Revolutionize Low Alcohol Beer

LalBrew® LoNa™ is a hybrid Saccharomyces cerevisiae able to create a variety of clean tasting Low and No alcohol beers simply and e ciently.

learn more at lallemandbrewing.com/lona

ONLY 1% OF SIBA MEMBERS’ BEER PRODUCTION WAS EXPORTED IN 2022

ONLY 15% OF SIBA BREWERIES DO ANY EXPORT

30%

BUT...

ONLY 3%

OF SIBA BREWERY EMPLOYEES ARE NOW FEMALE,ROUGHLY THE SAME PROPORTION AS IN 2022

OF FEMALE WORKERS ARE BREWERS, ALTHOUGH 24% WORK IN BREWERY MANAGEMENT

594*

91% OF SIBA MEMBERS WOULD RECOMMEND SIBA MEMBERSHIP TO OTHER BREWERS

75% OF SIBA MEMBERS CONSIDER SIBA MEMBERSHIP TO BE VALUABLE OR VERY VALUABLE

NEW JOBS WILL BE CREATED BY SIBA MEMBER BREWERIES IN 2023*

THIS REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT DROP FROM THE 732 IN OUR 2022 SURVEY *Number estimated from SIBA survey results

Thank you to all of our Members who took the time to fill out the members’ survey which forms the basis for the SIBA Craft Beer Report, and a big thank you also to our Official Industry Partner Croxsons for their support again this year. Download your free copy of the SIBA Craft Beer Report via the link on the homepage at www.siba.co.uk or scan the QR code

Brew York: Katy BerryPastry Sour

The British Guild of Beer Writers’ Brewer of the Year Andy Parker, from Elusive Brewing, gives us an insight into Berlinerstyle beers with a look at the recipe and process used by Brew York in their Katy Berry beer…

Katy BerryPastry Sour

Berliner Weisse is a Northern German variation on the classic Wheat Beer and both styles are absolutely delicious in the summer sun. Whilst the more common German Wheat Beer (or Hefeweizen) relies on yeast esters (typically banana and clove) for the base of its flavour and aroma profile, the historic recipes of Berlin are known for their natural sourness, typically introduced by Lactobacillus – a naturally occurring bacteria that is characterized by its ability to produce lactic acid as a by-product of glucose metabolism. As this acid is produced, the pH of the wort or fermented beer will drop, creating a natural sour ‘tang’. The history and production methods of the Berliner Weisse style is a fascinating subject and well worth investigating!

ABV 5.5%

Volume 20L

Boil Volume 22L

ABV 5.5

Target FG 1.063 (pre-fruit)

Target OG 1.031

IBU 8

Colour Purple!

Mash 69C for 60mins

Fermentation 20C

Malt Qty

Pale 1500g

Malted Oats 500g

Malted Wheat 400g

Flaked Oats 400g

Torrefied Oats 400g

Carapils/Dextrin 250g

Rice Hulls 400g

Kettle Additions

Lactose - Qty 1000g - Added 15 mins from end of boil

Maltodextrin - Qty 380g - Added 15 mins from end of boil

Hops

Brewers Gold - Qty 50g - Added

Whirlpool at 90C

Bacteria

Wildbrew Sourpitch - Qty 10g

Yeast

US-05 - Qty 11g

Adjuncts

Blueberry Concentrate - Qty

750g

Vanilla Extract - Qty 25ml

The modern Berliner-style beers are often served with a choice of flavoured syrups - from fruit such as raspberry, to curious herbs such as woodruff. It was perhaps these additions, especially various fruits, that inspired the evolution of the style to where it is today in the world of modern craft brewing. Some modern takes even use lactose or maltodextrin to back sweeten the sour beer - along with various fruit and spice additions - and these have come to commonly be referred to as ‘pastry sours’, acknowledging their likeness to cakes and pastries! Whilst these modern brews are quite far removed from historic counterparts, they do still rely on lactobacillus or specially cultured lactic acid producing yeasts to create their sourness.

Founded in 2016 by good friends Lee Grabham and Wayne Smith, Brew York have built a reputation for producing fabulous sour beer as part of their playful and incredibly diverse range, with their pastry sour recipes being inspired by such creations as Polish Plum Cake and Cherry Bakes. The two met at a mutual friend's stag do and began home-brewing together after sharing their love and passion for craft beer. Brew York was born not long after, starting out in a modest warehouse and former maltings in Walmgate in York city centre before expanding into 13,000 sq. ft unit at Handley Park in Osbaldwick as part of a £1.5M investment in 2021. It’s safe to say that Brew York is a brewery on the up but Lee and Wayne certainly haven’t lost that creativity and just plain good fun aspect to what they brew.

Brew York’s Katy Berry is a 5.5% Blueberry Pastry Sour which appears regularly in their line-up. Like many of their beers, the name pays homage to a famous celebrity, although it is not known if the similarly named American pop star has had the opportunity to sample her beery namesake! The recipe starts out with a high protein grist to give it plenty of body, to which lactose and maltodextrin are later added for an overall sweet base. The wort is soured naturally using Lallemand Wild Brew Sour Pitch, which is an isolated plantarum variant of lactobacillus known for its lemony citrus notes.

The modern Berliner-style beers are often served with a choice of flavoured syrupsfrom fruit such as raspberry, to curious herbs such as woodruff.

When souring with this method, we mash as normal and transfer to our kettle, then bring the wort to a quick boil to pasteurise it. The wort is then cooled to around 38-40C before pitching our lactobacillus. After pitching the Wild Brew Sour Pitch, it’s important to keep the kettle at around this temperature so wrap it up in something warm and ideally flush it with CO2 to remove as much oxygen as possible. These two things will help prevent the formation of butyric acid (an off flavour often compared to the smell of baby sick or blue cheese) and isovaleric acid which also presents as a cheesy note.

Keep an eye on the pH in the kettle through regular sampling and after 24-36 hours, it should have dropped to around 3.3-3.4pH. Pre-souring the wort to around 4.4pH before pitching Wild Brew Sour Pitch can give it a helping hand as the lower pH presents a happy breeding ground and helps to prevent undesirable bacteria forming. Lallemand has a best practices document for using this strain which you can download from their website. This is recommended reading and will help you get the best out of it.

Once we’ve reached our desired pH, we bring the wort back to the boil to kill the bacteria and complete the remainder of our brew - in this case adding the lactose, maltodextrin and hops as per the recipe before cooling again, this time to around 19C, to pitch the US-05 yeast. This is a reliable workhorse of a yeast strain that won’t be phased by the low pH. Once primary fermentation slows and before the temperature drops, add the blueberry concentrate and allow a few more days for the sugar in the fruit to ferment out to a stable gravity. The vanilla extract is added before packaging.

The resultant beer should have a lovely purple colour from the fruit concentrate and a delicious balance of sour and tart blueberry and sweet lactose and vanilla. As our pop star might’ve sang, “I drank a sour and I liked it!”

Taproom Focus: Thornbridge Brewery