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– Saison Liaison by Jonathan Heyes
Who would’ve thunk it? It’s nye on 12 months since PSBH came in to being, it’s been an exciting year in lots of ways, not least the opportunity it’s given us to work with some fantastic brewers. Occasionally they’ve been kind enough to let us come down to the brewery and ‘help out’, this usually involves us getting in their way, offering useless suggestions, doing any menial tasks thrown at us but hopefully learning a lot along the way.
So as a celebration of our first year we decided to put together a little brew day of our own, lacking in a brewery as we are, we asked Andy and James at Summer Wine if they’d be prepared to host, we invited some of our favourite brewers down to lend a hand, Toby from Red Willow, Jay from Quantum, Mark from Darkstar, Magic Rock and of course some of us. In the weeks running up to the brew day a flurry of emails were exchanged discussing styles, methods, malt, hops, yeast strains and the like, an agreement was struck that it should be a Saison, one of a few emergent styles during our first year of business. Maybe we’d throw in a few spices here and there but keep it pretty classic.
Brewday finally arrived and we made our way at ungodly o’ clock to Honley via Huddersfield on a beautiful crisp, cold winter’s morning and were treated to a hazy, orange bloom of a sunset creeping reluctantly up over the Pennines. First things first on arrival a pre brew brew, which gave us the chance to have a peruse of the malts and hops to be used in the brew. We settled on a mixture of pale, caramalt, wheat and a little crystal rye to add a subtle spice and colour to the wort. Hops would be a mixture of more subtle euro-style hops including Aramis, Saaz, Liberty and Sterling just enough to augment the spice character of the yeast, which was provided by Mark from Darkstar, who alas couldn’t make the trip up to join us, so his yeast had to stand in for him.
The brew day continued pretty smoothly with most of the brewers standing around drinking cups of tea issuing commands to us lower caste brew monkeys. A fantastic lunch was laid on by Andy from SWB and we got down to the really important stuff, naming the beer, this is where we started to hit a few speed bumps. We spent most of the rest of the day in heated debate, my own favourite suggestion I’ve been reduced to using for this humble blog, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s clearly a stroke of genius, the others were less convinced, not that I’m bitter about it. Eventually we settled on just calling it ‘Anniversary’, hopefully the first of a series, with the subtitle of Saison DuPort, thanks to Rich Magic Rock for coming in with a last minute blinder.
Anyway I’ve prattled on quite long enough, we’ll be launching the beer on Thursday 2nd February as part of a Birthday Party we’ll be having, you’re all invited, so come along and have a little try.
Words by J. Heyes / Pictures by J. Krause
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– 2011 and beyond / by William France
Where can I really start as I look back over the last year. It was a massive journey for everyone at PSBH; staff, Jonny, customers & everyone in-between. That sounds like an intro to a ‘This is Your Life’ thank you speech haha. The main reason for writing this is to review where I thought beer was at last year and where I believe it is heading.
I think last year was one of the most important years for British beer culture, not only did a handful of amazing new bars open, but people’s drinking habits were beginning to take a massive shift.
Early on in the year we visited the Winter Ales Festival in Manchester, sampling the delights & horrors of some of the ales being produced in this country. I wont go into the bad ones as I would rather focus on the good. One example was the crowd gathering around a certain pump. This pump was dispensing a new IPA from a brewery in Honley, Summerwine. This beer was called Diablo and as we drank our halves we chatted to some of the most important people in the North West’s beer scene. Almost exactly a year on from that point, this IPA by Summerwine graces our bar but on keg not cask. That’s how fast last year’s “craft” beer scene was moving.
This neatly brings me on to talk about beer trends of 2011. I think IPA was one of the biggest in the commercial sense, this almost lost abbreviation was on the tip of everyone’s tongue, as well as in the fermenters of most brewers in many forms.
Traditional British IPAs, Black IPAs, Rye PAs, Double IPAs, IRAs… the list is massive. IPA is such a subjective style, no one alive knows what an original IPA actually tasted like, so every form is a guess and every brew a homage. A lot of the best for me were heavily influenced by craft brewing in America; hop forward, strong and dangerously drinkable. There was however a simmering undertone of a lean to more traditional hop usage, Thornbridge Seaforth springs to mind with the hops Target and Progress being used to great affect. Darkstar’s Green Hopped IPA also used target masterfully as a finishing hop.
The next big one, obviously is keg which has become the driving force of the craft scene in Britain. Whilst Camra may not agree, a lot of exciting things have gone under pressure this year and have brought many new drinkers away from mass produced beer to handmade excellent products. Whether it be key keg, steel or corny.
I will always love cask conditioned beer, but I will also always love keg. Things have changed and I believe all methods of dispense should be embraced and enjoyed by beer lovers.
Now onto Hop trends. This is pretty easy, anything big and American continued to grace our beers. Citra, Centennial, Columbus, Cascade, Simcoe, Amarillo… this list could go on. These have surfaced in many beers and even the big guys are taking notice. However, as these hops started to run out people started using alternative varieties. Nelson Sauvin use has been increasing over the last few years, for all the right reasons, and along with it’s lesser know cousins Motueka, Pacifica and so on, they are helping to bring more interesting flavours to our beer. The latter end of the year brought us beers with Aussie hops. Stella & Galaxy for me have become the stars of 2011, packing an almighty punch into lower gravity pale ales.
So what does 2012 have to offer?
I think this year is going to be even more important than the last as the thirst for new and exciting beers grows stronger. I see the top craft breweries going wild with crazy, unheard of styles that will push the envelope further forward.
Hops this year are going to be thin on the ground, especially the big C Americas. This will push brewers to be more imaginative with what they can get hold of Double Fuggles IPA? Stella and Galaxy are still in abundance so expect more great usage of them. The rise again of noble hops is going to be more widespread with strains coming from the U.S. such as Sterling & Liberty. A few more NZ strains are on these shores too, Green Bullet & Pacific Gem being the most notable.
People working together is going to be massive in 2012 too. We kicked off the year with the ultimate meeting of minds, brewing minds that is, with Darkstar, Quantum, Magic Rock, Red Willow, Summerwine & ourselves brewing a beer together. I think people working together because they love something is always a good thing. The Venus project is another example with brewsters collaborating together to produce a series of one off beers. What a great idea!
A few breweries have caught my eye too. Quantum is going from strength to strength and Tempest are my ones to watch along with the Bristol Beer Factory. The Tap East micro brewery also sounds very interesting although anything made in London is like gold dust now with the likes of The Kernel, Brodies & Camden making excellent beers. I’m keeping my beady eye on Darkstar too. For me, these guys sum up the best in British brewing. Traditional, revolutionary, trend setting alchemy at its best. Just check out their website and look at the first three specials of this year and then you will know where I am coming from.
But it’s not just the UK that excites… Small artisanal breweries are popping up all over the world; Japan now has a flourishing scene and Denmark has Mikkeller, pushing brewing to the next level. Mikkel from Mikkeller is definitely searching to make liquid gold and he is not far off. As I write this Emelisse has dropped into our cellar, another one to watch out for in 2012 from Holland, along with De Molen. All over Europe it’s going brewing mad, Norway is another example with the excellent Nogne O. I have heard rumours of stuff kicking off in Cataluya and even northern France too.
What I’m trying to say is there has never been a better time for beer lovers than right now, so get yourself into a pub and drink something new and exciting, there is enough of it.
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– Welsh Week / Tuesday 17th January until Sunday 22nd January 2012
As you know we scour the UK looking for the best breweries but we feel as if we maybe haven’t paid enough attention to our Welsh brethren, our current stock of Gwynt Y Ddraig cider proves a popular choice, so maybe it’s time for more Welsh beer? In the past we have only had the pleasure of a short visit on our cask lines from South Wales brewery Otley. So we thought it was about time we introduced to you some of the best breweries our sister land has to offer. With a selection of well respected Welsh breweries we host a week of beer with traditional methods, valued ingredients and with a brewing history dated back to 700Bc we’re sure these are going to be spot on!
The Celt Experience
From Caerphilly, a brewery based on organic and traditional celtic brewing morals, combining old with new methods to create the most flavoursome and holistic beers. ‘A Unique Celtic Branding coupled with an exceptional quality liquid’, winners of Best Packaging at Cardiff Design Festival Awards 2009 and consistent winners of SIBA Wales and West. Naming their ales such as Bronze Ale and Golden Ale after Celtic historical periods, these are going to be winners!
Bragdy Conwy – Conwy Brewery
Established in 2003, Conwy brewery is a well-recognised brewery in the North of Wales. Situated just outside of Conwy castle walls, it is here where the name and iconic logo sprouted from, this is a brewery situated in one of the most beautiful and historic locations in Wales. With quality as a key factor, it pays off with many years experience of great produce. With an all year rounder and best-seller ‘Welsh Pride’ this brewery holds a strong Welsh identity close to their hearts.
Bragdy’r Gogarth – Great Orme Brewery
The Great Orme Brewery was established in November 2005 and is situated on a hillside in the Conwy Valley between Llandudno and Betws-y-Coed, with commanding views of the Conwy Estuary and the Great Orme, from which the brewery takes its name. With their beer adopting permanent homes in some of the finest bars and restaurants across Wales it is no secret that this brewery values quality in their beer. The company go by these three principles; to use natural ingredients and traditional brewing methods, to brew beers that locals are proud of and visitors will come back for and to be an honest and pleasant company to work with.
Bragdy Piws Miws – Purple Moose Brewery
Conceived in 1995, with a name derived from no other reason than a love for the colour purple and a furry moose, the brewery name had been thought up during a weekend carrying out voluntary work on the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales. The company is based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia. Producing a selection of four different beers consistently all year round, as well as seasonal brews to celebrate Welsh history. We will be sampling their latest Cwrw Santes Dwynwen/ Saint Dwynwen’s Ale 4.1% a beer which has been conjured up ready for the 25th January to celebrate the Welsh Saint of love ‘Dydd Santes Dwynwen’/’Day of Saint Dwynwen’.
Iechyd Da!
Words by Alex Humphreys
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– Meet The Brewer with Marble Brewery / Monday 23 January
£8 advance (tickets available from the bar or call 0161 237 9949)
Doors 5.30pm / Event runs 6.15pm – 8pm
Our first event of 2012 will see us welcome one of favourite local breweries, Marble. We will be joined by head brewer, James Campbell – sampling five of their best, along side some tasty local snacks.
Marble shouldn’t need much of an introduction around these parts, but for those unaware: “Marble Beers Ltd started brewing in 1997 in the rear of the Victorian Grade 2 listed Marble Arch pub in Manchester. The brewery produces a number of award winning regular beers and one off specials. In recent years Marbles beers have gained growing support from beer lovers nationwide who actively seek out their contemporary style, full flavoured beers.”