North Beer Club #25 - November 2022

NORTH BEER CLUB

NOVEMBER 2022

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HELLO! Stout season has arrived! - and oh boy do we have a stout to kick off the season. Field Recordings’ collaboration with Dutch masters of the dark arts, Moersleutel sees us step even further into our barrel ageing process, this time responding to the beer and adding ingredients to further its complexity. The barrels that were used for the beer have already been cleaned and refilled!

You know we love a collaboration here at North and we’ve been keeping them going over the past month. As we write this, we’ve just tasted from the tank our collaboration with France’s Piggy Brewing Co and Paris beer dispensary IBU Bar. It’s a super soft, wheat forward NEIPA loaded with lovely fresh and vinous New Zealand hops and it’s tasting an absolute delight!

We welcomed Berlin’s Fuerst Wiacek for our *checks notes* fourth collaboration together!

You might have seen breweries talking about a thiol enhancing yeast recently. It’s some

magic between using hops in the mash with the grain releasing certain thiol compounds that you wouldn’t normally taste from the hops then using this magic yeast that unlocks lots of new flavours! Pretty sciency stuff, but more details about that when the beer is finished and in your subscription boxes!

Did you hear also? North is coming to Birmingham! We’re opening our very first venue outside of Leeds and we couldn’t be more excited! We’ve been working with some of Birmingham’s best breweries in creating some beers together, including Attic Brew Co. It’s been so nice to experience such a warm welcome from the Birmingham crowd and we can’t wait to be spending more time there!

Be sure to follow on Instagram (@northtaproomsnowhill) to keep up to date and for the opening date!

Love North xxx

This year we were invited by one of our main hop suppliers, Barthhaas, to Washington State to help with their hop selection process.

Hop selection is always a really exciting time of the year; breweries from around the world travel to Washington to rub, sniff and analyse hop farms lots in order to choose the best quality hops to use in their beers. Travelling through Washington State, visiting the famous waterfall from Twin Peaks, Seb ventured up into the mountains of the Pacific NorthWest, through the mountains of Cascade (yep, the hop is named after these very mountains) and eventually back down into the desert landscape of Yakima Valley.

Alongside Pomona Island, Garden Brewery, Malt Miller, Suarez Family Brewery, Eremitage Brasserie, Deya and Elusive, Seb was helping select Citra, Mosaic, Azacca, Bru-1, Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops. The process is spread over 3 days, selecting 200 tons of hops from 30 different lots, whittling them down to 12 lots that will be then blended together into batches which will then eventually be used in

breweries across the UK and Europe. It took a long time, there was a lot of rubbing down hops, sniffing all those delicious oils and tough decisions to be made, but eventually the hops were all selected. This was our first time taking part in hop selection, so it’s going to be really exciting and insightful when these hops arrive

at our brewery. We then get to experience first hand the impact they have in our beer and the difference that they’ll impart in comparison to previous batches of the same hops. Once the selection process was completed, Seb and the other brewers travelled through Washington State visiting growers and farms and seeing

their processing plants. It was incredible to see the love, passion and care that goes into growing and breeding hop varieties. Each farm has its own hop development programmes, breeding and growing new hop varieties.

Roys Farms Inc was set in a beautiful landscape and has been growing hops since 1907.

American Dwarf Hop Association and Home Farms both had some really exciting new varieties in the pipeline. We were so grateful to be given the opportunity to try out these new varieties and cannot wait to see them eventually land on UK and EU shores. ADHA 218 was pungent and unique with fresh lime, banana and bubblegum aroma, HBC1019 is the latest variety to come from Yakima Chiefs and Barthaas collaborative breeding programme.

It’s the next development in the chain from Sabro and Talus hops and has a real full bodied aroma and beaming with fruit cocktail aromas; it’s intensely tropical and we really can't wait to get hold of some of these hops and get them into a deliciously soft IPA. Whilst visiting hop farms Seb met Alejandro, a member of the hop breeding team, working on distilling hop oils, manipulating them into oils

Mountain were one of the first and were pouring an incredible Fresh Hop IPA made with Strata hops. Georgetown Brewery knew their way to North’s heart with a Tequila Barrel Aged Gose that was absolutely delicious. It was awesome to visit Single Hill Brewery who are lucky enough to be able to make their own fresh hop pellets to use in their beers. Other great breweries with really great beers were Varietal and Bail Breaker. It’s exciting to be tasting beers from US breweries; the New England IPA is a style originated from the USA, so it’s great to see what they’re producing within this style, seeing the new qualities that are able to be unlocked in IPA, giving us inspiration on how we can push the style further ourselves. It wasn't all fancy farms and craft beer, a trip to the US wouldn't be a trip to the US if there weren't big cans of cheap lager and dive bars. There was a rendezvous of a few of the brewery groups and karaoke. The exact details are a little foggy but it sounds like a lot of fun...

that represent specific fruit flavours. Almost dissecting the oils and concentrating their separate components. There was a lot of mind bending science going on but it's really exciting to get an insight into Alejandro’s project and imagine being able to choose specific flavours to be added to be beers that are 100% natural and completely derived from hops. Once the farm tour was over Seb visited a few of the many breweries located in Yakima Valley. Holy

There was one last important stop once the hop selection and partying was over. Seb swung by Seattle visiting Stillwater’s Brian Strumke and his new brewing facility at Talking Cedar. It’s so so good to see Brian get his feet on the ground and get cracking on his own brewery. He’s already got a lot of really exciting beers in tanks and foeders and they were all tasting fantastic. We’ve been talking and throwing around some ideas and maybe... we might be seeing some of our beer pop up across the pond one the West Coast of America. A very exciting prospect, but our lips are tightly sealed for now.

IN THIS MONTH’S BOXES GOLD SUBSCRIPTION

SILVER SUBSCRIPTION

FIELD RECORDINGS X MOERSLEUTEL Style

Imperial Stout

ABV

11.0%

Our last release saw us dip our toes for the first time into barrel aging, in this release we take that further. Moersleutel [mo-ur-shlur-tel] (NL) produce some of the best stouts in the world. Decadent, complex and balanced, we’re incredibly pleased to welcome them to be our first collaborative release. Their approach to creating stouts is exactly what Field Recordings represents; time, patience and consideration.

The result is full bodied Imperial Stout absolutely brimming with intensely rich flavours aromas, a beer truly made to swirl, ponder and enjoy.

Chocolate, almond, sweet bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, creamy vanilla, red berry, candied orange, caramel, espresso, muscovado, warming roast and cherry flavours are all in abundance.

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY

NORTH X DIG BREW CO Style

West Coast IPA

ABV

6.2%

Hops ­Amarillo + Lorel Our collaboration with Birmingham’s Dig Brew Co is a deliciously smooth, juicy and refreshing West Coast IPA. Made with Pale, Cara and Chit malt, providing a soft and slightly sweet base for the hops to sing upon. The bulk of the hops went in throughout the whirlpool, boil and fermentation putting their resilient flavour compounds to the test. Loral brings beautiful floral and herbal notes followed by a backdrop of citrus and a touch of sweet passion fruit that leads into Amarillo’s abundance of orange, grapefruit and fruit salad flavour!

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY

NORTH X BUNDOBUST Style Mango + Lime Lassi Sour ABV

4.5%

Back with our buds at Bundobust, we’ve whipped up a brand new sour with the Indian Street Food Legends! The aim, as always in our collaborations with Bundobust, is to make a beer that is going to compliment the flavours in their expertly cooked dishes whilst also contrasting and taking off the heat a little.

Fresh lime squeezed on ripe mango is one of the world’s greatest food pairings. In this latest addition to our series of collaborations with Bundobust, we’ve brought together these most pugnacious flavours into a uber fruity sour harmony.

CONTAINS BARLEY + WHEAT + OATS + LACTOSE

NORTH X FULL CIRCLE FUTURE SKIES Style

Citrus IPA

ABV

6.0%

Hops

Cryo Pop + Citra + El Dorado

Our third collaboration with Newcastle’s Full Circle Brewing Co brings us to making an IPA perfect for sipping in the sunshine! An extra fine and fluffy base made up of Pale Malt, oats and Chit Malt sets the tone for laid back easy drinking. One of our favourite hop combos, Citra and El Dorado, creates a bright squash of sweet fleshy pear, orange and peach with Yakima Chief’s CRYO POP™ blend bringing a succulent tropical fruit salad medley. The chorus of fruits doesn’t stop there. We finished the beer by circulating it through lemon zest to draw out bright, balmy and tart flavours and aromatics.

The result is an undoubtable, proper sunshine refresher!

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY + OATS

NORTH X IBU X PIGGY BREWING CO Style

New England IPA

ABV

6.8%

Hops

Eclipse + Kohatu + Vic Secret

Made in collaboration with one of France’s finest breweries and beer dispensaries, Piggy Brewing, Liverdun and IBU Bar, Paris we’ve made a killer juice bomb loaded with a delicious blend of the most vibrant hops. Super light on the grist, we’ve used Pale, Pilsner and Dextrin malt, as well as heaps of wheat, fermented with our house ale yeast to whirl up a fluffy soft base designed for the hops to ooze out their tropical goodness into!

Australian Eclipse starts with perfectly ripe, juicy, sour and zesty Mandarin, NZ Kohuto leads on to fresh pineapple, plump peach and fresh squeezed lime whilst Vic Secret finishes with its signature sweet passion fruit, crushed pine needles and an extra slice of fresh cut pineapple!

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY + WHEAT

OPEN SPACE Style West Coast Pale Ale ABV

4.5%

Hops

Simcoe + Chinook

A Gluten Free West Coast Pale Ale with a clean crisp base and a deep golden hue. A steady dry hop of Simcoe and Chinook boasts sticky grapefruit, lemon, floral bouquets and pine flavours with a fine and refreshing bitter finish.

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY

DOUBLE TRANSMISSION Style

DIPA

ABV

8.0%

Hops

Citra + Mosaic + Chinook + Sultana

Everything you know and love about our flagship Transmission enriched, fortified and enhanced.

Turn up the volume, it’s Double Transmission!

We’ve kept our signature Transmission grist of English Pale Malt, wheat and a little dextrose, then fermented with London Ale yeast and here’s where the magic happens. Carrying a hefty 25g/l total dry hop of fresh Sultana and Chinook during active fermentation and finished with Citra and Mosaic. This delivers an uncompromisingly rich and lusciously smooth Double IPA dripping with sweet pineapple, tacky pine resin, candied pink grapefruit zest and tropical stone fruit.

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY + WHEAT

INVISIBLE CITIES Style

Hazy IPA

ABV

6.7%

Hops

Talus + Citra + Mosaic

Made using a fine crush of Extra Pale Malt and oats, it’s soft, smooth and loaded with Talus, Citra and Mosaic hops. We started the beer with our Into the Merzbau recipe and built from there.

More oats, a tweak in the water profiling as well as finishing the dry hop with Citra and Mosaic it’s a bounty of coconut cream, lime, succulent pineapple and juicy orange that swirl into a laid back delight of tropical punch.

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY + OATS

ATTIC BREW CO

BELGIAN WIT Style

Belgian Style Wheat Beer

ABV

5.2%

Brewed with orange peel, lemon peel and coriander seeds for a refreshing burst of citrus that cuts through a light, soft body. Super pale in colour, topped with a fluffy white head.

VEGAN / CONTAINS BARLEY + WHEAT

GUEST BREWERY

Attic set up 4 years ago to bring forward thinking beer to Birmingham. Defined by their passion for their hometown, their IPAs, Lagers and Session Pales have excited locals for years. They showcase Birmingham and its flourishing food and drink scene at every turn, making them one of the city’s worst kept secrets.

WWW.ATTICBREWCO.COM

DIGITAL MEMBERSHIP CARD North Beer Club membership cards now have a new look and a new way to use them!

In the North Beer Club Members area, you can now access your digital membership card. This will be renewed each month for you to use (wait for it…) across ALL North venues!

That includes all North Bar sites, as well as our North Taproom: Sovereign Street and Springwell. AND, before the end of the year, we’ll be opening North Taproom: Snow Hill,

Birmingham and North Taproom: Circle Square, Manchester, and YES, your digital discount cards are redeemable at these sites too!

Happy days!

FREE BEER! (SOMETIMES)

Sometimes beers reach their expiry date before we’ve sold all the cases. These beers have been kept refrigerated since packaging so are still tasting great, but we won’t continue to sell them if they’re not at their absolute freshest.

These cases will be added to the Members Dashboard for Beer Club Members to add to their order for free.

FOLLOW OUR INSTAGRAM FOR ALL THINGS BEER CLUB! Get the low down on what’s in the tanks, who we’re collaborating with, special beer club projects and exclusive events!

IN THE TANKS

NORTH x FUERST WIACEK

ENDLESS STOUT

SEVEN TIMES AROUND THE SUN

IPA

IMPERIAL CHOCOLATE SPICE STOUT

TRIPLE IPA