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beer stories: news
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BEER NEWS - May 2011
Anchor beer hits Britain
A limited-edition brown ale brewed by the celebrated Anchor Brewery in San Francisco is on sale for a limited period in Britain. Breckle's Brown (6%), which uses the citrus-flavoured Citra hop, is an all-malt beer brewed by Anchor's master brewer Mark Carpenter and is based on a recipe for brown ale found in the brewery archive.
Nigel Stevenson of James Clay, the British importer, says the beer is brewed with a distinctive blend of roasted malts and has an unusual depth of flavour.
The beer is named in honour of Gotlieb Brekle, who bought an old beer-and-billiards saloon in Russian Hill, San Francisco in 1871, and turned it into a brewery that eventually became Anchor Steam, now known as Anchor Brewery.
Breckle's Brown is available in 19.5 litre kegs and James Clay also has available for a limited period other beers in the range, including Anchor Steam, Liberty, Bock, Porter and Old Foghorn.
The beers are available at:
Euston Tap, London;
The Rake, London;
Pi, Chorlton, Manchester;
North Bar, Leeds;
Bier Huis, Burnley;
Green Jack Brewing, Lowestoft, Suffolk;
Blind Jacks, Knaresborough, Yorkshire;
Narrow Boat, Skipton, Yorkshire;
Sheffield Tap, Sheffield Station;
Pivo, York.
Hawkshead crosses the Pond
A batch of 4,500 bottles of Hawkshead Organic Stout has arrived in the United States - and it's thought to be the first organic British stout to be sold there. The Cumbrian brewery and its bottle supplier, Hambleton Ales, have had to meet a series of stringent criteria, including organic certification , to sell the stout in the U.S.
The beer is distributed in the U.S. by Massachusetts-based St Killians, which will supply the beer to outlets across the country. The brewery, run by former BBC reporter Alex Brodie, was given support by the government body UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), which works with British businesses to ensure their success in international markets. UKTI staff advised Hawkshead on how to gain organic status in the U.S., which is a demanding process.
Hawkshead Pure Brewed Stout (4.5%) is made only with water, yeast, malt and hops without any brewing aids or water treatments. As a result, the "brewing liquor" remains soft Lakeland water, unhardened by brewing salts. The beer is suitable for vegans and is classified as organic as the malted barley and malted wheat, along with hops, are organically grown and certified.
The brewery has recently undergone expansion following a �250,000 investment. This has enabled Hawkshead to produce 8,000 barrels a year.
Acorn packs a punch
Yorkshire independent brewery Acorn of Wombwell, Barnsley, has won a listing with leading national pub company Punch for Barnsley Bitter, which will be available in pubs across the region. Punch pubs that will serve Barnsley Bitter include the George & Dragon in Barnsley town centre and the Ash Tree, close to the brewery.
Cask-conditioned Barnsley Bitter (3.8%) has won many accolades since it was first brewed in 2004, including a silver award in CAMRA's Champion Beer of Britain competition. In recent months the brewery has seen sales boom by more than 30% and expanded production capacity has risen to 150 barrels a week.
Acorn managing director Dave Hughes (pictured right of photograph with brewer Steve Bunting) said: "This listing means we will supply many more pubs in the region whose doors were previously closed to us, even the ones on our doorstep. Now many more cask ale fans in Yorkshire will have access to Barnsley Bitter - not least in the Barnsley area itself, which has long been a difficult trading area for us because of the pub company tie. This is another exciting boost for us at a time when business is already bouncing."
Acorn now supplies more than 400 free trade outlets across the North, Midlands and in London. Its business grows with J D Wetherspoon, the Nicholson chain and several other leading pub companies. Acorn provided Wetherspoon's with an exclusive order of 550 firkins (nine gallon casks) of 1887 Ale for a 19-day national beer festival. Bottled beers have also gained listings with several major retailers, including Asda, Tesco and Waitrose.
To meet demand, the seven year-old brewery has recently invested in new 50- barrel fermenting equipment and a cold store room has been created for bottled storage.
Innis & Gunn has a treat for Father's Day...
A Limited Edition of Innis & Gunn Triple Matured Oak Aged Beer will be available in selected Tesco stores this month, in time for Father's Day on 19 June. Smartly presented in a blue box, it will be found in the speciality beer section at �2.50 a bottle.
The beer is 7.2%. Innis & Gunn managing director Dougal Sharp, said: "Patience is needed to let good things mature. The beer has been triple matured and aged for a total of 99 days to produce a seriously smooth beer with enormous depth of flavour.
"The beer combines great ingredients north and south of the border, with Optic barley malt and chocolate malt from the Scottish borders and aromatic Goldings hops from Kent. After brewing, we matured the beer in oak for a lengthy time. Once we judged the beer had absorbed the perfect degree of oak character, we poured it into a marrying tun and let the maturation continue until the flavours had blended together and mellowed to our satisfaction. We then filled the batch into bottles, inside which the final, month-long maturation took place."
Dougal Sharp describes the beer as having a Burgundy colour, with a dried fruit and oak nose with a delicate hint of toffee and hops. The palate is smooth, with oak and malt to the fore, balanced by a fruit character that mellow with age. The finish is mellow and warming with honey sweetness and hints of oak.
...and also gets fruity
Innis & Gunn has launched Melville's Strawberry and Melville's Raspberry beer (4.1%). The beers are brewed using 100% Scottish cold-pressed fruit and are available nationwide in Tesco from 1 June during a three-week beer festival.
Dougal Sharp said: "We grow some of the world's best strawberries and raspberries right here in Perthshire, Fife and Angus. Having loved the flavours of these berries for years, I wondered what they would taste like if we used them to make beer. So we joined forces with another Scottish company, Ella Drinks, who pioneered a technique for cold-pressing berries to extract their juice that perfectly preserves the sweet flavours."
The beer is based on a lager made of 100% malted barley, hops, yeast and water, which is then blended with the fruit. The beer is brewed to be served "over ice"
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