NORTH BEER CLUB
JANUARY 2021
NORTHBREWCO
NORTHBREWINGCO
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HELLO It’s 2021 - who knows what this new year will bring! We’re hoping it will bring draught beer, our new taproom opening, and actually getting to show you around in person. Welcome to our new subscribers. Thank you for joining us! We are a young community, but growing every month. If you’d like to join us on Facebook please search ‘North Beer Club’ or scan the QR code. We have an online community to chat all things Beer Club, and find out which beers have gone down well each month. This month’s box sees a range of styles from North. It also features our first ever guest beers! In normal times we love to host tap takeovers, meet the brewers, and in person events at our family of bars in Leeds. When we brew a collab with another brewery we usually hold a tap takeover to celebrate its launch. As Covid has forced our bars to operate as bottleshops we have looked to support other breweries through our webshop and guest fridges in the shops.
We teamed up with Reece from Donzoko for an in person socially distant brewday in October. He arrived at the brewery equipped with yeast and some cans of Donzoko Helles - a very welcome visitor! Together we brewed a Dark Lager, which we are really proud of. We have also included a dark guest beer from Donzoko so that you can compare and contrast the two dark styles. Other guests in this month’s box come from Good Things Brewing and Track. We have collabs with both of these breweries in the tanks at the moment, and they’ll be making their way into the beer club boxes over the coming months. Good Things are a fully sustainable brewery and gave us loads of advice on our expansion plans at Springwell. Track are an ambitious brewery with a hunger to grow. It was great to show them around our new home and offer some advice to them. As ever, we welcome any feedback on the Beer Club. We are building a community for you, and want to adapt as we grow. Enjoy the beers! Love North xx
NORTH’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS 1 OPEN OUR NEW TAPROOM AT SPRINGWELL! The taps are in, the glassware has arrived, the beer order is ready to go… Over December we’ve shown a lot of people around Springwell via the magic of Zoom ( 875 people to be exact!) and we cannot wait to show you around in person. That first pint at the new brewery is going to be brilliant!
2 MORE COLLABS We have a list of breweries that we’d love to work with, and we’re going to try and get as many in as possible during 2021. Let us know in the North Beer Club facebook group who you’d love to see on the list.
3 IMPROVE OUR SUSTAINABILITY In 2020 we switched to source as much of our merchandise as possible from sustainable
suppliers. 2021 will see us install solar panels at the brewery, take on an electric delivery van, and complete a full environmental audit of the business. Sustainability will drive our decision making in 2021. We are inspired by others in the industry (especially Good Things and BrewDog who are leading the charge in this area).
4 SUPPORT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY Support from drinkers in Leeds saved our minds and business in March when the pandemic hit. As the pubs closed we set up a slightly make-shift home delivery service, run by an overactive WhatsApp group, google docs, bartenders with boots full of beer and a lot of goodwill. In six weeks we sold over 35,000 cans to people living nearby! In 2021 we will be strengthening our links to the community in Leeds, through mentoring at local schools, working in conjunction with Leeds Business School and Leeds Beckett University, and developing work experience placements.
5 EXPAND OUR CORE BEER RANGE
8 MORE ART EVERYWHERE!
We have more tanks at Springwell so we’ll have a little more space to experiment! There are a few key beers that we’ll be researching and developing in 2021. We’d love to make a Gluten Free and Alcohol Free option, and want to get these right from the beginning.
In 2020 we worked with In Good Company on their #PostersforthePeople project. This campaign filled the streets of Leeds with artwork thanking key workers. We are incredibly proud of the design work that Refold does with North, and are planning a lot more design led fun in 2021.
6 RAISE MORE MONEY FOR CHARITY Our partner charity, Action Against Hunger, have seen their workload increase and their donations plummet thanks to the pandemic. In 2020 Matt and Chloe from North raised over £10,000 for AAH trekking across the Jordan desert. We also donated through beer sales, proceeds from our facemasks and a charity bike ride. As in person events return in 2021 we can’t wait to raise more funds for them and other charities.
7 HOLD OUR FIRST BEER FESTIVAL Save the date! 28 - 30 May! We’re planning a lot of fun that weekend…
9 DRINK AN ORVAL IN NORTH BAR We opened North Bar in 1997 - it’s often referred to as ‘the first craft beer bar in the UK’ and has been integral to our beer-y education over the years. North Bar is a place where we always stay longer than we should, bumping into friends from all over the country. The curfew and tier restrictions have hit North Bar the hardest out of all of our bars, and we cannot wait to be sat there on a Saturday afternoon drinking a bottle of Orval again.
10 SPEND LESS TIME ON ZOOM Here’s hoping….
NORTH BEER CLUB BOXES THIS MONTH GOLD SUBSCRIPTION
SILVER SUBSCRIPTION
NORTH X DONZOKO Style
Dark Lager
ABV
4.5%
Hops Mittelfruh
Brewed with the Prince of UK lager brewing; Donzoko we bring you a Dark Lager to warm you in these cold winter months. Pilsner malt makes a light and sweet body whilst Vienna and Cara malts provide subtle bitterness and red berry coffee flavour. An addition of German Mittelfrüh hops accentuate that fruity coffee element and whisk subtle liquorice flavours across your nose and tongue at the same time giving you little dry finish. Keep safe and keep warm.
Vegan / Contains Barley + Oats
HIGH WINDOWS Style
Triple Fruited Sour
ABV
6.0%
Hops None
It’s triple fruited but not as you know! High Windows is a 6% Fruited Sour (not a gose) pumped full of organic blackberry and raspberry puree! We then added cocoa powder post boil, alongside milk sugar to create a smooth chocolate aroma. The beer was recirculated through cacao nibs to enhance the chocolate profile and bring through a nutty chocolate praline finish. Body comes from a big dose of oats in the grist, which also provides a crunchy oat flavour. Think black forest compote on a toasted oat base, cream on top and sprinkled with chocolate shavings.
Contains Barley + Oats + Lactose (milk)
PERISTENT ILLUSION Style DIPA ABV 8.3% Hops
Strata + Citra + Simcoe
Persistent Illusion is our first venture into using Strata hops. Strata, formerly known as X-331, is Indie Hop’s first hop variety to be released out of the Oregon State Aroma Hop Breeding Program in Corvallis. Bright zesty orange, tart passion fruit, and strawberries and cream are in abundance in this DIPA. These flavours are backed up by a smattering of dank spice on the nose and finish from Citra and Simcoe hops. All of this is laid upon a slightly sweet, luscious and smooth body made up of Pilsner malt, varied oats and wheat.
Contains Barley + Oats + Wheat
NORTH X FIELDWORK / GOLDEN MILK Style
Apricot + Coconut + Turmeric Sour
ABV
6.0%
Hops None
Originally brewed for 2019’s Rainbow Project in collaboration with California’s Field Work Brewery Golden Milk is a Turmeric, Apricot and Coconut Sour. Golden Milk was a divisive beer to say the least! Some of us begged Seb and Sam to add a rebrew to the schedule. Some of us didn’t react well to the news of its return… Golden Milk is a 6% sour made using loads of naked oats, flaked oats and wheat. We used coconut chips in the mash, boil and postfermentation. We infused cinnamon into the beer along with fresh peeled turmeric root - the smells in the brewhouse when we were making this were immense! We then finished it with the triple fruited treatment, adding 1.2 tons of organic apricot puree. It’s thick, it’s juicy, it’s aromatic, and it’s a little spicy.
Contains Barley + Oats + Wheat + Cinnamon + Lactose (Milk)
FULL FATHOM 5 Style
Coconut Coffee Porter
ABV 6.5% Hops
HBC 472 + Magnum
It’s finally back! Full Fathom 5 is our flagship porter, brewed every autumn. This year it took a little longer to get on to the brew schedule (I definitely requested it at every single production meeting!) but we’re so happy that it made it in time for the cold months! . When we brew Full Fathom we fill a Spanish paella pan with coconut for toasting. The brewery smells incredible. The toasted coconut is added to the beer alongside whole coffee beans from local roasters, North Star Coffee. Full Fathom is a rich porter made up of a variety of specialty malts making for a luxurious silk liquid. A family member we don’t see often, but when we do, we’re full of love and warm fuzzy feelings.
Contains Barley + Oats
NORTH X THE SQUARE BALL Style
California Pale
ABV
4.5%
Hops
Citra + Mosaic + Cascade + Chinook
The surprise hit of 2020! Originally suggested as a joke to wind up a Man U supporting member of the HQ team, our collaboration with The Square Ball has quickly become a go to beer amongst the brew team. The beer was brewed to celebrate LUFC’s return to the Premier League, but its easy drinking, laid back California cool has led to it becoming one of our most requested beers. This Californian style Pale Ale is brewed with Citra, Mosaic, Cascade and Chinook hops. The beer has tropical fruity notes with a light bitterness. An ideal beer to drink at home (or one day sat in the pub again!). It’s my go-to beer on a weekend afternoon in the kitchen listening to a podcast and cooking something overly complicated (the things we do to entertain ourselves in Tier 3!)
Vegan / Contains Barley + Wheat
TRANSMISSION Style IPA ABV 6.9% Hops
Citra + Mosaic + Chinook + Sultana
North’s first ever beer and a stone cold classic. The first version of Transmission was homebrewed in Seb’s garage as a sort of ‘audition beer’ when the brewery was a mere twinkle in John and Christian’s eyes. Named on a night out in Manchester when Joy Division started playing at the right moment: “Someone should name a beer after this song. We should name a beer after this song.” Constantly evolving and improving. We are so proud of this beer. Enjoy!
Vegan / Contains Barley + Wheat + Oats
HERZOG Style
Kölsch Style Beer
ABV 5.0% Hops Tettnang
Welcome to our German friend! Herzog is a Kölsch style beer. We’d call it a Kölsch but we’d get a slap on the wrists as it wasn’t brewed in Cologne. So we call it Kölsch style and try not to grumble! Originally brewed as an alternative to their house lager for Duke’s Studios in Leeds, Herzog is all kinds of refreshing. It boasts light, grassy flavours and a straw-yellow colour. It goes brilliantly with white fish, spicy foods, and crisps.
Vegan / Contains Barley + Wheat
GUEST: TRACK – GET UP AND GO Style IPA ABV 6.5% Hops
Sabro + Mosaic + Citra
Manchester based brewery, Track, are good friends of North so we’re thrilled to have them in this month’s subscription boxes! We’ve brewed a number of collabs together over the past few years: From the travelling DIPA series LMN (or MLN or NLM) brewed with Track and Wylam, to DDH IPAs to Fruited Goses. Track was founded by Sam after a two year odyssey cycling around the world. An experienced brewer, Sam was inspired by the taprooms and small breweries producing beer in the States. Get up and Go is a tidal wave of tropical delight. This IPA ticks all the boxes including a guest appearance from old pal Sabro supported by Mosaic & Citra. There’s a coconut and lemon balm aroma filled out by the mellow malt base with mango, ripe melon & a lime peel bitterness from the hops.
GUEST: GOOD THINGS – EVENTIDE Style
DDH DIPA
ABV
9.0%
Hops
Idaho 7 Cyro + Azzaca Cyro + Simcoe
Good Things Brewing are the first closed loop, fully sustainable brewery in the UK. They bore their own water, create their own power and turn their spent brewers grain into flour which is used all over from pizza restaurants to bakeries. Their brewery is powered by solar panels, which also recharge their electric delivery van. Working with Good Things as we develop our new site at Springwell has been incredibly exciting, and we cannot wait to build upon our conversations in 2020. Eventide DDH DIPA is Good Things’ final beer of 2020, and it feels fitting that it’s an amped up DDH DIPA. Expect flavours of juicy mango and peaches to sit alongside an incredibly creamy mouthfeel.
GUEST: DONZOKO – MIDNIGHT HARVEST Style
Coffee Oatmeal Stout
ABV 6.8% Hops None Donzoko are a small brewery based in Hartlepool who take their influences from the beer cultures of the UK, Germany and wider Europe. These countries have a rich beer heritage, which is embedded in daily life. They made their name with their flagship beer, Northern Helles: This Bavarian Style unfiltered lager is a go to beer for North whenever we see it on a draught lineup! In 2020 Donzoko have expanded their range of beers to include IPAs, stouts and saisons. Midnight Harvest is a big toasty oatmeal stout, infused with Nicaraguan coffee beans that were bourbon barrel aged by Donzoko and Rounton Coffee prior to roasting. Expect delicious intense espresso, toasty oats, chocolates notes and a good, heartening drinkability.
IN THE TANKS
BLUEBERRY + APRICOT
SPRINGWELL PILS
NORTH X TRACK
TRIPLE FRUITED GOSE
PILSNER
IPA