– Verdant Tap Takeover review by Cameron Steward
On Wednesday 17th May 2017 we held a Verdant tap takeover at Port Street. We asked Cameron Steward to come down and taste his way through the hits. Here are Cameron’s words and photographs…
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One of the most striking articles should you choose to visit the Verdant Brewing website is a blog post entitled ‘High Level Sink’. The declaration from January 2017 begins, “Today was a bad day” and outlines how Verdant had to dispose of a staggering 800 litres of their Pale Ale High Level Kink (4.8%), due to contamination issues.
You may think this an odd confession; why announce such a colossal failure? What good can come from planting that seed of doubt regarding the level of professionalism in such a highly competitive field? On the other hand, it’s refreshing to acknowledge such a calamity and certainly reassuring to see that Verdant demand only the highest quality, ensuring the product they put out is their best.
Sadly HLK isn’t present at the Port Street Beer House tap takeover, but their Pale army is solidly represented with Light Bulb (4.5%), Headband (5.5%) and the brilliantly titled Roy, I Want A Hilux (5.5%). They’re reassuringly hazy, bitter and very fruity – just what you’d expect from a brewery whose manifesto is a hop-forward reaction to a lack of juicy, bitter bombs from this side of the pond. It’s evident Verdant are heavily inspired by the New England IPAs and Pales, which have gained more mainstream recognition in the UK over the past couple of years. They cite Treehouse, Trillium, Monkish and Hill Farmstead as influences and this comes across with crystal clear clarity (although in reality, they’re pretty murk-tastic) in their IPAs, Putty (8%) and Even Sharks Need Water (6.5%).
Both these beers are showcased at the takeover and Sharks is a damn-near perfect example of a smash-able, juice-splosion IPA. It’s packed with tropical lushness and plenty of bitterness. That NE profile is equally palpable from the soft mouthfeel that head brewer James clarifies “comes from wanting to meld yeast, malt and water profiles to enhance the hop experience”. It’s also worth mentioning that these beers pair fantastically with the sticky and sweet Pork Bao buns provided by the master chefs at Common Bar.
It’s not hard to tell that these guys have worked hard, each of the offerings at the takeover represents the tastes and demands of Verdant’s tireless brewers – there are just the 3 of them. This didn’t happen overnight of course, they began piloting brews in 2013 before moving to a 1bbl kit in a shipping container in 2014. “Test, assess, change and test again” James tells me and by August 2015 the beers were ready for public consumption. A mere 10 months later they moved to their current premises in Falmouth, Cornwall, equipped with a 10bbl kit that went live in September 2016. From there on it’s all been a haze (pun intended), with popularity seeing Verdant become increasingly more visible in the north of England, having already infiltrated the South West, Northern Ireland and London. Their next target, Scotland, is so direct in their crosshairs that the day after their Port Street takeover, they’re invading one of Edinburgh’s finest, The Hanging Bat, to bring the hop pain.
Future aspirations include obtaining their own canning line and opening their tap house for summer sessions. They also hope to extend their Christmas card list with a range of forthcoming collaborations that may be classified “top secret” but definitely include Manchester’s own Cloudwater, which is definitely worth getting excited about.
It’s not hard to see why Verdant have grown so exponentially; they’re fun and personable gents who offer time to answer my questions and it’s clear they’re brewing beers they crave, which happens to coincide with a reinvigorated interest in the modern IPA – see Hop City for further evidence. Their pump clips and cans glow as vibrantly on bars and shelves as the contents do in the glass, and if they’re not happy with those beers being saturated with “lush, juicy and moist hop flavours”, then they’ll reassess and try again.
– The Brewers photography exhibition
Exhibition opening Thursday 15th June 2017 / 6pm / Port Street Beer House The Brewers is a collaboration between photographer Duncan Elliott and Port Street Beer House. Duncan Elliott is a documentary, editorial and commercial photographer who specialises in shooting people and their lives, loves, labours, work and pastimes.Port Street Beer House is a pub in Manchester established in 2011 focusing on good beer from here, there, and everywhere. Port Street has long supported local breweries and so we were most keen to showcase an extra insight into the great breweries on our doorstep.
For this collaboration, Duncan visited four of Manchester’s best breweries; Blackjack, Cloudwater, Runaway and Track, photographing the people who work there and the processes that go into creating their beer.
Join Duncan Elliott at Port Street on the opening, have a few drinks and viddy the visuals.
James Clay are kindly supporting the exhibition with a free keg of Schneider Helle Weisse. Come get some free halves ’til the barrel runs dry.
– IMBC 17 ticket launch 24/05/17
Indy Man Beer Con 2017 ticket launch
Wednesday 24th May / 6pm
Advance tickets for IMBC 17 will be available from Port Street Beer House from 6pm ahead of the official general release on IMBC’s website from 9pm. Advance tickets are limited to four per person per session. You’ll collect an advance code from the bar on the night and will be directed to the ticketweb website where you’ll be able to input said code to unlock your advance tickets.
Alongside the advance tickets we will also be joined by IMBC food vendor Al Pastor Paul who will be dishing out FREE tacos for the first FIFTY people from 6pm.
We will also be laying on a selection of complimentary beer tastings throughout the evening hosted by Cloudwater, Buxton, and Hawkshead.
Not only that but we will also have a host of special beers pouring across our taps from IMBC 17 sponsors and Thirsty Games 2016 winners, Fiveclouds.
Join us from 6pm Wednesday 24th May 2017.
– Verdant Tap Takeover 17/05/17
VERDANT TAP TAKEOVER
Wednesday 17th May 2017 / 5pm-midnight
Port Street Beer House
“Verdant Brewing Co is the result of 3 mens needs to be drinking the beers they like.”
Verdant (Falmouth) are creators of some of the haziest, juciest, hop forward pale ales about right now and we are HYPED to welcome them to Port Street for a showcase of their excellent beer. Anybody fancy a pale ale?
KEG
Lightbulb / 4.5% extra pale ale
Headband / 5.5% pale ale
Bloom / 6.5% india pale ale
Pulp / 8% double india pale ale
I Played Trumpet On That Tune / 6.5% india pale ale
Roy, I Want A Hilux / 5.5% pale ale
Even Sharks Need Water / 6.5% india pale ale
Putty / 8% double india pale ale
Maybe One More PSI / 8% double india pale ale
+++ hopefully some cans and other treats plus the Verdant troopers will be on hand to answer your every whim.
Poster by David Bailey
