61 minute read
HOP SECURITY: THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
TALKING POINTHOP SECURITY A CHANGING CLIMATE IMPACTS US ALL. IN HIS LATEST TALKING POINT, TIM O’ROURKE LOOKS AT HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS THE SUPPLY AND AVAILABILITY OF BREWING INGREDIENTS SUCH AS HOPS.
If nothing else the climate related incidents over this year will have convinced even the most sceptical amongst us that we are in the middle of a climate emergency, and going forward we can expect to face annual climate events such as heat waves, drought, forest fires and flash floods. It is incumbent on all of us to try and mitigate these events by reducing carbon emissions which im-pact on the climate, as well as affecting our lives it will also have a profound effect on the natural world around us. Climate change also effects the supply and availability of brewing materials. This article will look at the effects on hop availability and costs. Hops are a perennial plant widely distributed in temperate areas and grow in many hedgerows. Hops for brewing are principally grown in the Pacific North West of America and South Central Europe, Bavaria and the Czech Republic, they also grow in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand, southern tip of South Africa and Patagonia. Although the UK represents the 10th largest hop growing region, it provides most of the varieties required for brewing British beers and these hops have been
Image credit: LuckyStarr, CC BY-SA 3.0 affected by the hot dry spell. There are three principal effects anticipated as a result of the change in climate. Warmer wetter winters (less snow and frost) which results in waterlogged soils. Hops have a requirement for large volumes of water, but hops don’t like wet roots and should be grown in well drained soil. Cold winters are required to vernalise (frost) certain varieties such as Bramling Cross to achieve good yield. Cold weather is also required to kill off some pests and diseases which can over winter under mild conditions. 2022 GLOBAL HOP CROP England English hops – Hereford & Kent Most native English hop varieties are adapted to moderate summer temperatures of between 20 – 250C. this year has seen two very hot spells with temperatures exceeding 300C which has stressed certain hop varieties such as Fuggles. By contrast other varieties such as Chinook and Cascade which traditionally grows in the Pacific Northwest of America have grown particularly well and is predicted to yield 1.5 to 2 times above their average. The good news is that some of the recently developed hop varieties brewersjournal.info NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 | 17
Downy mildew, Spider mite and Damson Hop Aphids
are showing good heat and drought resistance, helping us to secure a future for UK hops. Most English hops are now grown in Hereford and Worcester where yields were normal but yields for traditional landrace varieties were slightly lower. Kent endured hotter weather and since they mainly grow traditional English hop varieties which experienced stress which resulted in lower yields but quality in terms of bitterness and aroma were good. English hop farmers may have to consider installing local water supplies for irrigation to combat drought.
United States, Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest has a plentiful supply of water from the snow melt off the Cascade mountains but this year there was an unusually cold Spring and a late summer with the crop harvest a few days late with around 5% decrease in yields. With certain varieties such as Centennial and Willamette yielding well below average. The cold weather reduced the incidence of mildew, but the dry weather encourage the proliferation of spider mite. Both aroma and bitterness quality is good.
Germany – Hallertau Few hop farms in Europe have an independent irrigation system and hops require high volumes of water normally provided by rainfall. In Germany hop growers are prohibited from watering and with higher temperatures the hops were severely stressed giving anticipated yields down by 15 – 30%. The quality of the crop is good but may have a slightly lower average alpha acid content. Czech Republic A similar decrease in hop crop is expected in Czech Republic town water supplies are not suitable irrigation (assuming the farmer could afford it) because most has been treated with chlorine and this can raise the chlorates concentration on the cone above the permitted standards
Slovenia Slovenia experienced drought in previous years so most hop farmers have introduced irrigation and in spite of unusually high summer temperatures they had a normal crop. Climate is not the only concern for hop growers. Hops are greedy feeders and require high levels of fertiliser. The prices of which have increased fourfold in cost mainly because of the Ukraine war. The other major demand is for energy required for hop drying and refrigerating hop bales in the warehouse with energy costs increasing by 3 to 4 times. Hops have never been a particularly profitable crop, requiring major investment and high labour demand and it is inevitable that there will be a substantial increase in hop costs. Hop growers have made great efforts to reduce their energy dependence with solar power to power cold storage and have reduced the use of fertilisers using spray along with ideas such as mulching and intercropping to reduce moisture loss and pest control. The future is likely to depend on newer varieties, new hop products and inevitably higher costs.
CONCLUSION
u DON’T PANIC – although this year’s harvest may be below average worldwide there are still plenty of hops available from previous years and so there should not be any shortage in the 2023 brewing year. u There may be some carry over of the stress effect on the plant into next year’s growth which could affect availability of some varieties. u To make sure you get the supply of hops you require all brewers should agree a contract with their hop supplier for several years in advance. u Availability of hop varieties may be limited and more expensive so brewers may have to look for alternative bittering and aroma varieties. u The higher temperatures and low rainfall in Central Europe may result in a shortage of Noble hops for lager brewing. u The increased use of hop products for bittering and aroma is generally more efficient requiring lower quantities of raw hops for their production. u Longer term, it is possible that if climate change continues, hop cultivation may need to move north from the traditional areas of the Hallertau and Washington State as temperatures in these regions rise. Late June 2020 saw temperatures in Yakima exceed 40 degrees centigrade. Fortunately, the crop was largely unaffected, but if these temperatures had occurred when the plants were at a more vulnerable physiological stage then certain varieties might have been short. u If nothing is done to ameliorate the effects of climate change hop will continue to be stressed with poorer yields and a scarcity in the future.
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Andy Garbett and Will Kirby from Brook House Hops, Will Rogers from Charles Faram and Ali Capper hop farmer and Director of British Hop Association for information used to produce this article.
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COMMENTSWORLD BEER CUP LOTTE PEPLOW, BREWERS ASSOCIATION AMERICAN CRAFT BEER AMBASSADOR FOR EUROPE, UNCOVERS THE LOWDOWN ON THE NOW ANNUAL WORLD BEER CUP FROM NEWLY APPOINTED COMPETITION DIRECTOR, CHRIS WILLIAMS. The World Beer Cup, organised by the Brewers Association, the not-forprofit trade association that represents small and independent American craft brewers, is often called the ‘Olympics of Beer’ and is the largest, most competitive beer competition in the world. It has celebrated international brewing excellence since its inception in 1996 and the last competition attracted 10,542 entries from 2,493 breweries representing 57 different countries. As from this year the competition is moving from bi-annual to annual with registration for 2023 having taken place in November 2022 while a new competition director, Chris Williams, has been appointed. I sat down with him in an exclusive interview to explore what makes the competition so special: Lotte Peplow: Why is World Beer Cup moving to an annual competition? Chris Williams: It’s all about answering demand. We were getting a myriad of enquires from breweries all around the world asking when does registration open for the World Beer Cup and we would have to tell them it’s only every other year.
By moving to annual we’re looking to meet this demand and we’re excited to see how it can grow and move forward. Organising a bi-annual competition was easier from an operational perspective but going annual helps keep the competition at the forefront of people’s minds and they’re less inclined to forget or miss deadlines. It’s exciting to see where it will go from here. LP: There are many beer competitions around the world. What’s so special about World Beer Cup and why should brewers enter? CW: By being the largest competition in the world it’s also the most competitive which means taking home a medal or an award shows that, globally, your brewery is doing something right and you’re making world class beer. Yes, it’s difficult to win because it is so competitive, but success shows how amazing your brewery is at making beer and that’s highly valuable. It’s interesting to see breweries from all around the world competing with international or regionally focused styles which may lead to a brewery from a far-flung corner of the world winning an unexpected category, for example, in 2022 a Columbian brewersjournal.info NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 | 21
brewery won gold in the speciality saison category and a Mexican brewery medalled in English Ale.
LP: Brewers often say the quality of the feedback is reason alone to enter the World Beer Cup. Please explain how feedback works? CW: Comprehensive feedback is another highly valuable aspect of the World Beer Cup. Every beer goes through multiple rounds of judging and in the first round every judge (usually 2-4 of them) fills out an evaluation card focusing on aroma, appearance, flavour, balance etc and gives comments, stylistic descriptions and a summary of how the beer stood up to other beers in the flight. This means that in a category with 100s of entries every brewer will know how their beer performed and this is highly valuable feedback for the brewer. In addition to feedback cards, brewers also get a summary of how far their beer advanced through the rounds. For example, in a large category with five rounds a brewer will be told how far their beer progressed and brewers find this very worthwhile information.
LP: How do you choose the judges? CW: We have a very large judging panel of about 800 names and we rotate through every few years between World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival (GABF, held in Denver, Colorado every autumn). We aim for 12-15% of new judges every year to keep the panel fresh and bring in new perspectives, new palates and to ensure we reach the most highly acclaimed judges in the world. Of course, not all the 800 judges are active and we need between 250-300 for every World Beer Cup. In my new role as competition director, I’m responsible for selecting the judges from a list of internationally recognised brewers, sensory experts, suppliers, writers and consultants and they’re selected on the basis of a) formal sensory training b) experience evaluating beers on flavour panels or competitions c) judging demeanour d) knowledge of beer styles and the brewing process and e) industry and peer recognition. In 2022 judges came from 28 countries, 32% from outside the U.S., down slightly on previous years due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. Pre-pandemic we saw the number of judge countries rising and I’m pushing for that to increase once more to about 50-60% over the next few years because international perspective and palates of our judges is invaluable, especially country judges from where a beer style originated. My biggest challenge is having the right number of judges from around the world. For the last two years it has been difficult for people to travel but that is changing now.
LP: How many countries enter the World Beer Cup and how do you reach every corner of the brewing world? CW: Pre-pandemic we had an impressive number of 65 countries but it dropped a bit in 2022 due to lingering pandemic restrictions or logistics being difficult but we’re hoping to get up to 65 countries and maybe expand into the 70s in due course. We’ve got a great plan for targeting different markets and we’re excited to bring that count up. We’re re-doubling our efforts with marketing campaigns, social media, partnerships with international publications, activities undertaken by our Export Development Programme and more to get the message out there.”
LP: What criteria is used for judging the World Beer Cup? CW: World Beer Cup is judged according to Brewers Association Style Guidelines. These are beer style descriptions which are used as a reference point for brewers and beer competition organisers. They are reviewed and revised annually and celebrate the diversity of beer around the world. I work with the Brewers Association’s Technical Committee to decide on the competition guidelines. We review after every competition cycle and adjust where necessary, for example, we may have a category with very few entrants and decide to roll it into something else. Some styles make it into the competition guidelines based on interest and popularity and some on industry trends.
LP: Will you be doing anything differently in your new role? CW: Not right away. I want to ensure we’re operating the best we can and at the moment we have a great competition model in the way it’s been structured and operationally it works superbly. However, I know there are always areas we can improve on and that’s probably my biggest goal over the next one to two cycles of World Beer Cup and GABF. I’ll be keeping an eye on what can be done
to improve and enhance the competition. On-line and digital judging is an area we’re looking to progress. We’ve been working towards it but progress slowed during the pandemic and now the intention is to fully convert to digital judging by World Beer Cup 2024. We don’t want to move too fast, especially with the size and scale of the competition – everybody needs to be ready, but it’ll be exciting when we do! In addition to organising and selecting the judges I also build out the competition schedule which is a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle in terms of what beer is judged by who and when, and I also oversee the operations team. Our cellar manager Mike Aronson, helps secure a team of volunteers who receive the beers, unpackage and sort them into 103 individual judging categories and the assistant competition manager, Kristine Latham, helps secure our competition team of stewards and table captains responsible for getting the beer to the judges’ tables. There are between 10-11,000 entries and over 60,000 individual bottles or cans which must all be sorted by hand and the entire sorting process takes over 6,000 volunteer hours. Organisation at sorting is key to ensuring all entries reach the judges at the competition. The competition has continued to grow by roughly 10% every competition cycle making organisation even more challenging.
LP: What were you doing before your new role? CW: I’ve been with the Brewers Association for the last 13 years and started as an intern. Within two years I moved into the event manager side and my previous role for the last five years was as senior event manager. This allowed me to interact with breweries by helping them manage their entries into the World Beer Cup and GABF. I have a lot of experience working with breweries so it was an easy transition to step into the competition director role and I felt I was uniquely suited for it. LP: What would you like to do next? CW: When I have more time I’d like to judge more beer competitions around the world and complete my Master Cicerone exam. I used to home brew and I’ll pick that up again one day too.” (Note, Chris has his hands full with his new role and two young children at home).
LP: How do you enter the World Beer Cup? CW: Breweries are invited to submit entries to the World Beer Cup 2023. Registration is open 1-14 November 2022 with awards presented on 10 May 2023 during the next Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, 7-10 May 2023. British brewers should send entries to the official UK consolidation hub in Hertfordshire, England where beers will be palletised and air-freighted to the USA at the Brewers Association’s expense. The Brewers Association will handle all Customs clearance and paperwork and maintain cold-storage throughout the journey
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BIG SMOKETHE BIG IDEA LONDON’S BIG SMOKE BREW CO HAS COME A LONG, LONG WAY SINCE STARTING OUT EIGHT YEARS AGO. THEY CERTAINLY DIDN’T EXPECT TO BE A DOMINANT UK FORCE IN AIRPORT BREWERY TAPROOMS AND BARS, BUT HERE WE ARE. AND FOR THE BUSINESS FOUNDED ON A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE IN HOSPITALITY, THERE’S A LOT MORE TO COME, TOO.
We all want visitors to our pubs, bars and taprooms. For Big Smoke Brew Co, some 18 million of these potential customers pass by their Taphouse & Kitchen at Terminal 2 of London’s Heathrow Airport each year. They’d just need the best part of 180,000 50l kegs to pour everyone a pint. Not only that, the brewery has another three airport sites to cater for too. And that’s before we’ve taken into account the 14 pubs located across the south of England employing a workforce of 300. Not bad going for an outfit that started in the shed of a pub back in 2014. “It must have been way back in 2001. James would end up giving me my first pub job at a place called Shillibeer’s on London’s Caledonian Road,” recalls Richard Craig. “One of the first things he asked me was if I had worked behind a bar before. I said ‘yes’, which was a complete lie.” He smiles: “But then again by that point he had kept me waiting 45 mins while he walked around looking important so I thought we were pretty even.” His interviewer that day was James Morgan. And in the years, and decades, to follow, Morgan would become a friend, colleague and eventually co-founder of Big Smoke Brew Co. A Surrey-based modern brewery and pub company, and one that recently celebrated its eighth birthday as 2022 draws to a close. For Morgan, working and running pubs runs in his blood. “I lived in pubs until I was eight or nine,” he says. “My dad (Dick Morgan) used to run a lot of pubs in the West End of London so after I left school I went straight to work in these establishments. “We’d go own to manage and run many of these together. And when Big Smoke first started making
beer he would support us by buying it, even when it probably wasn’t very good. But that said, if it didn’t sell then he’d simply stop, He’s far too commerciallyminded to buy any old rubbish!” But before Big Smoke came to be, Morgan and Craig would work together running other pubs such as The North Pole in Islington, where they got to try beers that would light a creative fire in them. “We were able to get our hands on some American beers that everyone was talking about. But we also stocked beers from breweries such as Harbour in Cornwall, which were just getting going at the time,” explains Craig. “I remember having their Double IPA on tap, long before many people knew what that type of beer was. It was probably about 8% and we had to sell it for £12 because we bought it from someone that would have to use a distributor who bought it from someone else. You know how it is. But I was blown away by that beer and was my go-to staff drink at the end of the night. We made sure we always had it on!” It was these formative experiences that only went to increase Craig and Morgan’s interest in the beer side of hospitality. They had a wealth of knowledge in cellaring and selling beer, but now they wanted to know how to make it, too. Craig says: “It was there in North London where those seeds were planted. We had early dreams of building a brewery downstairs in The North Pole and looking back that would have been a nightmare, a complete disaster! So we decided that we’d like to start a pub together and that’s how The Antelope came about.” The Antelope is based in Surbiton, a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. “I’ll be honest, 24 | NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 BREWERS JOURNAL
Big Smoke Brew Co, September 2022
I hadn’t even heard of Surbiton until we visited,” Craig laughs. “But the pub had this amazing space in the back, an old stables, and that’s where Big Smoke would start.” The team approached starting a brewery, as they explain, from a different angle to most other brewing businesses. “Nick (Blake) was the assistant manager of the pub, and he became our head brewer while Danny Roberts, a bar supervisor, would eventually go on to be our lead brewer,” says Morgan. “It’s safe to say that calling us inexperienced was the biggest understatement ever. But we’ve always worked and grown in an organic way and thankfully it has always seemed to work for us. Well, most of the time!” adds Craig.
The team took over The Antelope in January of 2014. They’d open the doors the following month with brewing starting that September. The first beer produced on their modest brewhouse was Dark Wave, a 5% English-style Porter. These beers were a hit from the off, both at The Antelope and with early customers across the capital. It was all hands to the pump, which would also require team members like Craig to deliver beers personally. “Rich and I would drive about in a pretty old, knackered van visiting the trade,” says Morgan. Craig adds: “Which was fine. But there was one time where I drove some beer to North London in the back of my old beaten up Mercedes. I was coming around Parliament Square and I was pulled over by the police. “From the vantage point of their van they could see three casks sat across the backseat and there was another two in the boot. So there I was, stopped in front of all of these tourists taking photos having to explain to the Police that I was only delivering beer and wasn’t planning to be the new Guy Fawkes.”
With The Antelope a success, the opening of other Big Smoke pubs would follow. These include The Albion, featuring one of the biggest beer gardens in Kingston, and over 30 draught beers and ciders on tap, as well as being home of Big Smoke Distilling Co. The Big Smoke pub family was growing, and with that, so was the demand for the brewery’s beers. It was evident that the facilities at the back of The Antelope could no longer cater for demand so they’d need a new brewery to keep up.
Come 2018, new sites for the brewery were being scoped out. These were in areas such as Battersea in South London and Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey. They ticked some boxes, but not all. “We were looking pretty flat out for about six months,” says Craig. “They had lots of Systems that Big Smoke Brew Co would be introduced to Jenn Merrick. Merrick, who was working as a consultant at the time, is a leading expert in the UK craft brewing industry, and has a wealth of experience in brand expansion, brewing, brewery operations, and building outstanding businesses; notably leading growth and expansion projects for Beavertown, Dark Star and Meantime.
And come 2022 she would take on the newly-created position of managing director at Big Smoke Brew Co, 15 years since moving to the UK from the USA. “I moved here because my wife got a job at a charity in Yorkshire. We could have ended up anywhere, and we were looking all over the world for the next step. But I knew that when I landed here, that British brewing was something I wanted to learn,” she explains. “I had tried to get a foot in the door in the American industry, but it was really a boy’s club. Nobody was really willing to consider a woman for a brewery role.”
merits but there were also issues with the size or location. But then the facility here in Esher came up and we put an offer in straight away.” Esher is a mere four miles west of the original location at The Antelope and it’s there that the brewery has been able to realise its ambitions as a production business serving both Big Smoke Brew Co pubs, and other accounts too. They’d secure the keys at the end of 2018, move in the following February and then commence brewing that March. And when it came to choosing a new brewhouse setup, they’d opt for a 30HL operation from UK-based Gravity Systems.
Starting out with six 65HL FVs, they’ve since added another 12 to their cellar alongside a Lambrechts washer/filler, a larger HLT and CLT, whirlpool and a Microcan system to package 330ml and 440ml cans. In England she’d undertake a course at Brewlab in Sunderland then carry out her IBD qualifications while working at York Brewery. “While in York we had a whiff of the American craft beer revolution,” she says. “I was allowed to design a handful of recipes and you would definitely know if there was something like Cascade in that beer because it would end up with a bloody American flag on the pump clip!” Merrick recalls a strong focus on cask beer production. “People couldn’t fathom the idea of putting unfiltered, unpasteurized beers into keg. Nobody thought there would be a market of these beers as they worried about shelf stability and other such issues. There was lots of territory in the world of craft beer to be uncovered at that point.”
Moving south in 2011, she would work at Dark Star in Sussex alongside Mark Tranter who would go on to found Burning Sky Brewery several years later. Roles at Meantime in Greenwich and Camden Town Brewery in North London followed, as well as at Beavertown in Tottenham Hale. At these breweries Merrick would be part of their growth phases, often helping commission
Top left clockwise: Jenn Merrick, David Tugwell, Richard Craig & James Morgan, Danny Roberts
new brewhouse setups along the way. Expertise she could impart in consulting at Gravity Systems where she would go on to work alongside Big Smoke’s head brewer Nick Blake during the commissioning phase. “Nick has been very loyal to Big Smoke, being the only brewery he has worked at, so it was really rewarding to bring some of my outside experience, coupled with his leadership, to the new setup,” she says. “Together we are a great team.” One of her early tasks at Big Smoke was to put a brewery-specific financial structure in place. In doing so, working alongside Sarah Elkins, the former head of finance at Beavertown. “Together, we know what a brewery’s financials should look like,” explains Merrick. “Up until then, things have been quite integrated between the brewery and pub companies, so we’ve been able to unpick it all and demonstrate how a brewery’s accounts should look.”
This side of the role runs alongside her first passion of brewing production. At Big Smoke, Merrick has been gratified to be able to enrol team members into an apprenticeship programme with Nottingham University, a steering committee that she had significant input into several years back. “I’m so thrilled to now have staff members who are enrolled in it because I think it’s incredibly fit for purpose and it also generates well qualified people, which to be honest are hard to come by,” she says.
Big Smoke Brew Co produce a range of beers including Solaris Session Pale, Dark Wave Porter, Electric Eye Pale Ale and Cold Spark - a single hop Citra Pale. These complement other releases like Helles, Fruju New England Pale Ale and Mango Moon, a fresh mango Pale Ale. In the trade, many of these are expertly sold across the UK and Europe by sales director David Tugwell. The brewery’s output also obviously has a home across the pub company’s estate, where they are accompanied by beers from other breweries, too. These are chosen by Katie Arabella, the team’s special projects and beer curation manager. “It’s important for us to complement the beers we have on offer, but in a way where it’s with people that share our passion for the community and culture of craft beer,” she says. “If we have a beer on the bar, it means that brewery shares our values, they are aligned with us and is the type of business we want to support.” And alongside guest beers are Big Smoke collaborations. For head brewer Nick Blake, these is often a real highlight of the role. “Working with breweries such as Siren Craft Brew, Thornbridge and recently Maui Brewing Company, shows how far we have come,” he explains. “To be partnering with businesses like theirs really validates what we are doing.” having people feel the need to justify why they needed help when they shouldn’t need to.
“We are in a fortunate position, being able to buy quality produce at wholesale, that we could do our bit to help those that need it. When are you part of a community, it’s important to give something back.” While lockdown enabled Big Smoke to do their bit for the community, it also presented opportunities of a very different kind. With the global pandemic putting a halt to global travel, most business at airports also came to an abrupt stop. But when one door closes. In May 2021, the company announced it was opening the Big Smoke Taphouse & Kitchen at London Heathrow Airport. The airside destination is a partnership with Airport Retail Enterprises (ARE) and is located at Heathrow Terminal 2. This has been followed by another site at Luton Airport as well as two additional landside bars at Heathrow in the form The Oceanic in Terminal 3 and The Globe in Terminal 5. “The airports were in a position where they had empty sites that they needed filling pretty fast,” says Craig. “We paid them a visit, realised we were on the same wavelength and came in with the right offer. “We’re up to four now and there’s potentially more in the pipeline. But if you had told me we’d have 14 pubs as well as running airport bars and restaurants some years back I would have laughed at you!”
Although Craig acknowledges that the industry is entering an uncertain period, he also says the team’s eyes and ears “are always open”, while eight years into the journey, sales director David Tugwell says he is suitably proud of what the team has achieved. “We’ve all been along part, or all, of this journey,” he says. “I think I’m most proud of how Big Smoke has constantly scaled up but never at the detriment of the quality of the beer or the service we provide. “You know, I think it’s important to have the right culture at any business, and to approach things with a smile on your face. And I know 100% that we have that here.”
To be partnering with businesses like Thornbridge and Siren really validates what we are doing, Nick Blake
It’s not just brewing outfits that the company has worked with though. During early periods of lockdown the business, like many others, had its pub kitchens shuttered. “The former manager of The Antelope went on to work for a charity in Kingston called Voices for Hope, which focuses on feeding people in need,” says Craig. “We identified pubs close enough to Kingston where we had staff on furlough, staff that were kind enough to volunteer their time to come back to work so we could produce about 10,000 meals for them.” He adds: “We were also very happy to help out with footballer Marcus Rashford’s school meals initiative. So we just set up an email address and said, if you are in need please just ask and we can sort it. We received countless emails from people pouring their hearts out to us. I won’t lie, it was a tough experience
BRANDINGMORE THAN JUST A BEER BRAND ROBOT FOOD HAS REFRESHED THE BRANDING FOR DANISH BEER BRAND TUBORG, WORKING TO UNIFY AND STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE BRAND WORLD TO ENSURE ITS RELEVANCE FOR DANES TODAY. THIS IS HOW THEY DID IT .
Leeds-based strategic branding agency Robot Food was contacted by Tuborg’s head of brands in September 2020, winning the project following a three-way pitch and working on it throughout 2021. “I think we were in there because they wanted a new perspective on the brand,” says David Timothy, Robot Food managing director. “Tuborg is a Danish cultural icon — it’s more than just a beer brand.” The refreshed designs look to emphasise Tuborg as a “proud parent brand,” as Timothy puts it, harmonising the primary packaging around the brand’s ‘clockman’ device — a well-known icon in Denmark. The agency also introduced a redrawn Tuborg wordmark, which was created with assistance from typographer Rob Clarke. “By consistently applying these two assets we created headroom to express the individuality and often longstanding personality of each beer, whilst never losing the link to the parent brand,” says Timothy. Tuborg’s core range comprises four core beers (Grøn, Classic, Guld, and Nul) and two seasonals (Julebryg and Paskebryg) as standard, and Robot Food also worked on designs for three new range extensions: Nul Fruit, Grøn Organic, and Guld Passionfruit. Grøn (or ‘green’, the standard lager) and Classic together equate to around 88% of Tuborg’s sales. The brief was centred on making category leader Tuborg more relevant to all Danes today — as well as increasing on-shelf standout and recognition. It was also vital that Tuborg retained its existing loyal customer base, while recruiting new consumers into the category. Like many beer brands, Tuborg had concerns that it was losing relevance — especially among younger consumers.
This chimes with the broader global trend among drinkers aged 18-25 of a more ‘all or nothing’ mentality rather than the ‘little and often’ approach of older generations. “Lots of new drinkers or potential new drinkers are coming to the category and either choosing not to drink at all or looking at alternatives. Tuborg, like other brands, was losing favour with that demographic” says Timothy. “Drinking the beer your dad drinks can feel like the antithesis of cool.” Prior to this refresh, Tuborg hadn’t undergone a holistic brand refresh for decades, which had led to something of a mishmash of different styles across individual products, packs, touchpoints, sizes, and variants. “There’s a sense of classicism in Denmark: if you look at the fundamentals of things like furniture design, the style and aesthetic doesn’t really change much over time” says Ben Brears, Robot Food Creative Director. “You do it once, do it well, then just polish it a little bit.” Robot Food’s challenge with Tuborg was in navigating numerous different design elements that had varying degrees of resonance with consumers. Initially, the Robot Food team set about ‘deconstructing’ the incumbent Tuborg designs, looking at everything from shapes to colours, fonts, placement of design elements, and the architecture of individual labels, going on to boil everything down to a ‘kit of parts’. Once deconstructed, Robot Food examined which elements to amplify and which to pare back to create simplicity and ensure that the strongest, most recognisable and iconic elements came to the fore. Alongside creating the new packaging design system, Robot Food also built a brewersjournal.info NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 | 31
full brand world for Tuborg that extended across on and off-trade communications, photography, merch, and digital platforms.
The brand world needed to unite the various Tuborg ranges under a prouder Tuborg flag that felt more relevant to modern consumers, while allowing each range to be expressive and distinct to its individual usage occasion.
The brand positioning was based around the idea of “fællesskab”, or community, with the beer shown to play a vital role in uniting people from all walks of life. This was brought to life for the brand world executions through a creative idea that Robot Food dubbed “in the action” – placing the consumer at the heart of the moment through reportagestyle photography with an unfiltered, spontaneous aesthetic that celebrates togetherness in a way that’s unique to Tuborg.
The agency also took the brand’s iconic ‘clockman’ asset off-pack for the first time, putting it at the heart of the Tuborg universe and using it as a lens through which to access that sense of “fællesskab”With the ‘clockman’ in place as a unifying and consistent brand element on- and off-pack, Robot Food then worked to amplify the personality of each beer, dialling up the nuances in activations and image styles appropriate to each beer variant.
Robot Food was aware that as a British agency approaching a Danish icon, ultimately it was about listening to the brand team and the consumers themselves.
“We were brought in to offer a fresh perspective and not be led by what they had before, but you’ve always got to be respectful” says Brears. “A great client is one who’s really open and listens to what you’re saying and loves to be challenged, but who knows the consumer really well and helps you find that sweet spot. For some, these changes might seem minimal, but it was never about throwing the baby out with the bath water. The assets and system we’ve been able to establish helps set Tuborg up for a really progressive future”.
“A good redesign is often about understanding the assets you’ve already got and amplifying them in new ways,” Timothy adds. “Our job is to listen, learn, and understand just as much as it is to come up with interesting creative. That’s when the relationship really works, because the client trusts you to know where you can push it, and also where you have to rein it in.”
Louise Dandanell, marketing manager at Tuborg Denmark says, “The past two-ish years have been some of my best at Carlsberg. From the first pitch to where we are today, Robot Food’s understanding of our local needs and vulnerabilities, dedication, craft, and (most importantly) sense of humour have made the process such a joy. It’s very easy for us to be happy clients – every meeting is like spending time with family.”
The new designs began to roll out in Denmark for the core brands from early 2022, and the rest of the packaging designs and brand world elements such as the new photography style, point of sale materials, advertising, and merchandise are currently being rolled out.
INGREDIENTSMALT: A FOCUS ON FLAVOUR FOR ROBIN APPEL, WHO LEADS THE TEAM AT WARMINSTER MALTINGS, MARIS OTTER IS SIMPLY THE BREWERS’ FAVOURITE. IN THIS ARTICLE HE OUTLINES ITS QUALITIES AND WHY, WHEN IT COMES TO FLAVOUR, YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘FLOOR MADE’ MALT.
Warminster Maltings is Britain’s oldest working maltings, and the only ‘stand alone’ floor maltings left in the U.K. industry. It is the smallest member of the Maltsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB), and by some, as far as most of the MAGB membership is concerned. The point is, it lacks the economies of scale that the high volume pneumatic malting process delivers, and the higher production costs it has to shoulder have to be reflected in its price List. So our customers need to get more ‘bangs for their bucks’, so to speak. And based on our order book, and feedback, that is exactly what they are getting. What are we talking about? Well, we are talking about higher extracts, and enhanced flavour, within the white malts. To deal with these points in turn, beginning with ‘extract’, malting is basically a simple process, but a very precise procedure. Individual small batch production at Warminster - 10 tonnes barley/8 tonnes of malt - enables precision. There is no blueprint for our procedures on the floors. Every time our maltsters complete an intervention, before they walk away, they have to ask themselves what do I need to do next, and when do I do it?. Provided the barley is top quality, then there is absolutely no excuse for Warminster’s scale of production not delivering the optimum extract in the brew house. Feed back from customers confirms this, with one customer even ‘complaining’ on one occasion of having more beer than containers to put the beer into! But the other attribute which makes
Warminster Malt stand apart is flavour. We call this ‘enhanced flavour’ because all barleys have flavour, with the venerable Maris Otter being the brewers favourite. The ‘enhanced flavour’ can be attributed to two things, firstly the slower, gentler process on the floors, and secondly an interaction between the natural yeasts in the 165 year old malthouse and the ‘green malt’. You might refer to it as Warminster’s DNA. So why is Maris Otter the brewers favourite? The answer is quite simple: no barley variety since, and we are talking since 1965, has come close to replicating the very clean, and malty/biscuity flavours of ‘Otter. Is there a reason for this? “Yes: barley breeders are not selecting new varieties for their flavour, it is not in their remit!” This all stems from the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act of 1964, which established the rights of barley breeders to claim Royalties from new varieties when they are commercialised. When it was debated who should pay these Royalties, it was deemed that the payment should come from the biggest beneficiary i.e the farmers. This ultimately completely contradicts basic Adam Smith economics that states “the object of economic activity is not production, it is consumption”! So barley breeders, for the last 60 years, have been breeding, first and foremost, for farmers and production. Understandably, top of their list of improvements from new varieties is always more yield of grain, followed by foliar disease resistance, stiffness of straw, earliness of ripening etc etc with malting and brewing quality almost an attribute by chance. What it all boils down to, the malting and brewing industry has to screen all new barley varieties, setting their 34 | NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 BREWERS JOURNAL
own benchmarks for the quality traits they seek. Despite one or two notable mistakes along the way, maltsters and brewers have performed this task particularly well, at least as far as what they have been looking for is concerned. However, despite the extraordinary success of Maris Otter barley over the last 30 years, what maltsters and brewers have been looking for has not included flavour! Forever, brewers preferred to believe that all barleys taste the same. That suited them when new varieties came along, and it suited maltsters who need to sometimes blend two or more varieties to achieve brewers specifications. So that was the industry mantra, right up to 2006, when I (whose grain company Robin Appel Ltd, owns the production and marketing rights to Maris Otter) approached the Brewing Research Foundation, at Nutfield in Surrey. We wanted to prove that the flavour of Maris Otter was much more pronounced than other varieties.
A project was launched, jointly funded by Robin Appel Ltd and the Home Grown Cereals Authority. Eight different barley varieties were compared by professional tasting panels, firstly as a porridge made from the malts, then as a standard pale ale. The Brewing Research Foundation had never done this work before, and the results were a revelation. Maris Otter, as expected, stood out from the rest, but what was astonishing was that the then new Spring barley variety Tipple displayed “bitter and astringent flavours” that came through to the beer. The tasting panel did not like Tipple at all! Yet Tipple was about to dominate malting barley production across the U.K. for the next 5 years. Without adding flavour profiling to their screening process, the malting and brewing industry could easily repeat the selection of a variety with unsuitable flavour traits. Why would craft brewers want to be presented with a malt that delivers that sort of handicap?
But barley flavour is not just about the genetics. We now have peer reviewed research that tells us barley flavour can be influenced by “terroir”! A study has shown that soil, microclimate, and topography can influence barley growth, which in turn can, in this particular case, influence the flavour of whisky. Forever, farmers on the north Norfolk coast have maintained the quality of their barley is enhanced by the “sea frets” (sea mists), presumably by tempering the heat from the sun in high summer. Would this also impact the flavour of the barley? It is more likely the underlying rock and mineral content of the soil which would make the most difference.
Barley is best suited to a soil type described as the Icknield Series, a light loam over chalk. This soil type stretches all the way down from East Yorkshire to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, and every year provides the most reliable bulk of the U.K.‘s annual barley crop. But within those areas, micro climate and topography can obviously vary. But none of this would necessarily be replicated from year to year. So, when it comes to barley flavour, what we are really talking about is the expression from individual varieties, whether it is positive, as in the case of Maris Otter, mild or benign, or negative as in the case of Tipple. From the tests that Robin has done - he repeated the 2006 trial again in 2007, and has commissioned further trials since - most barley varieties wallow around the ‘mild or benign’ category, and only a variety named Westminster got anywhere close to Maris Otter, but that has long since come and gone.
Warminster Maltings is Britain’s oldest working maltings, If the flavour of barley matters, then selecting for it needs to start with the breeders. But why would breeders respond all the time their paymaster is the farmer? This is a debate that I am keen to stir up. Sitting with my sales managers hat on, flavour is nearly all I talk about with both existing customers and new enquiries.
With nothing new coming from the barley breeders, I have a whole raft of customers who have chosen, instead, to turn back to heritage varieties. At Warminster we have Plumage Archer of course, the first genetically true variety of barley in the world, bred at Warminster, in 1905. That has plenty of flavour. But so do a number of the landrace varieties that preceded it. But none of this sounds progressive, particularly in the light of the challenges currently facing farming. So you need floor malting. We are not the only one, of course, and at least one of the others has done comparisons, you definitely get more flavour out of ‘floor made’ malt! And all the time that includes higher extracts, we calculate our slightly higher malt prices probably deliver the best value for money of any malts on the market!
THE BUG HUNTERS
PCR Thermocycler amplifies segments of DNA. Target genes identified for specific organisms of interest
A NUMBER OF BEER SPOILAGE ORGANISMS EXIST, WHICH CAN MAKE BEER SOUR, PRODUCE OFF FLAVOURS AND INCREASE FERMENTABILITY RESULTING IN OVER ATTENUATION WITH THIN PALLETS AND EXPLODING PACKAGES. HERE, TIM O’ ROURKE PLACES THE SPOTLIGHT ON RAPID METHODS OF ANALYSIS AVAILABLE TO BREWERS.
Microbiology is a key quality requirement for any brewery. Fortunately for brewers and their consumers, beer is generally safe and does not support any pathogenic organism which would be hazardous to health. However, there are a range of beer spoilage organisms which can make beer sour, produce off flavours and increase fermentability resulting in over attenuation with thin pallets and exploding packages. Traditional laboratory techniques involve sampling, plating out and forcing which takes at least seven days before results are available. Results are often obtained after the beer is dispatched and while it is useful for monitoring plant hygiene it cannot be used to measure real time micro for positive release and the brewers peace of mind. To overcome these limitations QCL can offer rapid methods of analysis where results can be measured in a matter of hours. They supply a range of microbiology tests for brewers including: u brewPAL - Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (Hop Resistant) u brewLAP - Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (Lactic Acid) u brewBRUX - Brettanomyces Bruxellensis u brewDEK - Dekkera/Brettanomyces u brewMAP - Megasphaera and Pectinatus The rapid methods are based on the genetic material found in the specific microorganisms using PCR for genetic amplification and detection using a vertical flow cassette (like the Covid19 lateral flow test). Fortunately, most breweries producing and selling cask conditioned beer face few microbiology issues if they assiduously follow good hygiene practices and a rapid turnover in trade. However, as the brewing process becomes more complex with filtration, yeast re-pitching, extended shelf life and supply lines with complex packaging options microbial risks will increase exponentially. A visit to Electric Bear Brewing Co. gave an opportunity to see the VeriFlow system in action. It is used for routine testing allowing positive release of keg and can beer before release, reducing the risk of diacetyl formation and over attenuation due to microbial contamination, particularly from diastaticus strains of yeast. Electric Bear also see it as a valuable quality control tool to check repitching yeast are free from infection.
CRITICAL COOLING
THE BREWERY CHILLER PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE BEER BREWING PROCESS. USING AN EFFICIENT CHILLER WITH ENERGY SAVING FEATURES CAN HELP TO REDUCE THE BREWERY’S POWER CONSUMPTION AND OPERATIONAL COSTS – AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY IN TODAY’S POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CLIMATE, EXPLAIN BREWERY AND DRINKS EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER VIGO LTD
Schematic of brewery cooling installation, including tank temperature control When planning temperature control for the brewery, an accurate and comprehensive thermal calculation is imperative in order to determine the size the chiller required for production. Other considerations should include any planned future growth of production, contingency facilities for the avoidance of downtime, location of unit in terms of meeting permitted noise levels, and operation conditions such as ventilation and ambient temperature around the unit. Cooling units from specialist manufacturers who use leading technology to include energy efficiency features (see below), and thermal calculation by experienced professionals, can facilitate the operation of the brewery, assuring commensurable, energy-efficient cooling capacity and an ample supply of hot water for both brewery and other utilities. One such manufacturer is WTG QuantorKREYER (Föhren, Germany), specialists in the field refrigeration and beverage
COOLING REQUIREMENTS
The brewery’s cooling requirements will be included in this calculation:
u Wort must be cooled in 60 or even 30 minutes to stop enzymes u Beer fermenters are under constant temperature control to assure quality process u Cold-crashing after fermentation u Beer conditioning u Cooling for carbonation u Cold-rooms & cooled storage
The requirements for heating will also be calculated: u Tank heating u Room heating u Hot-water utilities in the building, bar, restaurant
process cooling for over 40 years. Their range includes Chiller Units; Heating and Chiller Units; Temperature Control Systems; and Air Conditioning Units. Specific energy efficiency features include reversible chillers with heatrecovery features, high-efficiency refrigerants, low-noise with smart system controls and built-in redundancy for a seamless and safer brewing operation. Quantor’s chillers include utilities to save energy and reduce the CO2 footprint of the brewery, by means of higher efficiency chillers and heat-recovery features. Modular units are available for cooling only, or as reversible (via heatpumps), producing hot-water. Quantor units are available through their UK agent, Vigo, now part of the Rawlings Group, who have been supplying and installing Quantor systems to drink producers in the UK for more 10 years. The business assess and work in partnership with Quantor to provide comprehensive unit sizing thermal calculations, and Vigo engineers install, commission and service the complete cooling/temperature regulation system. This could be either to control the temperature of a product in a tank via a cooling jacket, single temperature controller and stand alone cooling/ heating unit; or via a centralised complete system for controlling multiple tanks on one circuit (via bespoke ringmain constructed by Vigo engineers) at the same or different temperatures, by terminal, or with software which records and captures data as well as allowing for remote accessing and control. The latter can include full control of both product and air temperature. u Partial Heat-Recovery - Units can be equipped with partial heat-recovery collecting the over-heat from the compressors, for heating up to 30% of the cooling capacity in hot water up to 70°C u Total Heat-Recovery - Collects the complete heat emitted by the unit during the cooling operation, providing full capacity in hot-water in parallel to the cooling operation - the unit is cooling and heating at the same time u Solar power - Using solar power to power the units is in R&D which Quantor are currently carrying out and plan to roll out soon, as part of their commitment to environmental sustainability
OPTIONAL FEATURES
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ALPHA DELTA PERSISTENCE IS FRUITFUL AFTER BEING CROWNED ONE OF THE BEST NEW BREWERIES IN THE WORLD, ROSS HOLLAND AND THE TEAM AT ALPHA DELTA BREWING SHOWED THAT HARD WORK PAYS OFF. AND IF YOU’RE INTO ROCK AND METAL MUSIC, MAKE SURE TO HEAD TO THEIR BAR IN NEWCASTLE. YOU ARE ALL INVITED.
We’ve all encountered challenges and hurdles in our lives. Obstacles in the way that try and stop us, or slow us down. Consider a driving test, for example. You might be fortunate enough to pass first time. Alternatively you might not be on your game that day, requiring you to reassess and try again. You can learn from the experience, take something from the encounter and use it to your advantage. Or you could walk away. For Ross Holland, he has always used his experiences in the world of beer for the better. Knowing that if there’s a situation to learn from, then he can go on to use it as a positive. And when in 2021, you’re crowned as one of the world’s best new breweries, it’s fair to say that approach is working just fine. In this industry, countless brewers use the beers they create as a way to express themselves. Be that a big, bold stout or a subtle, nuanced table beer. It’s the beer that often does the talking. For Holland, beer has also been a way for him to express himself. Whether that’s through hard-hitting Imperial Stout collabs with the great and the good of Europe’s brewers to Imperial IPAs and more recently, popular core beers such as its Unfiltered Pils Sesh. In starting Alpha Delta Brewing back in 2019, Holland has made his name through the production of these well-received, diverse beers. But as a lifelong fan of rock and metal music, the former band frontman is also suitably proud of the brewery’s taproom in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. Known as The Delta Lounge, it’s a haven for brilliant beers and the best in rock and metal. For many, the perfect combo and another way for Holland himself to
project his passions to a wider audience. So if you’re planning to visit, just come with an idea of what to expect…. “Honestly, I had been thinking about doing something like this for years now. It’s so frustrating to go into rock bars, especially growing up in the rock and metal scene in Newcastle, and not find any good beer,” Holland recalls. In his eyes, there is a broad crossover appeal between people that are passionate about music and those that enjoy craft beer and what it represents. So when the opportunity arose, somewhere he could realise his ambition to marry great beer and great tunes, it was a no-brainer. The bar, previously home to the taproom of Box Social Brewing, would become the Newcastle HQ of Alpha Delta Brewing’s on-trade operation. “Between lockdowns, one of the existing shareholders came to me and said ‘I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I want to be involved anymore’ and asked what we could do,” he says. “They questioned whether we wrap it up and cut our losses, or whether I could take it in a new direction. So I did!” Holland informed them that he would take it on, but on the proviso that it would be a rock music bar, and somewhere he could drink decent beer and listen to great music. “Well, what I class as great music. I’m not sure who else does!” he laughs. It was a good six months before things really took off for The Delta Lounge, which is located at 11 Forth St in Newcastle upon Tyne, some five minutes by foot from Newcastle Station. However, collaborations with figures from the local rock scene meant people would soon take notice. But you can’t please everyone…. brewersjournal.info NOVEMBER~DECEMBER 2022 | 43
I wanted somewhere I could drink decent beer and listen to great music. Well, what I class as great music!” Ross Holland
“It’s funny because people knew Alpha Delta, they knew our beers and looked upon us as a regarded brewer. But when we opened the bar there was a bit of a backlash. That it was too loud and too noisy for some,” Holland says. “But now it is considered to be a place people come to for that very reason. We had one customer recently who said they saw a three-star review mentioning the music volume was too loud and that was all the encouragement they needed!” He adds: “I love it in there, man. We are fortunate we have a great customer base, a fantastic team and we enjoy everything about it.”
But rewind a few years, and before Alpha Delta Brewing and The Delta Lounge came to be, Holland was nurturing a love of beer that grew from countless homebrew experiments and experience working at other outfits in Newcastle. Back when he was about 19, a familiar tale would soon unfold. His partner at the time asked Holland what he’d like for Christmas, “I told her I’d really like to try my hand at homebrewing,” he recalls. “My grandad was a homebrewer. Although I never met him, I inherited a lot of his kit. By the time I got it, none of it was really useful but it made me think it was something I might be interested in. So once I left school, I became a plumber and before long I had built my own kit from parts and fittings that I basically stole from work.” Early all-grain brews were, in his own words, terrible. “It’s what puts a lot of people off early on, when they realise it’s harder than they were expecting,” he smiles. But Holland stuck with it, before soon moving into a sales and marketing role at Newcastle Upon Tyne-based Anarchy Brew Co. “I’ll be honest, I as awful at it,” he laughs. “I was not good at sales, and just wanted to brew, but I was also just happy to be working in a brewery environment.”
While working at Anarchy, he’d continue his home brewing ventures with experiments such as Citra dry-hopped Saisons and the like, while also getting more confident in his abilities and the beers he was producing. Upon leaving Anarchy, Holland would go into bar work, handling cellaring and then working at the now-defunct Hop and Cleaver on the Newcastle Quayside. But he found himself missing the brewing side of life. Thankfully, his dad Steve had just retired from a career in the fire service. Around the same time, the opportunity to acquire a local brewery arose so there was a decision to be made.
ENTER BOX SOCIAL
“I said to him I’d love to do that as he knows that’s my dream,” he explains. “We initially started on one-barrel kit working from his garage in Newcastle. But we soon realised there was zero chance either of us would make any money this way. “So we moved up to a six-barrel setup, found a unit in Newburn in western Newcastle, sorted a taproom license and got going.” The father and son combo would go on to start Box Social Brewing in 2015, which swiftly became a hit with beer fans in the local area of Newburn and beyond. They trod a well-worn path of investing in kit early on and swiftly looking to upgrade shortly after. However in making such choices, the duo would soon realise that things are rarely straightforward when it comes to growing your business. They’d purchase a brewery that was sold as brand new, and at a great price, but Holland laments: “It’s true what people say that when you buy cheap you buy twice and we got stung really badly. Not one bit of the kit worked. The mash tun didn’t work, the sparge arm didn’t work, the pumps didn’t work. The recircs were missing and just everything was wrong. “We ended up with 23-hour brewdays resulting in scorched beer. It was just a nightmare. We had so many sleepless nights but we powered through, because we had to. We ended up learning how to build breweries and put them right, working with local welders to fix everything we could.”
Once that major hurdle was overcome, they started producing some “pretty good beer” on their system. Enquires for export sales would arrive so the team would turn to a mobile canning business to enable this. A decision they would soon regret. “They turned up with a brand-new canning line, which we didn’t know at the time. So our first four beers in can were packaged by a line with a broken seamer, so before long you could literally peel the lids off them,” he sighs. “At the time we were reassured that the levels were all fine and that we were good to go. They were wrong.”
Beer that had sent out to countries such Denmark and Spain was all promptly returned. The product was oxidised and the lids did, indeed, peel off. It was a chastising experience for the duo and one that would eventually lead to a change in direction for the business. But one has gone on to be positive outcome for all involved. “Unfortunately we could never regain that relationship with our exporters. My dad was also ready to take his retirement and effectively said he was done with it all,” Holland says. “I told him I didn’t want to brew the types of beers Box Social were known for anymore, anyway. We were effectively taking a cask product and putting it into can. I wanted to brew bigger beers and with that have a new identity.
So with that, Alpha Delta was born. While dad Steve took a backseat, Ross would work with one his former colleagues from the fire service on the branding for the brewery. “There is a cool connection there because Alpha Delta is named after the call signs of the two fire stations that my dad and brother worked at during their careers,” he explains.
It didn’t take long for things to take off at the new brewing outfit, with Holland describing the journey as a total rollercoaster. And last year, they were crowned in the top 10 of the New Brewer Awards for the Year 2020 by RateBeer. An accolade that led to renewed demand from countless beer festivals wanting Alpha Delta to pour their beers. It’s attention that the brewery is grateful for, but also something Holland and the team have learned to balance, too. “Beer festivals are a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but you can burn yourself out on them,” he says. Last year, in particular resulted in a gruelling programme, especially as the team had previously been denied the opportunity to officially launch Alpha Delta on the festival circuit owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When lockdown hit were were devastated, so last year I wanted to do them all which is a really stupid idea!” says Holland. “Doing three or four 12-hour days while drinking takes its toll, so this year we have been a lot smarter with what we commit to, that’s for sure.”
While beer festivals require both time and resources from all sides to make them work, the relationships Holland and Alpha Delta have forged in such environments are facets of the industry they truly love and value. “I love collaborations,” he tells us. “For me personally, that’s the way I have learned the most when it comes to brewing. There are other places I’ve worked where they are quite against collaboration and that sharing is a bad thing because ‘my beer is better than yours’. But that’s not he way I operate.”
A recent collaboration at St. Laurentius based in the town of Bülach in Switzerland featured brewers that had yet to dry-hop during fermentation. “I said ‘nah man, get those hops in there’. Sure, it’s not traditional but it’s the way I and others do it, and they appreciated that opinion and advice. They aren’t our competition and even if they were I don’t care.” He adds: “Now that we have quite a good name, I want to continue to work with smaller breweries and do what I can to help them. We still have about three scheduled before the end of the year anyway, so I have that to look forward to.” Collaborations with breweries both in the UK and further afield form an important part of Alpha Delta’s output. But following Brexit, its ability to sell overseas has been severely impacted with exports falling drastically. “It has been really rough for us,” says Holland. “We made the mistake of relying so heavily on export. Early on, you’d get paid upfront so cash flow benefited. But with Brexit we lost half of our business overnight. And even now we struggle to send beer to Europe. Regular customers in Spain and France are no longer that, so it has hurt us.” To negate this, Alpha Delta has been regaining those sales within the UK by letting customers know that the beer is available and you can buy direct. They are also looking at the possibility of a central hub, potentially in Europe, to send and dispatch beer from. And with that renewed focus on the home market, Alpha Delta is also looking at other opportunities and avenues for growth. Not only that, it’s expanding its brewery, too. “We’re scaling up again by taking the unit next door. This will allow us to double capacity, while we are also welcoming some new brewers starting, too,” he says. It’s a tough time in beer but we are excited about the direction we are going in.”
As the brewery gets set to expand, Holland and the team are also refocusing on the types of beers they regularly brew. “We are just trying to be smart with the beers we are brewing now and that means not brewing three Double IPAs every month anymore, as much as we’d like to.” Instead there is focus on a core range, with Unfiltered Sesh, a 5% Pils singlehopped with German Hallertauer Magnum, the biggest seller at present. “When starting Alpha Delta three years ago, I would never have thought that a Pils would be our biggest-selling beer but times change and I think if you if you don’t adapt and diversify with the craft beer scene, then you can get left behind,” he explains.
Away from the beer itself, Holland remains interested in expanding the Delta Lounge concept outside of Newcastle to other major cities in the UK. Which is great news for those of us that enjoy a generous serving of rock and metal with our beer. He concludes: “Ultimately we just need to see how everything goes, ride out the storm and have our fingers crossed that this business gets back to where it was a year or two ago. I’m confident it will.”
