Month: August 2018

You may have already noticed that as part of our guest beer line up for Funk Fest 2018, taking place in the brewery itself this weekend (25-26 August) we’ve managed to get our mitts on a keg of something rather special from our friends at Siren Craft Brew down in Finchamstead.

Siren’s Odyssey series varies with each iteration, but each release is designed to showcase the art of blending, comprising of a carefully concocted combination of an array of beers from their barrel ageing project. This has been such an inspiration to us and we hope that our Methuselah series within the Brewers Emporium, given time and as our barrel stock grows, can follow a similar path!

Anyway, onto Odyssey 009. Barrel House Manager Steve of Siren tells us: "It’s designed as a big coffee style barrel-aged beer. It comprises ~45% soured stout in PX Sherry barrels, ~35% stout in bourbon barrels, ~20% saison with brett in red wine barrels. The idea was to find a blend that would suit coffee, with as many coffee attributes as we could include in the base beer. The stouts brought roasted chocolate character, the sour stouts and saison adding fruit and acidity, and the bourbon barrel aged components contributed sweeter tones. We chose a Brazilian coffee which accentuated the sweeter elements and improved the body.

The final blend/beer should be released in the next 2-3 months, so this keg, drawn when we made the blend, probably presents a bit more sweetness than the likely final product. But it’s still great right now!"

If that hasn’t made your mouth water, then we don’t know what will! If this very first keg of Odyssey 009 is something you’d like to try, you can get your hands on a ticket to Funk Fest right here. Please note that this beer is very limited indeed, and whilst we will try our very hardest to ensure that some is available for all three sessions, we do have to point out that once it’s gone, it’s gone!

See you at the bar!

Cheers

Laura

Funk Fest 2018 kicks off THIS WEEKEND and we are so excited! Tickets are still available while stocks last at bit.ly/funkfest18…

We announced the beers we’ll be pouring from our very own Funk Dungeon project last week (you can refresh your memory by reading this blog post) and alongside them we’ve sourced some incredible beers from all around the country. The sour, barrel aged and mixed fermentation scene in the UK is truly flourishing at the moment, and we’re massively proud to be bringing you this line up.

Bad Seed Brewery, Malton – BA White Wine Saison (6.2%) – A zesty saison with honey and grains of paradise. Aged in barrel for two years with brettanomyces for a distinct Farmhouse character. Funky rather than sour, the white wine barrel gives a clean, sharp fruit note that works perfectly with the Brett strain.

Chorlton Brewing Co., Manchester – Vanilla Sour (4.0%) – Light, smooth, fruity sour pale ale with vanilla.

Elgoods Brewery, Wisbech – Coolship Dark (5.0%) – Spontaneous fermentation is initiated on Elgoods’ unique double coolships. A long period of fermentation and maturation in special tanks enables naturally occurring wild yeasts, combined with oak, to create its sharp fruity flavour. A true sour English Ale. 

Fyne Ales, Cairndow, Scotland – Origins Expedition (5.6%) – A hybrid of old world and new world IPAs – an Amarillo and Citra base beer was matured for 12 months in clean oak barrels before blending with a small portion of soured wheat beer to give a clean, lactic finish.

Fyne Ales, Cairndow, Scotland – Sour Friends: Passionfruit (4.0%) – Sour Friends is Fyne Ales’ series celebrating tart, refreshing beers loaded with flavour; this passionfruit edition is brimming with tropical fruit notes and has a vibrant, sour citrus finish.

The Kernel Brewery, London – Biere de Garde: Galaxy (5.6%) – Burgundy aged mixed fermentation saison aged for 10-12 months, before being dry hopped with Galaxy. Light lemony refreshment, with tannins, brett spice and earthiness.  Dry finish.

Landlocked Brewery, Alfreton – Lemon and Lime Saison (5.5%) – Fruity and complex citrus saison. This one is our only guest cask of the festival!

Little Earth Project, Sudbury – BA Rhubarb Saison (6.7%) – A balanced display of rhubarb acidity, coupled with a soft brett touch and a warming whisky presence.

Lost Industry Brewing, Sheffield – White Wine Bretted Peach Sour (6.0%) – Sour ale aged for 8 months on peaches with Brettanomyces in Bordeaux Barrels.

Magic Rock Brewing, Huddersfield – Yuzango (4.7%) – Fresh and vibrant yuzu and mango gose.

One Mile End Brewery, London – Morello Cherry Gose (4.2%) – Delicate and fresh sour-mash gose conditioned on beautiful Morello cherries to add a bright spritz of tartness.

Redchurch Brewery, London – Sour Lager (3.8%) – Does what it says on the keg! With a light hopping and a smooth mouthfeel.

Siren Craft Brew, Finchamstead – Odyssey 009 (8.7%) – We are VERY lucky to have got hold of a keg of this! The newest release from Siren’s Barrel Aged Odyssey series, this is a blend of 80% stout and 20% saison (plus some coffee), giving it a rich and dark profile with a hint of zing on the palate.

Steel City Brewing, Sheffield – Episode 1: The Phunky Menace (9.0%) – Collaboration with Emperor’s Brewery & Neepsend Brew Co. Second runnings of an Imperial Chocolate Stout, soured overnight, then fermented with a saison yeast and aged six months in a Bordeaux Red Wine Barrel with Abbeydale Funk Dungeon mixed brett culture.

Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell – Florida Weisse (4.5%) – Hazy raspberry sour. Super fruity and very refreshing.

Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell – Days of Creation (7.0%) – Sour red ale aged in oak and fermented with raspberries.

Wilderness Brewery, Newtown, Wales – Abbaye Brett (6.0%) – Bretted Belgian pale with a restrained Brett character and a subtle Mandarina Bavaria dry hop.

Wilderness Brewery, Newtown, Wales – American Farmhouse (6.4%) – Mixed fermentation saison, very lightly dry hopped with Citra & Ekuanot. Moderately funky.

Woodman’s Wild Ale, Cornwall – Alexanderplatz (3.5%) – Berlinerweisse with Alexanders (a coastal wild plant similar to Angelica). We’d also recommend you check out Woodman’s crowdfunding campaign here!

Woodman’s Wild Ale, Cornwall – Hoochy Boochy (2.5%) – Kombucha with subtle herbal aromas of fennel and nettle, top notes of blackberries and a whiff of Citra from dry hopping. On the palate there’s a complex array of sourness, fresh acidity and fruitiness with a light, sparkling finish.

We hope to see you this weekend… we have a goooood feeling about it!

Grab your tickets at bit.ly/funkfest18 if you’d like to join us!

Funk Fest is just two weekends away! So we thought it was about time to let you know what’s being released from our Funk Dungeon project especially for the occasion…

Brett Force Trauma (5.0%) – Bretted Mosaic American Pale Ale which began life as our core keg beer Heathen. With the addition of our house brett mothership the residual fermentable sugars have been fully fermented out, creating carbonation as well as amping up the ABV. Floral hoppy aroma balanced by an earthy brett character on the palate. **First Pour**

Brett Tangerine (7.3%) – The very last keg of the very first Funk Dungeon release. Heaps of orange character provided by orange peel and a Citra dry hop. Barrel fermented initially with Sacchromyces Bruxellensis Trois, with Brett Lambicus added for 6 months. Super dry with an FG of 1000.67.

Chorlton Blend (7.2%) – A blend of three beers from our barrel store carefully selected jointly by myself and Chorlton brewer James, plus Chorlton’s culture and 36kg of raspberries. **Limited edition cask**

Creeping Brett (4.7%) – Collaboration with Yeastie Boys as part of their 10^th birthday celebrations. At its heart this is a weizen, with the addition of spelt in the grist providing a little more complexity. Fermented with our house brett blend plus Lacto Plantarum and Lacto Brevis to create a pleasant lemony acidity bolstered with additions of lemon verbena and lemongrass. **First Pour**

Dry Hopped Imperial Saison (8.7%) – 25% DIPA, 75% aged saison, 100% fun. **First Pour**

Encantada (BA) (7.1%) – An aged Gruit, flavoured with mugwort, yarrow, juniper and heather flowers. It has then been aged in a 3rd fill French oak cask. Brewed originally in Feb 2017, this beer has spent 10 months in wood and a further 7 months in keg, conditioning and maturing along the way to provide huge complexity.

Forest Fruits (BA) (5.8%) – Collaboration with Coventry based Twisted Barrel. A barrel fermented release of our fruited rye beer aged in American Oak, the barrel’s second use in the brewery. Fermented on redcurrants, blackcurrants and chuckleberries to create a spicy fruit beer that sings with soft oak.

Imperial Brett Saison (9.5%) – Barrel finished bretted saison. A high fermentation temperature has created pepper and herbal phenols, coupled with liquorice and star anise additions for a fragrant sweet spice.

Rye Sourdough (4.8%) – Created in conjunction with our friends and neighbours Forge Bakehouse, who are based just 100m from the doors of the brewery. Made using some of their leftover rye bread and fermented in wood with their sourdough starter culture. **Festival Exclusive**

Solera Salted Pineapple Sour (5.8%) – Mixed Fermentation Sour flavoured with salt cured pineapple and the first of our rolling special releases from the Funk Dungeon. A kettle soured barrel aged beer, blended back a little with fresh IPA to balance out the acidity and wood character.

Spilt Milk (3.9%) – Bourbon barrel aged bretted milk stout with a subtle hint of coffee and a creamy mouthfeel.

Unbeliever 6 (5.2%) – Sour IPA with heaps of fresh lemons and limes then dry hopped with Citra, Columbus and Mosaic. Wonderfully refreshing.

In addition, we’ve rustled up a gooseberry lemonade and a sour blackcurrant soda which will both also be available on keg. And Moonshine and Heathen will be pouring direct from the tank to refresh the palate in between all those funky little beasts!

Keep your eyes peeled over the next week or so as we’ll be revealing the beer list for our guest taps very soon too…

Hope to see you on August 25^th-26^th right here in the brewery… advance tickets are still available online via bit.ly/funkfest18.

Cheers!

Jim Rangeley

Lead Brewer – Funk Dungeon Project

*Please note we cannot guarantee availability of all of these beers at all times during the weekend as they are almost all single casks or kegs. Strictly while stocks last!

We’re massively proud and excited to announce that our beloved flagship beer Moonshine has won the bronze award in the Golden Ales category of this year’s Champion Beer of Britain competition!

Although Moonshine has won many awards over the 22 years of our history, including Champion Beer of Yorkshire 2012, this is the first time we’ve received an award on a national scale. We were also nominated for Champion Beer of Britain last year, so to get third place in our category this year is a great step up.

Moonshine was one of our first beers we ever produced all the way back in 1996, and it’s now regarded as something of a Sheffield icon. Equating to just over half of our output, it’s well and truly right at the heart of what we do as a brewery, and to see it receiving recognition nationwide really does warm the cockles!

The CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain award is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious real ale competitions in the world. The build up to the awards lasts for almost a year, with the final judging rounds held at GBBF (the Great British Beer Festival) – the UK’s largest real ale festival. Anyone visiting the festival at Olympia in London this weekend can find our award-winning Moonshine on Bar B2, and of course it’s widely available around Sheffield and beyond too!

Mine’s a pint… cheers!