Tuesday 24 June 2008

News Of The Brews

On the beer front, the Britannia Class Range has been going from strength to strength. Lightning was a popular beer, and was almost brewed again but I decided to ignore the requests and so out came Polar Star. It was brewed using wheat malt & maize, so it was something of a new direction for us - and what a beer it was. It is certainly the palest beer I have brewed, indeed one of the palest I have ever seen, and the Centennial hops really made it stand out. Not even I can ignore the clamouring for this one...

Knight Templar, a 4.9% golden beer also caused a minor storm, being named the best beer at a few festivals (although none that do official certificates to add to our collection), and going down equally well in the trade. Trouble is, at 4.9% it's a bit strong for many, and so we have a dilemma. Brew it again at the same strength, and limit it's outlets, or brew it at a lower strength, and thus increase it's sales potential. Trouble is, we can't really manage another regular without major expansion, and that is a path with so many headaches along it we need a lie down just thinking about it. So it will hover in the background for now.

What we have done though is a 4.0% beer with a slightly reddish hue, called Twilight. Bit early yet for feedback, but it raised a smile when sampled last week prior to being casked up.

We have a slot for a brew later this week, and it has yet to be decided how it will be filled. Another new Britannia has been mooted (we don't have the hops yet for more Polar Star), but then so has the original Britannia. Originally rested due to a lack of hops, we managed to secure some earlier this year, saving them for a suitable point in time.

All these decisions... I think I'll have beer.

No comments: