – there is no room for mediocre beer any more. Second, traditional British ale does’t sell well online because the market is younger and more experimental in their tastes. Third, 500ml bottles sell very poorly. Fourth, get your pricing right because if it’s overpriced, even if we buy the beer it might not do your sales or branding much good.” Andrew Reeve is the founder of Honest Brew, a craft beer club company which delivers subscription boxes across the UK. He believes the market is still very much in its early stages. A Reeve - “If you draw parallels to the US market, there are lots of opportunities for existing brewers to grow, and new breweries to enter the market. We're always on the lookout for new breweries who want to work with us. First and foremost we're looking at quality and how well the beers are produced. Therefore, we have to taste them. Our cicerone trained taster leads the tasting panel, with as many of the team involved as possible. The next big factor for us is the "brand". What is the story behind the brewery,

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Sheffield's The Hop Hideout

how does their brand reflect this, who are the people that have created this beer? We want to work with individuals who genuinely care about beer. We're also looking for a point of difference and how they might stand out from the crowd. “Verdant are a great example of a brewery that blew us away. We met them in Cornwall when they were brewing 50l pilot batches. They were making NE DIPAs before most UK beer lovers were aware of the style. These three guys were brewing some of the best beers we'd tasted, on a tiny little kit miles away from a major city. There's always going to be room for new brewers but the focus has to be on quality. The bar is continually being raised in the UK, if you want to be successful you need to have an intense passion for making the best beer you possibly can.”

social media and hype start to influence certain buying habits and consumer trends. But I still like to visit a brewery, have a chat and try a few beers. Working relationships are an important thing, and often forgotten. For a new brewery who would like to work with us, or any bottle shop really, they need to have three things in place. A great product, mediocrity isn't an option anymore. They need reliable logistics as no one likes to wait and no one likes damaged goods. Also, build a relationship that lasts... look after the guy that helped you from the start.”

Nick Boor is the manager of Putney’s The Beer Boutique, which also has branches in Wandsworth and Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

J Gray - “It's all about the taste of the beer, as the number one priority for me. I usually try new breweries at pubs or beer festivals. There's a combination of being approached direct and going out researching really. Social media is a good way to initially make contact too and for new discoveries. I often find out about new breweries

N Boor - “With such an abundance of breweries in the UK, it is sometimes hard to choose new breweries to put on the shelves. Unfortunately we have seen

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Jules Gray is the co-founder of Sheffield’s Hop Hideout, a specialist beer and cider shop that was established in 2013. She says buying decisions primarily come down to one thing, taste.

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through collaboration beers in addition; so I'd say this is a great way for a brewery to be discovered, by partnering with other breweries in this way. After flavour, it's packaging and online presence. “But really this area is so open to interpretation - just as long as it's a professional standard really. If the beer inside doesn't taste great though,there's no repeat purchase! Advice to breweries - have a good representation of yourself online and on your packaging, collaborate with other breweries on beers, it delivers excitement and will help spread your brewery name further plus above all else - quality, great tasting beer. It's positive to promote your stockists and running events out in the trade are very beneficial - I always welcome it when we're approached to host events or be part of a launch by breweries.” For Phill Palgrave-Elliott, co-founder of Caps and Taps with Stephanie Palgrave-Elliott, the key is quality. P Palgrave-Elliott - “It's a mixture of different things but the most important thing is that the beer has to be good. There are breweries we didn't stock two years ago that we do now because they've improved in quality and consistency,” he explains. “Also as a bottle shop branding becomes incredibly important, it both has to be visually interesting and explain what the beer is. Your beer is probably Vegan, why not advertise that on the label? You also have to be making an interesting core line up, and a mixture of specials. Your rye beer might be a good beer but it's not going to get many people excited.” What have your customers been drinking in 2017? Have there been standout sellers and are there any styles that are really proving popular with drinkers? J Garrett - "In terms of styles, IPA is always going to be king, and represents a huge, stable proportion of what we sell. German lagers are on the rise as people realise that is where the best Helles and Pilsners come from and tastes are swinging back that way to some extent as a reset from the bolder styles. We also sell a lot of sour beer – both the sweeter fruited ones from Lindemans and the more complex, artisan ones from them and the other lambic breweries. “I think this sector is going to grow among British breweries but they will really struggle to compete on sales and indeed taste compared to the Belgian classics. Some are making great attempts though – Little Earth, Wild and Burning Sky are making very exciting things. In terms of breweries, Beavertown Gamma and Neck Oil are our two biggest sellers, but we also sell everything we buy of Cloudwater in a few days, and Tiny Rebel are climbing up the ranks. In particular, the incredible fruit IPA Clwb Tropicana has hit the top 10.” A Reeve - “2017 is the year of the murk. People

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are embracing the concept of heavily hopped, hazy beers. New England DIPA has been one of the fastest growing styles. There’s a focus on balance, with bitterness being dialled back and softened, whilst increasing the flavour and juiciness with massive amounts of dry hopping.” P Palgrave-Elliott - “IPA, IPA, IPA. Occasionally an imperial stout. Cloudwater's DIPA series continues to sell quickly and is the beer that gets the most tweets and emails asking after it. Magic Rock Big Lad cans have also done very well. Outside of specials, Beavertown's Neck Oil and Gamma Ray continues to sell well.” J Ferguson - “The growth of our online shop in addition to our bricks and mortar store means that we sell huge amounts of so-called “fuss beers” such as Cloudwater DIPAs, Omnipollo stouts and new releases from in-demand breweries such as Verdant and DEYA, which we send all over the country. 2017 has definitely been the year of the DIPA and we’re seeing sours move much more into the mainstream, but the biggest trend has been for New England or Vermont style beers. Hazy and juicy with low bitterness, these are very accessible and are winning fans all over the spectrum, from hardcore beer geeks to craft newcomers.” J Gray - “The US inspired 'New England style' - super hazy, super juicy, low bitterness IPA boat seemed to sail in pretty quick from the end of 2016 to take the first quarter of 2017. With Cloudwater and Magic Rock leading the charge over here in the UK with new up and coming breweries Deya and Verdant bubbling under (and the full international brewery line up at Hop City festival back in April). “I can see it becoming a core beer for a number of breweries. We ran a home brew competition with Twisted Barrel and the winning beer was a NE IPA (commercially recreated and released in May), when home brewers are having a go, you know a style has struck a chord. There's definitely been an extension of the fruited beer also - fruit pales, IPAs and sour/wild styles. “They've both been styles which have opened up the traditional view of what beer can be and in many ways have opened up new drinkers to the beer category. It's also interesting to see new technologies inspire brewing with the development of lupulin powder driving an area of the IPA category for example.” N Boor - “I think 2017 has been the year of big ABVs. We have seen big flavours, big cans and a lot of collaborations. Whether it be an imperial stout with maple, a double IPA with an insane amount of hops, or a special release in a 500ml can. People love them and they are often sold before they even hit the shelves.”

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Caps and Taps, Kentish Town, London

With that in mind, what do you expect to be the next big style to pique drinkers’ palettes? J Ferguson - “We’re always hoping for the big lager resurgence and I think IPLs (India Pale Lagers hopped up beers brewed in the style of a lager) might be the gateway to help get us there. J Garrett - “This is such a hard question because, to be honest, the answer is always going to be IPA. Every time. As we saw last year, the stand out style was a New England IPA, and that’s the closest we’ll get to a big change in drinking habits. Having lowered the IBU and decided haze is a good thing, I think the next trend will be to make soft, fullbodied APAs with some yeasty inflections and lots of hops. It will be the new kind of session IPA that ups the body and reduces the powdery bitterness so many have.” J Gray - “I’m interested to see where the 'blended' beer direction heads in. Buxton and Still Water collaborated on an imperial stout (Subluminal) and a sour IPA (Superluminal) and consumers were blending the two for a take on a black'n'tan. Petrus have embraced this and actually released ‘Sour

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Power' packs to instigate consumers to have fun with the experience of blending their beers (as it highliGhts how they produce a number of their beers such as Oud Bruin). Wild Weather and Weird Beard Co released a blended kaffir lime saison and coconut stout called 'Such a Bohr' in addition to the saison on its own, so in theory you could adjust the blending further. I've just seen Northern Monk Brew Co and North Brewing Co have released collaborative coffee IPAs where the beer drinker can enjoy individually or blend like a black'n'tan called 'Hit the North'. It'll be interesting to see if this trend is explored by more. It's an intriguing development as it's beer + action =sensory experience.” N Boor - “Maybe we will see an increase in the lower ABV beers, with breweries such as Gipsy Hill and Villages are already dedicating their core range to it. Cloudwater has made some great Berliners also. I don't think it would be overly presumptuous to think big flavour and lower alcohol could see an increase in popularity.” A Reeve - “New England Table Beer. I get a lot of stick from the team as I'm always raving about

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The Beer Boutique in Putney, London

sub 3.5% beers. I love the concept of getting all the flavour and body of a DIPA in a lower alcohol, sessionable beer. Low ABV beers are actually really difficult to get right as the alcohol contributes a huge amount to the body and balance. I have a lot of respect for brewers who can nail these beers, and I'm bullish on the style this summer.” P Palgrave-Elliott - “I think sours will continue to grow this summer, more drinkers are becoming aware of them and low abv and fruited Berliner Weisses are perfect hot weather beer.” What is the UK brewing sector doing well at the moment. Are there areas we are breaking new ground in and also, what do you feel the sector can learn from other geographies? A Reeve - “The UK brewing sector is excelling when it comes to innovation. I believe the quality of the beer being made in the UK has stepped up significantly in the last 12 months. We're starting to see more and more UK brewers featured in RateBeer’s top beer lists. Beers being made here are some of the best in

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the world. I think we've still got a way to go when it comes to our understanding of freshness. We need to move to bottled/canned on dates. Brewers are reducing the best before dates from 12 to 3 months on hop forward beers, but this is creating confusion. A customer of ours might receive a can of beer that is a week old with three months left on the date. They often think we've sent them a 9 months old beer when it's actually just come off the canning line. We're trying to help educate, but we should follow the US and move to bottled/canned on dates." N Boor - “I think someone has definitely created beers that seem new and exciting now, before. They just weren't accepted. We have seen the rules change over the last couple of years. And the line between styles is as hazy as a New England IPA. I think with social media, everyone can see what you are up to. In terms of styles and adding ingredients. So original ideas are hard to come by. Social is almost making geography redundant. We can see what they are doing in Denmark. We can see what they are doing in Oregon. It's almost instantaneous."

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J Garrett - “Quality has really improved of late but that is the only place where the UK is lacking. We now have some of the best and most diverse beer in the world, but our strength in depth isn’t great and our consistency could definitely be improved. The next phase of craft beer is going to be to iron out the kinks, and you can see some of the amazing beers and dedication to quality in the new guys coming through like DEYA and Verdant. It’s also pretty telling that the UK breweries growing fast and getting great reputations are the ones who put the most effort into quality assurance.” J Ferguson - “There’s a lot of creativity in the UK scene and it’s cool to see breweries such as Wild Beer getting major investment to allow them to continue to push boundaries. The impact of other geographies is plain to see with the likes of Verdant and Cloudwater who have seen how well the direct to consumer sales model works with US breweries like Other Half and Treehouse, and are looking to move towards this way of working here. I think we’ll see more of this in 2017.” Wat has been your favourite beer of 2017 to date? J Garrett - “Oh god – there have already been way to many to mention. I was over in California in January and my favourite beer while over there was a black raspberry saison called Lost Cat from Monkish – like liquid jam. Back here I loved Verdant Putty and DEYA Into the Haze, but my IPA of the year so far has to be Lervig Perler for Svin – tropical, soft, clean but still very bitter. Strange that my favourite IPAs were from Europe and my favourite sour from America. Actually that said, I had 3 Fonteinen Robijn – 50% young lambic and 50% sour cherries aged in toasted oak – and it was like rioja. A truly spellbinding beer.” J Ferguson - “Far too many to pick just one! I had a moment with Cloudwater’s DDH Southern Passion Pale when I first had it at Bundobust in Manchester recently. I also loved Kernel’s Double India Porter Citra - a complex beer that just kept on giving, delivering something new with every sip. Redchurch’s Urban Farmhouse has really hit its stride - On Skins: Plums has to be one of the best UK sours I’ve ever tasted.” P Palgrave-Elliott - “I found the Northern Monk/ Cloudwater Hop City IPA a great IPA, it was nice to drink something that wasn't too crazy strong. That said Half Cut DIPA by Magic Rock & Other Half was absolutely stunning.” A Reeve - “Kernel - Table Beer Enigma. This is still one of the best beers in the UK and I've found a rekindled love for it in 2017. The batch with Enigma was the best version I've ever had.”

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J Gray - “As it was such a superb beer delivering layers and layers of flavour - the Fyne Ales x De Molen 'Mills & Hills' imperial stout aged in Grappa barrels. It's a beer I'll remember for a long time, it's etched a memory on my brain - like that hit record where you just know all the words and take joy in singing along.” N Boor - “That was so much easy to answer last year. I feel like this year is only just beginning and I'm kind of reserved to answer. But if you twist my arm, I have drank a ton of raspberry Berliner collab from Gipsy Hill and North. It was so refreshing, lightly tart. I just loved it.” Supermarkets continue to broaden their beer portfolios. It is a debate to continues rage on, but what are your views? Can a supermarket open drinkers’ eyes to good beer, which leads them to buying from independents? J Ferguson - “The ideal scenario is that supermarkets turn a new audience on to the joys of craft beer who then go on to seek out the superior knowledge, range and expertise of a specialist retailer, but in reality it often just makes independent retailers look overpriced. “Our general policy is that when a beer hits supermarkets, we drop it as we just can’t compete with supermarket prices, which are based on volume discounts and insanely low, often loss-leading, margins. It’s always a sad day when we have to do this because in most cases we - along with our fellow indie beer retailers - have helped make the beer the success it is by championing it to our customers. “I don’t think cheap craft in supermarkets will sound the death knell for the entire UK indie beer retail industry - independent wine shops, for example, have been holding their own for a while now. But I think we'll see a shakedown. "At the moment it can feel like there's a new specialist beer shop popping up once a week, some really pushing the boundaries, a few clearly just jumping on the bandwagon. However, as supermarkets increase their craft offering, retailers are going to have to bring their A-game to survive and remind consumers of all those reasons to shop indie - service, selection, range, expertise. “It has been interesting to watch how supermarkets are treating craft. We've seen prices getting cheaper and cheaper, with craft beers being heavily discounted, whether as loss leaders or just to try to shift excess stock. For instance, I'd love to know how the Vocation team felt when they saw their Heart & Soul APA being flogged for 90p "reduced to clear" at Tesco. “This sort of thing makes it feel like a race to the bottom, which has a big impact on brand perception. Craft breweries should be wary.” A Reeve - “Supermarkets carrying a range craft beer definitely has benefits. The more accessible craft beer

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becomes, the better we're doing as an industry. If people are trading out Budweiser to pick something more interesting from their local Tesco, then that should be celebrated. We see the supermarkets acting as gateways to the world of the craft. At HonestBrew we've stocked over 1,600 different beers from around the world, we get access to seasonal and limited edition beers that you're never going to see in a supermarket. The biggest threat I see from supermarkets is if they start using craft beer as a product category to compete with one another. "If they're bringing in BOGOF offers and deep discounting, it can start a race to the bottom. By lowering the customer's expectation of what craft beer costs, it could force down margins making it nearly impossible for small breweries and independent retailers to complete. The cask market is an example of how customer price expectations have created unsustainable margins for the brewers." J Garrett - “I think that people who moan about seeing good beer in the supermarket are mad – it’s in their interest! It’s also the inevitable end journey for a craft beer and it’s needed to spread the word and build a business beyond the local. That said it is a huge future issue for us. Quite a few beers we stock have recently gone into supermarkets and while the drop isn’t huge, it is noticeable when it happens. "Our reaction has been to protect and focus on the brands we can, make sure we by the more specialist beers, offer good pricing on the core products, and make sure we look after the beer as best we can to show that a premium store offers a premium product in its best condition. In the meantime, we’re growing, improving and buying better beer so the impact hasn’t hit us too hard yet.” N Boor - “I believe it's a great move. It helps making good beer the norm and also starts to change people's buying habits. If that goes some way to someone swapping from a six pack of chemicals to couple of good pale ales. What's wrong with that? But, what I will say. Is that there will always be a division between bottle shops and supermarkets, and a brewery needs to way up the pros and cons before deciding what to do. “I won't stock beers that are in supermarkets. It's as simple as that. If a brewery I stock decides to go into a supermarket, I usually will only stock their specials, if at all. Even if a beer isn't put into a 3 for £5 deal, usually supermarkets are priced way low, as we have seen with Stone. It's impossible to compete with that. But as a consumer, it's great that it's so accessible. It's great beer. "The UK craft beer scene has had a strange turn of events of late. We have seen craft beers become way more accessible to the consumer. Over the last couple of years, we have seen supermarkets, wine shops and the local off-licence all stock a large range of local craft beers. “I think we can all co exist. It just depends on what meets the needs of the brewery and the consumer.

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Exciting, uncertain, unpredictable... this is craft beer.” P Palgrave-Elliott - “A Supermarket can open drinkers’ eyes to good beer, however they introduce some beers at an unreasonable price, some new drinkers are then surprised at the price of the beer we sell compared to what they can get in a supermarket. If a brewery is stocked in a supermarket we tend to not stock that beer, however we will happily sell other beers that brewery produces. "Northern Monk is a good example of a brewery that is available in supermarkets but that produce different an interesting beers that bottleshops can then stock and sell. Our one exception is Camden Brewery who we stock as they are our local brewery, we do however have to price it at a lower margin than any of our other products.” J Gray - “It's a difficult topic for an independent like myself. I think there's some good elements to supermarkets widening their beer portfolio - I do often get customers walking in saying I bought this IPA at the supermarket what can you suggest that's like that. I guess it's the initial entry point then as supermarkets don't offer that guided in-depth personal approach, or specialist offering, consumers then head to somewhere like Hop Hideout. Having said that - I do struggle to sell beers listed at supermarkets, there has been a noticeable decline on certain lines and breweries. “It all comes down to price and convenience. I can't get my head round some of the pricing supermarkets can offer, it's either deep-discounting or the brewery is getting such a squeeze as they're promised the big volume, they're making pennies. “Some pricing in supermarkets for US brewery Oskar Blues for example was the same price I was being offered at trade. I think it would be worth breweries that do want to head in that direction to really think long and hard how they satisfy both sectors of the trade. “If you head to the supermarkets you also need a coherent plan to support the independent sector alongside. Without the independents I don't think a number of breweries would have got to their current stand point. "Honestly though with the +1700 UK breweries alone out there, there's only going to be a certain number that can supply that level of volume and demand to the supermarkets. “There's also plenty who have no interest at all in their beers being in the supermarket. My concern about buying beer in a supermarket is if it has been handled and looked after properly. You've got to ensure you engage with your customers and create a community ethos, the personal experience and approach is what really chimes and of course a well curated beer selection. Gray concludes: "We also host a monthly running club (Mikkeller Sheffield chapter) and home brew club, in addition to all our tasting events - you won't find that at the supermarket!”

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Give UK ingredients the attention they deserve Kew Brewery founder David Scott wants to challenge drinkers and brewers. He wants to demonstrate that brewing quality beer featuring exclusively English hops and malts can achieve flavours and aromas comparable to those varieties from other countries.

stones throw, well around one and a half miles, separate Kew Brewery and the famous Kew Gardens. One of these establishments has just celebrated its second birthday while the other opened its doors way back in 1759. Granted, Kew Gardens has been going strong several centuries but even then, it can’t push Kent-based brewing establishment Shepherd Neame (founded in 1698) in the history stakes. Given Kew Brewery’s proximity to the botanic gardens, it is somewhat fitting then that brewery's founder, David Scott, is incredibly passionate about the environment. It’s also an outlook that has informed his approach to the brewery since it started business in 2015. “Our beers are made using renewable energy and since the beginning, we have also used what we consider to be the finest English ingredients. Our malt and hops are all grown in England, not just because they taste and smell great, but also because this minimises our food miles,” he explains. “We want to ‘rehabilitate’ and showcase English hops, to show they can compete with New World hops for flavour and aroma if used the right way and in the right quantities.” Its beer is unfiltered and unfined, keeping it natural and flavoursome. All are vegan too, bar its chocolate stout. In addition, the brewery donates 5p from every

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pint sold to the World Land Trust, which helps save threatened habitats worldwide. Scott, like many brewers running their own breweries today, started at home. Originally from Kent, he is now a long-time resident of Kew, a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

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I want people drinking a beer that uses English hops. I want to challenge their preconceptions

While breweries such as Shepherd Neame played a part in shaping his beer journey in Kent, Scott says he was always eager to try new beers where possible, sampling new brews and new breweries where he could find them. But it was a somewhat logical dabbling in homebrew that really lit the touchpaper for a future in brewing. “There wasn’t a garage to use so I ended up monopolising the bathroom while a disused fridge in the cellar was adapted to become a fermentation fridge. The more I experimented, the more time I knew I wanted to spend on recipe formulation and all

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aspects of brewing,” says Scott. A longstanding career in management at the London School of Economics offered him that flexibility with the chance to take 12 months off to pursue such goals. Scott was already active on social media pushing the Kew Brewery name at the point, even by his own admission not knowing if this goal of brewery ownership was truly achievable. But more importantly, it didn’t prevent him from trying and stints at West London’s Weird Beard, the Foundry Brew Pub in Canterbury and also at Old Dairy in Tenterden gave Scott a broad remit of experience. “These different experiences gave me different outlooks and helped shape my own. Old Dairy was more cask while Weird Beard more on the keg side. It was all really useful and I appreciate that. Once I had spent time at these breweries, it was at that point I really knew I wanted to make a go of things. But I had to go back to work." Not one to give in, Scott continued brewing at home at pursued options for a formal home for Kew Brewery, a facility that would materialise in the form of his Upper Richmond Road site when planing permission was passed in January 2015. “I had held off ordering the kit until that point but when I was given that planning permission, the order for equipment went in straightaway,” he recalls enthusiastically. Scott specified a six-barrel kit from Oban Ales and three months later brewing commenced on it. In-line

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There is always room for improvement and you should be always be striving for that.

with his brewing outlook, Scott’s beers are unfined. Using dish bottom fermenters rather than conical fermenters, he gets around 850 litres in a batch after 1000 litres are used in the kettle. These fermenters are dotted around the brewery’s warm room, which also houses malt and a wealth of bottled beer ready for dispatch. While the brewhouse is located at the back room of the site, these operations are front facing onto a main road where a Waitrose, Barclay’s bank and WHSmith are but minutes away. Somewhat unusual for a London-based brewery. “Being in this position should be something I should take a massive advantage of but at the same time, I would lose so much of the space we are currently using as necessary storage. It’s a great location but with the cold store being a mile away as it is, there is very little room for manoeuvre,” he says. Scott has investigated options for other sites in and around the local area but like many of his peers,

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growing pains are something that come to many businesses on an upward trajectory. “It would be a beautiful thing to be in place that is as close as this site is but property prices continue to be prohibitive. And warehouses don't come up, they get knocked down. It doesn't mean that there isn't anything around but there just needs a bit of luck to find the right size place at the right price at the right time,” says Scott. He muses: “There’s also the possibility that if the right place came up that was well beyond my reach, then I could I look at giving crowdfunding a go. It would help me take a massive step to get to that next level. We will see.” Until that point, Scott continues to enjoy steady success with his considered range of beers. Kew Brewery became the first brewery to win back-to-back ‘Best in Show’ awards at the Ealing Beer Festival, fending off around 300 competitor beers in the process. In its range, the biggest seller is Pagoda, a numbered series of pale ales celebrating different English hops each time. Brewed using broadly the same full-bodied pale malt base, Pagoda Pale series aims to show what English hops can really do. Recent iterations used UK Chinook and Olicana. “That beer in all its formats is our biggest seller. Some like it because it’s a changing beer each time but I think it resonates with people as pale ale is a style that is understood the by drinkers and by pubs. Our Botanic ale brewed with Challenger, UK Cascade and First Gold, also continues to prove popular. There is a little bit of juniper in what I feel is a deliciously sessionable amber ale. The biscuity, caramel malt body is complemented by a weighty UK Cascade dry-hop, and that subtle citrus tang of the juniper.” Scott says his range of beers is informed by flavours he appreciates, beers he enjoys drinking, and styles he feels would sell and prove popular with drinkers. But he is keen to point out that he’ll never brew a beer blinded by his tastes and his tastes only. “It’s important to take everything into consideration,” he says. Use of UK hops and malt is important to Scott, and he hopes we will start to see more breweries follow suit, and more drinkers appreciate the qualities such ingredients offer. “I'd like to see more UK breweries use UK hops from an environmental perspective. But from the sounds of it all of the hops being grown are being sold, which is positive. It’s fantastic to see Chinook, Bullion and Cascade grown here, while I'd argue varieties such as Oilcana are not at all English in the qualities they offer. I want people to look more at UK hops and I want people drinking a beer for that reason. I want to challenge their preconceptions,” Scott stresses. Around two thirds of what Kew Brewery produce goes in cask, while the remaining third is split between keg and bottle formats. Scott would like to do more in keg, but also appreciates the way cask beer, especially in and around the local area, has helped build the

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Kew Brewery brand. He also indicates that future keg beers may allow him to experiment with other styles, opening the door to distribution into a wider on-trade presence. Despite steady growth, Scott however is aware that taking the next step in the journey of Kew Brewery will come sooner, rather than later. “Like any business there is going to have to be an element or do or die at some point. It’s about recruiting the right people, finding the right space, and continuing to make good beer,” he says. “Any brewer that says they might be perfectly happy with their beers might be lying. There is always room for improvement and you should be always be striving for that.”

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Looking to the past to step into the future Beer Nouveau has taken some major strides since starting out as Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smallest commercial brewery back in 2014. Now Steve Dunkley, the breweryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder and an advocate of lost and forgotten beer styles, is looking back in UK brewing history as the Manchester brewery takes the next steps in its own development. 46 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

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had the realisation that I was brewing more beer in my garage than I could drink, and I can drink, so it got to the point where I thought I could give this whole thing a go commercially. So I did!” Steve Dunkley is not the founder, or owner of Beer Nouveau, he is Beer Nouveau. Since setting up as England’s smallest commercial brewery in 2014, the former pub manager has held every role across the brewing operation as the business has grown from his garage to an everdeveloping site on Manchester’s Temperance Street. “When we set up, we had some pretty high hopes for it. These weren’t for it to become the UK’s most sought-after brewery, they weren’t for it to become the UK’s biggest brewery, or even for it to become just large enough and just famous enough for a multinational to come along with a multi-million pound cheque and buy us out,” he explains. “Our high hopes were that people would like our beers as much as we did. It’s a great feeling as a brewer when you see

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someone buy one of your beers, and better when you see them enjoy it. What tops this though is the feeling you get when you see a drinker come back for a second one, especially in this market where the choice of beers is so great that we’re truly spoiled.” Dunkley has made a name for himself in Manchester, and the wider UK brewing scene, through hard work, a passion for UK ingredients, and a love of traditional beer styles. But also for his considered approach to collaboration and brewing diverse types of beer that are often enjoyed at the Beer Nouveau brewery tap. An outlet that increases in popularity, as evidenced by more frequent opening hours. And it is his respect for heritage styles that has led Beer Nouveau to successfully crowdfund a barrel aging programme that will involve the reproduction of brewing recipes and methods from the 18th and 19th centuries. “I find myself looking at old recipe records of breweries that still produce beer but beer that doesn’t really do anything for me in the way that others do.

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So I’d be looking at older recipes and thinking ‘Ok, these should be good in theory’ and so I’d give them a go on a small scale. When you taste the finished product the result was often ‘Bloody hell, these guys really knew what they were doing,” says Dunkley. “This is something I find fascinating and for me it's a bit of a personal journey to prove that old breweries knew what they were doing, producing fantastic beer on kit far simpler than today and with inferior ingredients than we are able to use.” Dunkley says that one of the key parts of his plan when starting Beer Nouveau was to do just that, explore those styles and give them the credit they deserve. “When we started Beer Nouveau, part of our plan was to explore historic beer styles that have been lost over time or have changed beyond recognition, to find out what they used to taste like. A classic example of

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this is Mild. We looked back through brewing recipes from the 1960s and ‘70s when Mild was in its heyday and thought, “These should produce some pretty decent beers”; a few test batches proved us right. We did the same for stouts too, with our Satanic Mills developing out of a stout from the 1970s and further evolving into Peterloo, which has since become our bestselling beer.” He adds: “As we got more into the history of beer, and were able to purchase some small wooden casks, we went back even further, to the mid-1800s. Recipes from this period initially came across as simpler, but the beers they produced were far more complex than we imagined. Our recreation of Tetley’s East India Pale from 1868 in particular surprised people at how smooth yet hoppy it was. “All the hops were added at the start of the boil, whereas today there’s a trend to add them all at the

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end. But here was a beer recipe that was almost 150 years old, and winning over every person who drank it. On cask it was good, in wood it was better, aged in bottles it stunned people. It wasn’t just the recipe and the way it was brewed; how it was kept and matured were also hugely important.” The crowdfunding programme involves Beer Nouveau working with craft maltsters to recreate the grains used by breweries of the time, with beer brewed using recipes and processes researched by beer historians such as Ron Pattinson. Starting with an East India Pale Ale originally brewed in 1868 and a Russian Imperial Stout from 1859, the programme will expand to other heritage styles such as East India Porters and Krieks. As traditional East India Pale Ales were stored in barrels for 18 months, and Russian Imperial Stouts for 24 months, Beer Nouveau will be financing the

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programme through crowdfunding, giving investors the opportunity to pre-buy the beers up to two years before they will be ready to drink. Speaking in May, Dunkley explained that there are a lot of superb breweries doing great things with barrel aging beers, but that he wanted to “play to our strengths”. “We’ve been reproducing heritage recipes for almost three years now, as well as conditioning beers in wooden casks, and now we want to combine these elements and improve upon the reputation we’ve already gained. People really enjoy the old beers and learning about how they’ve developed into the ones we drink today, and are as interested in this programme as we are, to see how different, or similar, the beers actually were,” he says. Alongside this exciting new programme, Dunkley enjoys steady success selling his beers from the

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brewery tap in Manchester, a move that has helped sustain the business as it continues to grow following its move to Temperance Street facility after taking on the brewing operations that formerly belonged to Privateer Beers. “Almost as soon as we started looking for equipment and premises we heard the sad news that Privateer Beers were selling up. If you’ve never had any of Matt’s beers, then you’ve really missed out. Matt is a brilliant engineer and built a wonderful brewery in an arch on Temperance Street. Privateer Beers were the first brewery on the new Piccadilly Beer Mile, and proved that traditional ales don’t have to be boring, brown, twiggy tasting affairs. However, he got a once in a lifetime opportunity to follow his engineering passion and rebuild steam locomotives, so the Temperance Street Brewery was put up for sale,” says Dunkley. “It’s a big step up from ¼ brewer’s barrel to 6.5 brewer’s barrels, but that meant our beers would not just be available to everyone we’ve been unable to supply in the past, but also to new outlets further afield. It also meant we could finally start producing the beers we believe will suit keg-conditioning, and look at other options, too.” Months after settling into Temperance Street, Dunkley began to break even and also make a profit. But beer distributor Cave Direct, who had residence in the other half of the site, required more space so took the decision to move out. Dunkley saw the opportunity to expand but in doing so, his business rates went up from £360 per annum to £400 a month. “It took a while to get back on top of things but it was most definitely the right thing to do. And the most recent rate review should see that cost drop, so we are in a good position. The extra space has enabled us to have the new bar in operation, as well as the original for takeovers and other events, he says. “When we sell a firkin of beer to a pub we make between nothing to £5 or £10, based on covering the whole cost of everything involved. But by selling our beer direct at the tap, we are looking at making around £2.50 per pint. It’s a no-brainer and why more breweries don’t do that, I have no idea. We try and keep prices fair, and I think we do that.” Dunkley runs a tight ship at Beer Nouveau. He enjoys engaging with drinkers and being able to share his knowledge with them. He wants to grow the team, but in a way that a new addition on the brewing side could also pour beers at the tap, and do just as he has, sell beer coupled with an informed knowledge of what is in the glass. Something he feels is lacking in the wider on-trade sector. “There are a lot of overheads in beer. When I was running pubs, I wasn’t paying much less for a firkin of beer than what I sell one to pubs now in 2017. But the cost of that pint has gone up a lot. It has almost tripled because rent, staff and other expenses are far higher than what they were,” he says. “We have started to respect bar staff and pay them what they are worth, which is right. But the caveat to that is if staff are being paid more, and you are charging more for

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that pint, then please do not make do with sh*t bar staff. Train them, inform them, and teach them about the beer they are serving so they can engage with customers and help their buying decisions.” He adds: “Too often I see bar staff that are only there because it is a Saturday job and are just standing around when every table is covered in dirty glasses while a queue two or three deep builds at the bar. And with the increased popularity of craft beer, lots of people think it is cool so they want a job associated with it, and want to be ‘seen’ and to show off their tattoos rather than learn about the beer itself. I say bollocks to that.” But such an issue won’t be a problem for Dunkley going forward. With the heritage programme well underway, opening another brewery tap site with a 2.5 barrel kit in somewhere such as Glasgow or Lincoln form part of the Beer Nouveau route map. “It would give us another string to our bow. We've been bubbling away steadily but I don't want to be the next big thing and I won't be the next big thing. Because if you don't get your market share while you are the next big thing, when the next big thing comes along you have lost it and then you're simply struggling trying to keep up. I’m happy and want to grow in a sensible, sustainable way.”

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focus on flavour TailGate Beer has made its name in the UK through beers such as ‘Watermelon Wheat’, ‘Grapefruit IPA’ and its best-seller ‘Peanut Butter Milk Stout’. But for Wesley Keegan, founder and brewmaster of the Nashville, Tennessee brewery, there is much more to the business and despite being a decade old, he feels like TailGate is just getting started.

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or anyone that has enjoyed a can of ‘Peanut Butter Milk Stout’, the runaway best-selling brew from TailGate beer, it might come as a surprise that the brewery’s main taproom in the US is home to no less than 50 taps. A range as diverse as Irish Red ales to a Cranberry Gose or Black Lager are frequently on offer. But Wesley Keegan, founder and brewmaster, studied finance when he was younger and this grounding has subsequently helped educate the outlook for his brewery. Knowing what will sell, what won’t, and identifying a market opportunity is key. But at all times, keeping quality and consistency of the beer remains paramount. And a recent visit to the UK demonstrated just that, a gratifying and successful response to the increased availability of his best selling beers on these shores. “The people I’ve been speaking to have been really familiar with the brewery which is, of course, very humbling. But there has also been a genuine interest in what we are doing. One drinker was quizzing me on the breakdown of our Watermelon Wheat. A list of ingredients was not good enough for him, he wanted the malt bill, the whole lot! I was thinking ‘Is this for a home-brew or should I be worried about a new competitor on the field,” he laughs. “But seriously, such conversations have been sincere and come from

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the right place, it is very rewarding.” Keegan was in the UK for a week-long tour to promote the three beers that he hopes will continue to make an impression with drinkers, ‘Watermelon Wheat’, ‘Grapefruit IPA’ and its best-seller ‘Peanut Butter Milk Stout’. Back home in Nashville, Tennessee, he has held every role across the brewery, quite the development for someone that is happy to admit he had few desires to move into professional brewing when he made a foray into home-brew in his early twenties. But Keegan was also more than aware that his late father, who had the trademark and copyright of TailGate Beer, had fended off many envious advances so when it came to a point where Wesley Keegan was offered the chance to take it on, he took the opportunity. And in the ten years since establishing that business in 2007, he has seen a lot change both at home in the US, and abroad. “We are seeing growth in the number of breweries in the US, we are seeing it in the UK, and it’s happening in many other countries, too. But while new breweries continue to open in the US, we are still in a position where around 90% of these breweries produce less than 3000 barrels a year, which is pretty small,” he explains. “But what is valid in the US, and most definitely valid in the UK from what I’ve seen, is that new breweries continue to establish themselves. However, the ones that are growing are the ones

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Tailgate: Flagship Beers Tailgate Peanut Butter Deep dark and decadent appearance, with aromas of peanut butter and chocolate. A big foamy head with medium body and good carbonation. Roasted peanut butter and chocolate ganache flavours, balanced by rich and toasty malts bringing a touch of bitterness on the finish to even out the sweetness. Rich, creamy, velvety, delicious. Type: Milk Stout; Available: 12oz cans; ABV: 5.8%; IBU: 33; Hops: Nugget; Malts: Pale, Victory, Chocolate, Roasted Barley; Availability: All year round Tailgate Grapefruit This West Coast style IPA has strong floral notes of lemongrass and mango. A generous amount of grapefruit added during the brewing process gives the beer a pungent, citrus kick. Type: IPA ; Available: 12oz cans; ABV: 6.2%; IBU: 58; Hops: Amarillo, Columbus, Centennial, Summit; Malts: 2-Row, Crystal; Availability: All year round

making the best beers, making a quality product and giving the whole process from start to finish the attention it deserves. Making a quality product helps the growth process, and that is a constant in every industry.” Another trend Keegan has observed more of in the UK is the increased prevalence of taprooms as a way for breweries to serve their beers direct to drinkers. “Taprooms, for me, have been one of the biggest evolutions in beer in the US. In 2007, no one really cared for them and so when we opened one around then I was interested to see the results, and they were incredibly positive. From then on they have really evolved over the last 10 or so years and they have become a huge component of many breweries. The best thing about them is the way they enable you to enter a dialogue with drinkers and get instant feedback on new beers you have released, or the thoughts of someone new to quality, craft beer. It can be very validating,” he explains. Space, of course can be an issue for many breweries especially in the UK but where possible, people should grasp the opportunity where they can. I’m sure we will see more and more breweries do that.” In the UK, TailGate beers are distributed through Heathwick, a personal recommendation made to Keegan by a mutual friend when he was looking to expand the brewery’s global reach. “The distribution in general in the United States is hypersegmented. So the way things operate in Nashville are completely different than they do in other parts, for instance. There is nothing like a company such as Matthew Clark in the US. Things are different from state to state and each one has

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Tailgate Watermelon Summertime in a can. A golden American Pale Wheat Ale that is golden in colour, melon on the nose but this is no over-sweet fruit beer. It’s like biting into a watermelon, with the big fruit flavours hitting upfront followed by a spicy, dry finish that really refreshes. Type: Wheat Ale; Available: 12oz cans; ABV: 4.9%; IBU: 20; Hops: Centennial; Malts: 2-Row, Wheat; Availability: All year round

its own interests to look after. So we distribute in Nashville, and that works for us,” he says. “Outside of the US, we export to Sweden and that’s partly because they understand craft beer and they also understand canned craft beer. We spend a lot on exports but it is important to look after the beer. We also have to stay competitive on price but we take that on the chin on the margin, but that's the truth as beer can be a volume game.” He adds: “Either way, it is so important to pay attention to who you work with as it is very simple, things don't stop when we finish here at the brewery, that is only part of the journey.” Keegan has an acute attention to detail, and his approach to expanding the TailGate name in the UK, and beyond, will no doubt be a considered, methodical one. “We want to the best brewery we can be. I am a firm believer that if you produce the best beer you can, and create a positive culture, then you will get to the point you deserve to be at. There will always be people trying to tear others down. That’s why it is best to focus on building you own business, and nothing else,” Keegan concludes.

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ABUK brewhouse installation at AlphaBeta Brewery

the tough choices in building a brewhouse 56 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

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Investing in a brewhouse is one of biggest decisions a brewery will make in its lifetime. So knowing the specification that works for you, and the beer you will be producing, is key. We speak to some leading brewhouse manufacturers and suppliers working in the UK today to get their advice, and observations of how this industry is changing.

e continue to see a rise in the brewing industry with growth and investment made within established companies and with new ones as well,” explains Faye Healy, director at Spectac International. Spectac is a stainless steel vessel and tank manufacturing company in Ireland supplying the brewing, distilling, drinks, pharma and dairy industries. According to Healy, its customers generally seek its advice on breweries and what they would suggest to them, but generally its clients have a very good understanding of how breweries work and how they want them to operate. She adds: “So we really just need to know the level of automation, the number of brews they want to get out of their plant per day/week/annum and we then calculate the best system for them. We always provide the most innovative and cutting edge technologies to our clients at an affordable price tag, which generates multiple positive possibilities for their brewing needs and also generates a cost effective and environmentally friendly plant by our smart engineering solutions that we tailor make for every client. “We recognise that every client we deal with is different, has different needs and wants things done slightly differently to the next client, so it’s about attention to every aspect of the detail for us and it really is paramount for us to understand our clients goals and needs really clearly which we do well.” For Vincent Johnson, from Johnson Brewing Design, he and the company make single fusion breweries typically from 5 brl up to 50 brl (8 HL – 80 HL). He notes that smaller ones tend to be electric heated or internal helical coil gas fired while medium sized usually are usually gas fired. Most above 20 brl are steam heated. The company continues to enjoy success across the UK, including projects such as a 30 brl (50 HL) install at Tiny Rebel and a 10 brl pilot plant at Timothy Taylor’s, used to develop its 1st new core beer for more than 60 years. Having a dialogue with breweries of all sizes,

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Johnson has seen come common threads across the industry when it comes to investing. “Probably what everybody wants first and foremost is their kit to be cost effective, user friendly, efficient and, of course, robust. And then on top of this you get into the ‘nice to haves’ which tend to be CIP equipment, automation of CIP, and a focus on kegging,” he adds. David Porter, director at PBC, takes the conversation in a different direction and is increasingly fielding work from outside of the UK. “There is less work in the UK, there are more people selling up therefore there is more secondhand equipment on the market therefore there is less demand for new kit. In addition, the market for cask is really difficult while 60% of my work is now abroad. In fact is likely we will put more new breweries in in France this year than in the UK,” he states. And from another perspective, Miroslav Gerši, marketing manager at Processing System Solutions observed at the recent Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo that customer amends where changing. “We saw on CBC Washington D.C. that turnkey systems are highly demanded. Many customers want customisation. It was a surprise for us that many US customers want simple manual control system of brewhouse despite European customers who tend to look for more automatic systems,” he explains. The company was showcasing the newest device in its brewing equipment and brewing solutions portfolio, which is Hop Tang. “The name of this device was derived from the word ‘tang’, which means taste or smell that is pleasantly strong or sharp. And a Hop Tang is a device made exactly for this purpose, to give a special taste and aroma to finalised beer,” Geršil says. “Hop Tang is an equipment for dry hopping of beer – adding of hop extract to finalise beer after brewing and fermentation process. Dry hopping does not increase the bitterness of beer, while supporting hop aroma. Effective extraction of hops reduce the consumption of hops. This device is very simple to use and can be easily integrated into existing beer fermentation and bottling compartment.”

changing markets

orter goes on to explain that there have been some significant changes in last 18 months, with the business being asked more and more frequent for kit to handle carbonated product either as keg, bottle or can, where it is unfiltered, course filtered or fully filtered. At Johnson Brewing Design, they are typically making more and more cylindroconical fermentation vessels (60 – 70 degree included angle cones for bottom yeast cropping) rather than traditional shallow conicals for top cropping yeast. And as more breweries want to keg their beer, the company is being asked to make more vessels suitable for this output, which involves providing training and equipment for

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filtration, carbonation, nitrogenation, glycol cooling upgrades and grain handling. “We are also tasked with doing jobs that are a bit more complex, more bespoke and less ‘out of the box’. For instance, the project at Timothy Taylor’s saw them request we replicate as closely as possible their existing set up, which I would describe as ‘old school’. This involved specifying a minimum of 15% evaporation during the 60 min boil time and rectangular ‘square’

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Eurotech 35hl install from Processing System Solutions

FV’s,” he says. Johnson adds: “We are currently looking at a proposal for a client who wants to do double decoction, virtually every other supplier is telling them they are mad, but why not ? It would be a different gig for us.” At Advanced Brewing UK, director Peter Kerr, says the company has started to see small breweries that have only been going a year or two closing and

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second hand equipment is coming on to the market for the first time in a long time. “I don't think this is necessarily a bad sign for the industry – they're either people moving to having their beer contract brewed, freeing up their own time to focus on sales, or people who jumped onto the bandwagon and opened a craft brewery without really doing any homework or knowing what they were getting into,” he explains.

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For Faye Healy, the most popular set ups they create for its clients currently would be its turnkey solution based products such as breweries, distilleries and then they also get a large amount of enquiries and projects for associated vessels in these industries. “Our average sized brewery is probably around the 40-50HL mark. We work with smaller operations also especially with the rise in the craft brewing market, and larger operations for example we have worked closely with the likes of Diageo in the recent past,” she explains. Healy has also noticed a change in the beer styles her clients want to brew. “We have noticed through our many beer loving clients that styles of beer are becoming more experimental as the years go on and the “craft” side of brewing is certainly here to stay as there is a major following and it has sparked a renaissance in the beer industry,” says Healy. “In my opinion, it’s a fantastic explosion of choice for the consumer and I suppose in this day and age we prefer to have more variety and choice when it comes to food and drink. Now you are seeing styles that you never thought would merge together so well, such as coffees being introduced to stouts and passionfruit flavours being introduced to your typical IPA and we are now even collaborating our food menus to suit our beers – it really has become that popular.” ABUK’s Kerr adds to this, observing that dry and hoppy pale ales seem to have dominated the on-trade for the last decade or more but that finally seems to The 50hl brewhouse was installed at Dundalk Bay Brewery

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Spectac International recently completed a project in Ireland

be changing. “Many different types of people are drinking beer these days, and there's a high demand for a range of styles to suit everyone. ABV's seem to be creeping back up, too. It used to be all about easy drinking session beers – in many parts of the UK that is still the case, but there's now also a demand for special beers that pack a punch in terms of flavour, ABV, unique one-off brews, barrel-aged beers and the like,” he says. Kerr adds: “The trend with many start-ups is that people have little or no training / brewing experience when starting their own brewery except making a couple of batches of homebrew. There's nothing wrong with this in itself, but at the same time, new brewers are often inspired by experimental & hybrid beer styles being made by well established craft brewers. This leads to a lot of novice commercial brewers who seem to throw away the rule book before they've read it and skip straight to producing off the wall experimental stuff - there's a lot of rubbish beer available as a result. “There's still a lot of mileage in brewing a top quality version of a classic style. Our opinion is that you should learn the rules before you break them – and the classic styles before you deviate from them. After that you can move on to the wacky experimental brewing techniques & recipes. And then, when something doesn't work out or something goes wrong with a beer, you will have a much better understanding of what happened and how to fix it.”

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brewhouse casestudy: Birrasalento, italy

ith an area of 1,600 square meters Birrasalento is the largest craft brewery in Puglia and also one of the largest in Italy. The brewery produces a range of beers including the flagship Pizzica which has hot chilli peppers in the recipe. This beer is inspired by the local Pizzica music typical of the region and part of the Tarantella family of music. Other brews include Taranta, Beggia, TIPA, Fresca and Nuda &Cruda which include a Belgian style fruit beer, Hellas, Pils and a blanche IPA. With such a broad range of beer styles beer being produced it was imperative to have a very flexible and modular brew house. This would allow shorter runs but on a regular basis so the beer is always fresh. A “Top modular” 48 hectolitre Simatec brewhouse was installed which as has can produce 12 brews per day using a unique five vessel system that transfer the wort only twice thus reducing hot oxidation. Simatec work with Enterprise Tondelli in supplying brew houses / breweries in the UK markets as well as some international markets where they are active. Already Enterprise Tondelli have a number of Simatec brew houses in the UK market ranging from 12 hl to 24 hl. The The patented system which is common to all Simatec brew houses feature a multifunction vessel that acts as the mash vessel/copper and whirlpool with a special lauter tun. The Simatec “Top modular” range is aimed at the 48 – 96 HL brewhouse market for large flexible volume production. The modularity comes from the fact you can start with one multifunction vessel and one lauter tun and then as the volumes grow additional multifunction vessels can be added up to a total of four – always using the one lauter. The pipework is pre-engineered for minimum disruption when adding a further module so that very little down time is experienced. This modular system can also be applied to the craft range of brew houses from 3HL – 36HL to rationalise capital investment and maximising future proofing. The Birrasalento

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brewhouse is arranged with four 48 hectolitre multifunction vessels with one 48 hectolitre lauter tun for maximum optimisation. Extract efficiency and speed is critical for all brewers and our control system maintains a constant flow through the Lauter Tun. Using a pump to positively draw down the filtered wort through the grain results in keeping a fixed head of wort above the grain. This combined with the large surface area results in a yield of up to 85% with very low heat oxidation. Another benefit is that the filtration is rapid, normally taking less than 75mins even when using other cereals. High gravity brewing is also possible with the system where we employ a larger diameter lauter. The complete system if fully automated and PLC controlled from grain feeding to discharge and everting in between. Particular attention was taken for the hopping events with the hot wort being taken from the coper during the boil cycle and sent to a special hop injection tank which has three hop dosing units on it. The timing and dosing of these is fully automatic and the cone shaped unit also feature a very special patented mixing system and nitrogen environment to control hot oxidation. A further hop back with automatic dosing and removal gives maximum flexibility for flavours. All of these items are located on the same level as the brew house for ease of operation and also for health and safety considerations. Cooling of the wort is with a tubular heat exchanger which much more flexibility in the types of ingredients that can be used in the brew without blocking plates. The grain handling system was supplied by Simatec including bulk silo, 1 tonne bag feed, special ingredient feeding and milling equipment along with feed conveyor to the brew house. The hot and cold liquor tanks from Simatec also controlled by the central PLC to give maximum energy recovery and reduction of energy costs. With the system configured with four mfv’s these are sized at 3 times the brew length to ensure liquor is available at all times. Spent grain is automatically discharged outside to a line of waiting specially constructed carts arranged in a train.

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With a fully automatic brew house cleaning is a key consideration and Simatec supplied a three tank automatic CIP set adjacent to the plant. As well as CIP spray balls for instance in the lauter there are also CIP spray nozzles below the lauter plates as well as a special cleaning cycle for the spent grain removal arm using a high pressure water curtain. Simatec Srl themselves started some years ago as an aspiring brewer. They recently developed the “isobaric hop injector” or IHI for short. This unit utilised with the conditioning vessel reduces hop consumption by around 50-60%, can reduce tank time by 2 days and

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results in a conditioning tank easier to clean. It can also be used for special ingredients addition such as spices, peppers, sugars, raisins and oxidation too. Craig Wilson, managing director of Enterprise Tondelli, explained: “ This is truly a very impressive brewery. The building and the finish of the public and process areas has been carried out to a very high standard. It demonstrates the owners confidence in the region and it’s future potential. Additionally the brewhouse from Simatec has some unique features that will solve some of the problems experienced by brewers”.

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Industry Experts Over 20 years experience Over 100 craft breweries installed Quality equipment designed and manufactured in the UK Member of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling

07739 456 655 | 01204 887754 | vincent@johnsonbrewing.co.uk

WWW.JOHNSONBREWING.CO.UK 64 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

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brewhouse suppliers Advanced Brewing UK

Krones

ABUK supply new and used brewing equipment installations in size range from 8HL (5UK BBL) to 17HL (100 BBL). ABUK also provide a full variety of tanks and process equipment with tank sizes up to 100,000 litres. Over the past 30 years, ABUK has successfully built a solid reputation amongst the brewing and beverage industries as a result of providing the customer with a high class, professional and efficient service. This has been achieved by treating each enquiry as an individual case. The brewing and beverage industries consist of a large number of diverse and unique businesses. After many years of expert industrial experience and knowledge, ABUK has incorporated a detailed, personal service into their business operations.

Krones offers a raft of brewhouses for breweries of all sizes. On the smaller front, its CombiCube B. Krones has brought together all the important process steps of a brewhouse in this compact unit. Output can reach ten brews per day and 250,000 hl/year. The key to this new system is the intelligent combination of steps in the brewing process with multifunctional containers in a space-saving frame layout. Elsewhere, its Steinecker MicroCube is designed especially for the craft brewing scene. The brewing system comprises a brewhouse and fermenting cellar, and is ideal for small batches of five or ten hectolitres of cold-wort volume per brew. At this stage, the MicroCube takes the word “crafted”, the motto of craft brewers, literally: For the entire brewing process is manual. Only the mashing, boiling and fermentation processes are supported by software with a recipe control. In addition, Krones offers the One2Brew as a turnkey brewery for capacities of 300,000 hectolitres beer for sale per year. The process areas of the brewery are subdivided in functional units. They are supplied in a pre-assembled condition and are completed to a plant according to the plug-and-play principle.

Elite Stainless Fabrications Specialising in quality stainless steel fabrication and installations, Elite Stainless Fabrication has a well-equipped workshop in Swindon, Wiltshire. Our highly skilled workforce has 25 years’ experience in metal fabrication. We are able to offer a comprehensive service to all our customers. They pride themselves in ensuring all of your goods are made to a very high standard and your deliveries are made to schedule. Mark will be happy to discuss your requirements and provide you with a competitive quote. Elite stainless fabrications have a 1250 Sq. ft. workshop dedicated mainly to the fabrication of stainless steel.

Enterprise Tondelli Enterprise Tondelli supply modular brew houses from 3 hl to 96 hl for up to 12 brews per day along with packaging plants for bottles, cans and kegs. From Single machines to complete turnkey projects. It also supplies microbrewery equipment, suitable for open breweries where your customers can see a clean and aesthetically pleasing installation. We are working with independent, craft brewers and brewpubs to increase their beer production and efficiency. We offer a variety of equipment from mash tun to conditioning vessels and a technical consultation to determine your requirements. The two barrel show case brewpub can be skid mounted for easy integration and these modular plants are easily upgraded. We can also integrate equipment into existing breweries and provide accurate CAD drawings for visualisation.

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Johnson Brewing Design The team is led by Managing Director Vincent Johnson who has experience of designing, installing and supporting over 80 microbreweries and Distilleries throughout Europe. A member of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Vincent has a significant network of contacts throughout the Micro Brewing Industry. Vincent uniquely combines the skills he has developed from being a time served engineer with the skills from being a Herriot Watt University degree qualified Brewer. These skills when linked to his extensive experience of leading projects to completion and strong dose of common sense make him the ideal individual to provide innovative solutions to existing and new micro brewery operations. Backed by an experienced team which enables the company to offer its full range of services, on every project Vince insists the team apply his philosophy of applying common sense and interpreting the customer needs. In fact JBD pride themselves on providing simple solutions to any project or problem no matter how complex. The team provides services on a National basis and has completed projects throughout Europe. It has extensive onsite workshops and Storage facilities available, as well as experienced on site teams.

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Moeschle

Processing System Solutions

Stainless steel is perfectly suited to storing beer and all the raw materials and additives used in its production. It is taste neutral, resistant to all fruit acids and easy to clean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which makes it indispensable in this industry. The huge number of different possible designs ensures an optimum use of space. Our tanks can feature heating and cooling or an agitator and come in customised shapes and sizes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with a Moeschle tank your precious liquid is in safe hands. We are also happy to design an innovative, forward-looking solution for the special demands that your very particular requirements place on the storage setup. The company offers cylindro-conical fermentation tanks, pressurised tanks, process tanks, CIP tanks, insulated tanks, on-site assembly and ganway systems.

Processing System Solutions offers in three main categories, Eurotech Classic/Pub brewhouse, Eurotech Micro brewhouse and Eurotech Solid brewhouse. The brewhouse assembly consists of two main vessels, a frame, staircase, service platform, railing, control panel, wort cooler as well as mash, wort and hot water pumps, a mash agitator and rake arms. Different technological parts of the brewhouse are linked by stainless steel piping and all the necessary valves, servo drives, flow meters, safety valves, sight glasses, lighting, etc. The system enables both infusion and decoction brewing methods and is intended for more demanding customers with an adequate initial budget. The system adds a lot of joy and never-ending creativity to your beer making. Its Pub brewhouse differs from the Classic type in allowing only the infusion brewing method and is intended for less demanding customers with a lower initial budget. With this type of brewhouse, the mash process takes place in the lauter tun and the kettle serves as wort boiler. Both brewery types are identical as to their size. The brewhouse assembly consists of six main vessels,a frame, staircase, service platform, railing, control panel, wort cooler as well as mash, wort, cold and hot water pumps. Different technological parts of the brewhouse are linked by stainless steel piping and all the necessary valves, servo drives, flow meters, safety valves, sight glasses, lighting. The system enables both infusion and decoction brewing methods; it is intended for demanding customers and for industrial beer making. The Solid brewhouse can be made out according to customer requirements in a stainless steel, copper or combined, stainless steel-copper version.

Pureweld At Pureweld, they specialise in designing, manufacturing and installing brewing equipment, from individual items to automatic turnkey applications. They design, build and supply complete breweries from 1 barrel to 20 barrel. Pureweld Stainless has been in business for more than 9 years and provides a bespoke service- finished to a high standard at very competitive rates. Their clients span a wide spectrum and include start up brewing companies to large brewing companies as well as private individuals. All work is carried out under the close supervision of director Mark Ruston who is a time served stainless steel fabricator with over 30 years experience in the brewing and food industry. They pride ourselves in building relationships with all our customers, with the vast majority being long-term repeat business.

Spectac International PBC Brewery Installations The PBC installations team is led by David Porter and we have been successfully brewing, training, designing and installing breweries for more than twenty years. PBC (Brewery Installations) Ltd have installed hundreds breweries worldwide. If your knowledge of brewing is based on little to none, then do not worry, we have taken many virgins whose only understanding of quality ale has been how to drink it Then gently brought them to the understanding of the mysteries of ale production. They are now happy brewers unleashing quality wares on the greatly receiving world? All the equipment described on this site is designed for the production of English style real ale. Plant for other styles of beer and lager can be manufactured, but the specifications of such plant must be discussed at length with us before a firm price and installation details can be made. The styles of beer encompassed within English style real ale range from milds through bitters, IPAs, Porters and stouts to barley wines.

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Spectac International are market leaders in the design, manufacture and installation of Stainless Steel vessels for use in a range of industries. Their in-depth industry knowledge, trusted expertise and hands on approach to every project, guarantees its clients projects are planned, specified, project-managed and delivered within agreed budgets and on time. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just build vessels, we plan, design and transform production processes to enable companies to save time, reduce costs, minimise lead times and maintain competitive advantage in the marketplace. In business for over 30 years, Spectac International has grown considerably during this time and has continuously invested in new technologies, training, upskilling, quality processes and operational efficiencies. Spectac International has a highly skilled workforce of engineers who specialise in key disciplines that enable us to offer specialist services or a full turn key solution that is planned and project managed from start to finish.

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malt

why malt is key The brewing industry accounts for an integral part of the malt ingredients market, and it is one that is growing. Demand continues to increase, and so do the demands placed on maltsters both in the UK and Europe. Breweries continue to innovate and push the boundaries with what they can do with beer, and ask the same from their suppliers.

e have seen constant commitment from smaller brewers to continue using the traditional iconic barley malt varieties of Maris Otter and Golden Promise. Other malting barley such as Pearl and Propino have been widely available but this may not remain the case so due to farming trends of movement to high yielding feed spring barleys," says James Fawcett, owner of Thomas Fawcett & Sons. "The point here is that it may become necessary to contract more malting barley varieties at higher prices with farmers to ensure a quality supply of malt going forward.” The malt market is changing. Companies such as Muntons, Simpsons Malt, Crisp, Bestmalz, Malting Box, Warminster and Thomas Fawcett & Sons are key supplies in this field. Fawcett observes some of the change taking place in this sector. “Since Brexit we’ve seen major buyers come back to the UK but not only for reasons of price but also for the efficiencies of supply. This situation has put pressure on the supply and demand curve for some speciality malts,” he adds. For Fawcett, the changes in the malt ecosystem are also at odds with what is happening with the broader brewery market in the UK. “I believe customer demands and malt trends are interlinked but the only question here is whether or not demand is increasing. The statistics in the UK point to an ever if shrinking beer market.

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Consumption is not falling as fast as it once was, but with the demise of pubs, drink-driving laws and endless health warnings, consumption is still falling,” he explains. “It’s a strange position when juxtaposed against than ever-increasing number of breweries. Many new breweries are small, localised and under pressure to come up with new and interesting products to compete in an overcrowded market. To that end I believe there is an interest in innovative speciality malts - not in large volumes but just enough to make a difference.” “Brewers are willing to experiment with more interesting base malts. We’re seeing an increasing number of brewers take a keen interest in the provenance of newer varieties and supporting the sustainability of UK malting barley, explains Ben O’Gorman. The sales and key account manager for Scotland & borders at Bairds Malt says the demands breweries are placing on maltsters are transforming. “Brewers are keen to learn more about their ingredients and they appreciate how a quality malt can add value to the finished beer. As maltsters we’re middle men in the best sense of the word and we’re responsible for making the connection between our growers and our customers,” he says. “Craft brewers are beginning to appreciate that craft starts with the grower sowing the seed in the ground and nurturing the barley through its growing cycle till it reaches the next stage of the craft; malting.” For Will Longmate, craft maltster at Malting Box, he believes that the issue with consumer opinion of malt is that it can only be exploited in darker beers, ranging from best bitters to the extremity

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of imperial stout. “If you find a lover of malt they are unlikely to explain their love for a clean crisp balanced biscuit sweetness in the pint of English pale ale, instead being more bothered about the colour or astringency in a stout. Until the consumers have a better understanding of malt characteristics and what flavours can be attributed to the texture and flavours of malt it will be difficult to convince them otherwise,” he explains. Rob Moody, director of logistics and craft brewing at Crisp Maltings however, approaches changes in the malt market from a different perspective. “Britain is good at malting. We’re the third largest maltproducing nation in the world, which given our relative size, is quite an achievement. The changes in the malt market in recent times reflect the growth of the craft brewing sector,” says Moody. “Any maltsters who were offering a mere handful of products, sold in bulk to few large customers, are being forced to look

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at the needs of a fragmenting market. We have been working with craft brewers right from the outset, so are geared up to selling a wide variety of malts, whole grain or pre-crushed, in 25kg, half tonne and tonne packaging – as well as in bulk.” John Middleton, UK representative for Weyermann Speciality Malts says the days of single or, at most, two malt thin hoppy IPA style beers are fading. “Brewers now see that malt brings body, colour, flavour and aftertaste to beers and want to brew with up to seven malts including wheat and rye. Their main problem is they don't know generally what malts and what % will give them the beer character they desire. Most brewers are not qualified and have little experience in this. At Weyermann we offer free recipe support to our customers whereby our qualified brewmasters in Bamberg will develop the recipe for them to remove errors. This is proving of interest,” Middleton adds.

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malt

And for Chris Garrett, managing director at Warminster Maltings “Many things are happening in this interesting market we work in”. “I was very involved when beers went blonde and now they are going to every colour imaginable. The world now is very small and communication is rapid. We expect to go online, or pick up the phone and have everything available,” he says. “We have customers pick up the phone and want stuff they don’t use or haven’t used. Back in the day, brewers took ‘Malt A’, and ‘Malt C’, and used them together. But now they want ‘Malt B’, as that’s the malt used in a beer they’ve tried in another country.” But we that in mind, Garrett says the company is also increasingly working with people that want local, traceable products with integrity. “I believe the consumer buys into that, too. They want to interact with the whole chain. We are getting more enquiries from customers further afield wanting us to malt their local grains. There is enhanced value in that respect. There are many breweries out there, and some relatively young. By producing beers with this integrity, they can bring in heritage and a story into what can be a very new product,” he adds.

exploit, experiment, innovate

he craft brewing sector tends to be more experimental, more interested in ingredients that offer variations in flavour, body, mouthfeel and colour. Whereas beforehand, many brewers were looking only to hops to deliver this distinctiveness, it’s as though there has been a lightbulb moment with malt,” says Crisp’s Moody. “They’ve realised just how much can be done with different malt varieties and types – and indeed with un-malted cereals. And those who have been long-time malt enthusiasts using a wide variety of specialist malts are now also playing tunes with their base malts. So Maris Otter, Chevallier Heritage Malt and Clear Choice are coming into their own with them.” He adds: “But customer demands are not just about product: they are also about technical help. More brewers than ever are using our team for a whole range of technical insights; for recipe development; and for brewery growth plans. Word is spreading that we offer finance packages to support growth, and this is encouraging ambitious brewers to use our expertise – as well as our money!” O’Gorman from Bairds echoes this: “Customers are under increasing pressure from the consumer and competition for that matter, to introduce new and exciting beers. Consumers palates are becoming more sophisticated so brewers are under pressure to brew something that stands out against its neighbour. In turn, as a Maltster we play an important part in supporting the brewer when they’re looking to introduce more sophisticated malt bills. We recently

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introduced our 1823 project to the UK; 6 new malts that as we approach 200 years as maltsters that celebrate our heritage and multi-generational partnerships with our growers.” For Fawcett, UK craft brewers has started to exploit the potential of malt but they could always “go further”. “In the last 20 years we have gone from producing five or six styles of malt to over 33 today,” he says. The increase has been driven by the creativity of craft brewers. We've been lucky to be of a size where we can carry out small scale trials so it doesn't take long to get a ‘new’ malt to the market. As a result, the consumer has much more choice. Maltsters would prefer maltier and less hoppy beers but brewers will be driven by trends imposed by their customers and masters must follow suit. Will Longmate from Malting Box takes this point further, stressing that the majority of brewers see malt as “a necessary substrate rather than an easel to paint their masterpiece from”. “I fear that with Brexit looming it is going to become more difficult to make decent profits from

“

“The majority still see it as a necessary substrate rather than an easel to paint their masterpiece from.” Will Longmate, Malting Box

brewing, and with malt already quite low on the scale of cost it is unlikely that brewers will be prepared to invest the little extra in their malt quality and will continue to put their effort into the more obvious yeast and hop options,” he explains. “There are a few brewers who are on the right page, particularly Steve Dunkley at Beer Nouveau who has been working alongside us to produce some Victorian styles that are much more evenly balanced between good malt flavour, hops and the correct yeast strain. I hope that this work, when presented at Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood’s Woodfest later in July begins to highlight to brewers and drinkers alike that malt should not be dismissed and can truly compete with hops when applied correctly.” But Dr. Axel Goehler-Broistedt, chief executive officer at Best Malz, says breweries in countries such as Germany are increasingly turning to malt to give their beer a USP.

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in g r ed ien t s

Fawcett: "Brewers are experimenting with more interesting malts"

Muntons is a key supplier to the brewing industry in the UK & overseas

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malt

“Hops will always play a key role for brewers, that goes without saying. And German breweries are now discovering the excitement of US hops, they are finding types from US, Canada and they are starting to develop their beers. We have 1,300 established breweries heres,” he says. “But alongside that work with hops, they also turn to older malt types that have been around for 40-50 years in this market. Varieties that are no so strong in the yield but they love and appreciate the characteristics.” On a broader supply picture, GoehlerBroistedt says people continue to enjoy stronger beers but varieties such as its RedX are in huge demand, along with Heidelberg, Vienna and Pilsner malts. Also, wheat is coming along very strong, he notes.

challenge and opportunity

reweries should, if they don’t already, have a vested interest in the challenges their maltsters expect from the economy and market in the coming months and years. "We have monitored brewery growth in the UK since 2011 when there were 780 craft breweries (CAMRA figures). In 2017 this has risen further. The rate of growth has always been around 20%/year since 2011, but the last year this was much lower at well below 10%. This and knowledge gained by visiting every brewery has shown that the UK market seems to have reached its saturation point, explains Weyermann’s Middleton. “There are today more closures than in recent years and takeovers are starting to appear, a new twist. The problem area is clearly the 10brl breweries who by their size need three employees to operate them and therefore three salaries. 5brl breweries are a one person, part time operation and the larger 20,30 and 40brl breweries have significant financial backing and key distribution networks.” He adds: “The 10brl breweries fall between the two and are struggling to make a profit, so much so that they are "dumping" cheap beer into the market and not doing anyone any good as a result. Key opportunities in 2017 seem to be craft beer in keg and a focus on quality as the market becomes more difficult and selective. “The ability to widen their distribution area is a key factor to small breweries who do not own their own pubs and really only keg beers can allow brewers to do this with the extended shelf life and ease of dispense and management of craft beer. And of course pubs are still closing at an alarming rate and customer drinks choice is more varied than ever with cider and gin now prominent. Also supermarkets continue to sell low cost beer which does not help matters.” For Moody at Crisp, the challenges are around innovation, and the growing demand for technical support, explaining that innovation in raw materials is

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Crisp: "Brewers continue to innovate and call on us"

challenging because of the cycle of plant propagation. “It takes several years to develop a new barley (or other cereal) variety from the initial seed to sufficient commercial quantities. So while we can tweak the production processes, there are fewer options when it comes to the multiplication of new varieties. The good news is that we’ve been working on projects with seed specialists and scientists from - among other places the John Innes Centre, for many years, so we’re ahead of the game. Hence the introduction and success of Clear Choice which contains no polyphenol and offers improved colloidal stability and flavour opportunities, and of the Chevallier Heritage Malt which resurrects the robust malt flavours of the 1800s. Watch this space for the next development,” he says. “At the other end, with experienced brewers seeking to innovate, and calling on us for technical advice as they do so, demands made on our team of experts are increasing. Similarly with the fragmentation of the market and increasing number of new entrants, some with limited experience, there is also more demand made on the team for technical insights and support.” At Bairds, O’Gorman says competition is fierce. “Competition breeds excellence and the growth of craft brewing means malsters make a conscious effort to differentiate themselves. As breweries become more boutique we’re conscious to ensure that they can see a personality in our product rather than just a commodity,” he concludes.

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WEYERMANN SPECIALTY MALTS ®

Brennerstrasse 17-19 · 96052 Bamberg - Germany · www.weyermannmalt.com

Our Wholesaler in Great Britain : Charles Faram & Co Ltd The Hop Store · Mr. Paul Corbett Monksfield Lane, Newland · Nr. Malvern, Worcester WR13 5BB · Great Britain Phone: 0 19 05 - 83 07 34 e-mail: paulcorbett@charlesfaram.co.uk · www.charlesfaram.co.uk/weyermann-malt

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July~August 2017 | The Brewers Journal 73

B R E T T A NO M Y C ES

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Funk and Flavour While Brettanomyces yeast strains (the “British fungus”) have had a long history in British and Belgian ale production the details of their metabolic flavour production are only just now becoming understood. Gary Spedding, Ph.D. from Brewing and Distilling Analytical Services takes a closer look.

he perception of beer and food aroma and flavour is the result of the presence of many chemical components and a multitude of interactions between this substantial set of chemical compounds. Compounds may interact and combine in synergistic and antagonistic ways. Synergistic is a situation whereby the presence of one compound enhances the perception of other(s). Antagonistic is when a compound suppresses the perception of other(s). Both synergism and antagonism will be in play in a complex matrix such as beer with over 1300 constituents of varying concentration and flavour threshold potential. Threshold. Chemically, a concentration of a compound where is it recognized or identified by the human senses. Some compounds have very low detection threshold concentrations, others have high threshold values. A compound of a chemical class alone may exist in beer below its individual detection threshold concentration but when present with others in the group may be perceived synergistically – such as in the case with “goaty” character found in beers made using Brettanomyces for example. Goaty flavour arises from the perception of a combination of medium chain-length fatty acids. With respect to Brettanomyces fermentation some unique and strange flavours add to the complex profile of “Brett” beers. Some of these flavours are noted here. We begin though with an introduction to the Brettanomyces yeast strains – the organisms responsible for producing such unique flavour profiles. Brettanomyces Yeast. Brettanomyces (re-classified as Dekkera): an organism with a solid history in beer production. Beer with “English character” - early cask beers and Porter’s for example gave rise to the name Brettanomyces = “British fungus”. Barrel wood providing a concentrated source of the organisms. Belgian beers are also noted for the production, by Brettanomyces species, of strong, fruity, estery-like aromas, and, also metabolites that produce the flavour notes known as “horse sweat”. Brief details concerning three Brettanomyces yeast strains are presented in the box (right).

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Flavour Production

he chemical profile of most Brettanomyces associated beers is derived from the raw materials and the fermentation microflora (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and then usually the secondary microbial fermentation by the Brett strains. Brettanomyces wild-yeast inoculations are not often the primary fermentative organism though they can be. Fermentation and maturation conditions also have a significant

Popular Brettanomyces strains Bruxellensis Isolated from brewing cultures in the Brussels region of Belgium. Produces the classic sweaty horse blanket notes. Used for gueuze, lambics and sour browns and used in secondary fermentation. Good attenuation and medium flocculation associated with this strain. Tolerates alcohol at 8-12%. Requires long aging periods of 3-6 months to develop a full flavour profile. Claussenii Providing low intensity “Brett” character and originating from English stock beer. Subtle Brett flavours – notable aroma though less flavour impact. Tropical fruity, pineapple and light peach and blueberry notes. Produces horse blanket, leathery and smoky characters. Can be used as the primary fermentation yeast though more often used for the secondary fermentation. Lower attenuation properties than bruxellensis. Low flocculation and tolerates 8-12% ABV. Lambicus High intensity Brett character conveying horsey, smoky and spicy notes. Produces a pie-cherry-like flavour and sourness also. Used in Lambic style beer production; Flanders and sour brown style beers. Very good attenuation and low-medium flocculation. Long aging period 3-6 months required to develop full flavour profile.

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B R E T T A NO M Y C ES synthesis of many flavour-active primary volatile chemicals (e.g., ethanol, glycerol, acetic acid, and acetaldehyde) and secondary metabolites (e.g., esters, higher alcohols, organic acids, volatile phenols and short to medium chain length fatty acids). Brett beers are initially characterized by simple primary descriptors – some of which are rather extreme terms and convey flavour notes of a clearly uniquely acquired taste. These primary terms are noted pictorially in Figure 1.

phenols and acids

Figure 1. An infographic noting the key primary and generic flavour descriptors of Brett beers.

impact on the types of metabolic activity of the microorganisms. The Brettanomyces yeasts responsible for fermentation, contribute to “Brett” character” by several mechanisms: First, by utilizing grain-derived and possibly hop components and transforming them into aroma- or flavour-active compounds, secondly by producing enzymes that transform neutral grain (and adjunct) and hop compounds into flavour-active molecules, and thirdly by the de novo (“from new”)

he major notes associated with “Brett” character are the volatile phenols: 4-ethylphenol (4EP), 4-ethylguaiacol (4EP) and 4-ethylcatechol. The chemical structures and associated flavour notes are shown in Figure 2. Octanoic and decanoic acids and acetic, isobutyric, isovaleric and several other compounds have also all been ascribed to “Brett” character. These acids convey rancid, cheesy, dairy and sweaty (stinky feet) like aromas and flavours. Other chemical classes and example compounds and typical flavours also associated with Brettanomyces beers are shown in Figure 3.

amino acid metabolism

major pool of aromatic volatiles, not well covered yet in the brewingliterature, arises from amino acid metabolism. The breakdown (catabolism) of amino acids, via several enzymatic routes, produces a variety of sometimes quite flavour active molecules.

Figure 2. The characteristic phenols contributing to Brettanomyces-associated flavour, together with their flavour descriptors.

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B R E T T A NO M Y C ES

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Figure 3. Other chemical classes, example compounds and flavour notes associated with Brettanomyces character.

These alone may convey pleasing aromas or quite unpleasant notes. The acids, aldehydes and alcohols produced from the amino acids are responsible for flavour nuances including: chocolate, green, fruity, fatty, fuselly, whiskey, coffee, nutty, caramel, floral, rose-like, onion, garlic, sour, sweaty, cheesy, dairy, buttery, animal-like, potato, earthy, vegetable, sulfury, eggy, tomato and even putrid and fecal-like flavours – yummy! Such is the complexity of beer flavour. Much more research needs to be done concerning such metabolic activities and Brettanomyces strains to better relate such flavour production to “Brett” beer flavour profiles. Furthermore, the topic of catabolism – the breakdown of amino acids - and “Brett” beer flavour production could also form the basis for an article of its own standing.

summary

rewers in the US are experimenting with alternative, non-Saccharomyces, yeast species for fermentation and many are producing beers with “Brett” character. Readers may wish to search for the “Brettanomyces

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Project” for some original research results from a science-trained brewer and founder of the Crooked Stave brewery in Colorado. While Brettanomyces yeast strains (the “British fungus”) have had a long history in British and Belgian ale production the details of their metabolic flavour production are only just now becoming understood. This brief review has attempted to uncover details a few of the flavours associated with this ever more popular beer style. Much more could be written on this topic. The brewer wishing to make beer with nontraditional microorganisms should proceed with caution and learn a lot more about the potential outcomes from using such potent metabolic fermentative organisms. The beers, which are not easy to produce, are rather an acquired taste after all and, even when done right, are not pleasing to everyone’s palate. References used in this article: Spedding, G. and Aiken, T. (2015). Sensory analysis as a tool for beer quality assessment with an emphasis on its use for microbial control in the brewery. In: Brewing Microbiology: Managing Microbes, Ensuring Quality and Valorising Waste. (Annie E. Hill, Editor) Woodhead Publishing/Elsevier. Chapter 18: 375-404.

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B act e r i a

Bacteria, sour beer and the results you want The production of sour beers is fast becoming increasingly prevalent and the requirement for reliable and consistent techniques and desirable flavour profile is highly relevant, explains Lallemand's Robert Percival, a qualified brewing professional with extensive experience in quality and technical roles in beer production.

eer has been brewed for thousands of years and for the majority of this time has been produced using mixed culture fermentation via a complex spectrum of microflora, not just brewing yeast. Indeed, arguably, sourness (to some extent) has been an important and prevalent characteristic of beer throughout history. It is only in the last 500-600 years that hops have been used as the widespread and dominating flavouring of beer, with their bacteriostatic properties inhibiting the presence and activity of some bacteria in particular. In more recent history, the pioneering work of scientists such as Pasteur and Hansen saw the development of sterile culturing techniques and the isolation and purification of single cell cultures. This, coupled with technological developments in the midlate Victorian period, saw a move away from mixed cultures and the rise of pure culture fermentations and greater homogeneity in beer which still dominates the global landscape (bearing in mind that lager/ pilsner production accounts for 90%+ of world beer production). However, pockets of unique and iconic beers using mixed microflora remained in Europe. Sour beer is certainly nothing new. We would perhaps associate sour beers chiefly with Belgium with styles such as Lambic, Flanders Red, Gose etc but so to could sour beers be found in Germany (Berliner Weisse) and the UK (Oak aged ales). Fast forward to modern day and we are now seeing an explosion in the popularity of sours, nothing short of a renaissance. This, like most phenomenons in the modern craft beer movement, is being fueled and influenced by the US. In the 1990s beer imports saw an influx of Belgian beers into the US which had a profound effect on brewers and consumers alike. 2002 saw the first time sours were entered as a standalone category at the great American Beer Festival (with only a handful of entries) but since then great expansion and popularity in sour beers now sees hundreds of entries. The diversity in sour styles, flavours and creativity is now going global and having been influenced by iconic

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European styles and techniques modern brewers worldwide are taking sours to exciting new places which is being reflected in demand for these beers.

Key microorganisms

actobacillus can largely be considered the primary souring bacteria and has a diverse range of subspecies (see R&D trials later in the article). Lactobacillus is at the heart and the dominating characteristic of sour beers such as Berliner Weisse and Gose but is also used as part of mixed fermentation in many sour styles. Lactobacillus produces lactic acid very rapidly, imparting a soft and tangy flavor. Temperature sensitivity is crucial for performance and this does vary by subspecies, 30-49°C being a common temperature range for Lactobacillus activity. They are typically very sensitive to hops (though again this is species dependent) and as little as c.8 IBU can inhibit growth and activity, though they can develop resistance. Lactobacillus can be categorised as hetrofermentative (producing lactic acid and other byproducts such as CO2 and Ethanol) and homofermentative strains which produce lactic acid alone. Pediococcus is also a common souring bacteria but by contrast to lactobacillus is much slower (potentially taking months to reach lower pH levels) which may influence the technique selected to sour. Although slower in activity it is more resistant to hops as well as acids and thus can achieve pH levels of 3.0 and lower (Lactobacillus typically achieving 3.2-3.5 pH). The result being that Pedicoccus produces a much harsher and sharper taste as compared to Lactobacillus. Most species will produce diacetyl to varying concentrations (as some species of Lactobacillus will), which is largely considered a negative by many brewers and in the right conditions can produce exopolysaccharides resulting in “sick” or “ropey” beer. Brettanomyces, wild yeast and not bacteria, is often used to ferment sour beers. Unlike common brewing yeasts (S. cerevisiae and S. pastorianus) Brettanomyces can utilize a broad range of sugars including dextrin material but is typically slower. A common

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B act e r i a

misconception of Brettanomyces is that it contributes to acidity similar to bacteria. It does not on its own but is often used alongside bacteria. Depending on the subspecies Brettanomyces can produce a diverse range of esters, phenols and other compounds resulting in flavours that lend themselves well to sour beer styles. For example, B. bruxellenis tends to produce more earthy, woody and musty notes versus fruity, pineapple esters that would be associated with B. claussenii.

Sources of Lactic Acid producing bacteria

n searching for preferable bacteria used for sour beer production brewers turn to many sources to achieve desired results. Some of the most common include laboratory, bottle cultures, nature, yoghurt, and un-mashed grains. Commercially available strains via laboratories are becoming increasingly available either as a pure or mixed culture (more common). For bottle cultures, brewers and microbiologists harvest cultures found in the sediment/dregs of unpasteurized sour beers and then grow these cultures up. These would typically be mixed and often complex cultures. In nature, exposing wort or beer to atmosphere and allowing naturally present bacteria and wild yeasts to sour is an option. This is a traditional technique especially favoured in Belgium. Elsewhere, a range of dairy products including yoghurt are fermented with Lactobacillus and adding yoghurt containing a spectrum to wort of beer has been used in sour beer production. And finally, Lactobacillus is often present on the grains/cereals used in brewing and the addition of crushed and un-mashed grains in the brew house can be used as a technique for souring.

lallemand research

ith the increased consumption of sour beers (containing lactic acid) comes a demand to be able to produce such beers in a convenient and controlled way such as using dried bacteria in pitchable sizes. Based on encouraging results with a L. plantarum strain it was decided to evaluate a wider range of available dried lactic acid bacteria. The target is to achieve pH 3.5 or lower within 48 hours of fermentation with high lactic acid and low acetic acid concentrations. Here we test several lactic acid bacteria strains. L. plantarum (A) was included as a control because it was the best performer in previous trials. Sour beers are becoming more popular in the market today and brewers looking for an easy way to produce this beer style without propagating and maintaining their own lactic acid bacteria cultures. Using dried bacteria cultures in pitchable sizes would be a convenient solution. 6 lactic acid bacteria strains were fermented in 12 % unhoped malt extract at four

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different temperatures. L. helveticus and L. acidophilus showed the highest activity at 40 ºC, which resulted in the highest lactic acid concentration. The highest acetic acid concentrations were produced at 20 ºC and in general decreased with increasing fermentation temperatures. L. helveticus and L. acidophilus seem suitable candidates for sour beer production. L. delbrueckii might be an interesting addition to the portfolio of lactic acid bacteria for sour beer production because it produced some interesting fruity notes. Beer fermentations with the samples were performed at 4 different temperatures (20 ºC, 30 ºC, 40 ºC and 50 ºC in 500ml media bottles. The wort was prepared from malt extract to 12° Plato

Techniques for souring Mash Souring Liquor, grain adjustment Bacteria from grain or inoculated 2 – 3 days Kettle Souring Wort inoculated with LAB 2 -3 days Co-fermentation Mixed sacc, LAB & Brett Typical fermentation time Barrel/Foeder/spontaneous ageing Often in wood (or Keolschip) Mixed spectrum of microflora Greater complexity

Example kettle sour process Mash Lauter Bring to boil/hear to pasteurize Cool to pitching temp 110-118F (43-48oC) Pitch lactobacillus CO2 purge - 2 hours at 3 psi Acidification Boil and kill lactobacillus

Strains L. plantarum (A) L. delbrueckii (A) L. delbrueckii (B) L. helveticus L. plantarum (B) L. brevis L. acidophilus

July~August 2017 | The Brewers Journal 79

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B act e r i a

Graph 1

Graph 2

and transferred into sterile bottles. Bacteria were rehydrated at room temperature for 15 minutes and pitched at 1g/hl except for L. plantarum (strain A) which was pitched at 10 g/hl as recommended. Daily measurements of gravity and pH were taken over the course of the fermentation. Samples were taken at the end of each fermentation and analyzed for lactic acid, acetic acid and glycerol. The analysis was performed by HPLC with a column Jolie Waters Ic-Pak Ion-exclusion 50A 7um 7.8X150mm Both Lactobacillus plantarum strains showed the highest activity at 20 ยบC and 30 ยบC resulting

80 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

in the fastest pH drop and lowest pH after 3 days fermentation. At 30 ยบC and 40 ยบC all strains reached the target pH of 3.5 within 2 days with the exemption of L. brevis strain (30 ยบC & 40 ยบC) and L. delbrueckii (30 ยบC). L. helveticus and L. acidophilus showed the highest activity at 40 ยบC and were still active at 50 ยบC whereas all other strains were almost inactive at that temperature (graphs 1 โ 4). HPLC results indicate that the highest lactic acid concentrations were produced at 40 ยบC by L. helveticus followed by L. acidophilus. At 30 ยบC all strains produced similar high concentrations of lactic acid. L. brevis is the most sensitive strain to higher fermentation temperatures producing the

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B act e r i a

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Graph 3

Graph 4

highest concentration at 20 ยบC. The highest acetic acid concentrations were produced at 20 ยบC and in general decreased with increasing fermentation temperatures. The highest glycerol concentrations were measured at 30 ยบC produced by L. plantarum and L. helveticus. The fermentations were tasted after 3 days by a tasting panel. In general the fermentations with L. helveticus and L. acidophilus were described as having the most intense sour taste and smell. L. delbrueckii produced some interesting fruity notes. One of the two bottles of L. helveticus at 30 ยบC produced a biofilm and had a roasted aftertaste. The production of sour beers is fast becoming

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increasingly prevalent and the requirement for reliable and consistent techniques and desirable flavour profile is highly relevant. Diversity in Lactobacillus sub species is evident in terms of performance, temperature sensitivity and optimal conditions. By identifying, characterizing and understanding how these subspecies work and moreover what techniques for souring they are best suited for continuing research and development of easy to handle high performance bacteria cultures can be of benefit to brewers producing sour beers. A number of strains available in the Lallemand collection and produced in freeze dried form appear to be ideal candidates for use in brewing.

July~August 2017 | The Brewers Journal 81

dat e s

e v en t s

e v ent s

London Craft Beer Festival 2017 celebrates its 5th Birthday this year, celebrating the very best of the modern beer culture from 4-6 August

2017 4-8 July Chelmsford Summer Beer and Cider Festival Admirals Park, Chelmsford www.cbcf.info/CBCF17/

4-6 August London Craft Beer Festival Hoxton Square, London www.londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk

6 July Magic Rock Beer & BBQ Party The Prince, N22, London www.totalales.co.uk

8-12 August Great British Beer Festival Olympia, London www.gbbf.org.uk

28-30 July Hop On The Beer Line Epping Ongar Railway www.eorailway.co.uk

18 August Thornbridge Peakender Showground, Bakewell www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/

82 | The Brewers Journal | July~August 2017

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