Month: April 2024

Introducing Blood Orange Sour, created in collaboration with our wonderful neighbours Locksley Distilling Co. and a fresh release from our Funk Dungeon mixed fermentation project.

This special beer has been made with Sicilian Moro blood oranges, which are left over from the production of Locksley’s absolutely delicious “Morocello” citrus liqueur (which you can read more about and get yourself a bottle of here). They only need the zest for this unique twist on a limoncello, meaning the rest of the fruit is in need of a loving home – which is where we come in! Reducing food waste and making something else delicious from this fantastic produce – it’s a win win.

We added the flesh of the fruit (approximately 150g per litre) directly into barrel with a simple sour base beer, where it spent a year ageing in a single French White Oak barrel with our house brett blend. We chose UK grown Opus hops, which lend notes of sticky orange to boost and back up the citrus character. The fruit gives a fresh, sharp acidity to the beer along with a gentle blush of soft pink hue. The finished product is tantalisingly tart, coming in at 6.0% ABV and is both vegan and gluten free.

Most of the base beer, a straightforward kettle sour, had been destined for use in our Unbeliever series – but we brewed some extra wort to ferment and store in barrel ready for something special to come along… and the Moro oranges definitely qualify. The result is not hugely funky but it is SOUR, coming in at a sharp pH of 3.3. Distinct orange flavours are complemented by a light sherbet berry character and a bit of funk in the finish. Tart, light and refreshing.

For the illustration, our designer James took the Blood Orange name literally, along with the thirst-quenching nature of the beer, creating a vampire skellie! James says of the inspiration, “a vampire was the character I felt fit the image of drinking a “blood-like” liquid, with the blood orange resembling an anatomical heart at first glance, but without being too gruesome!”

This beer was originally previewed at Little Earth Fest last year, and the first keg of the finished beer was released at 2024’s Indie Beer Feast. 750ml bottles are now available from a selection of independent retailers and via our online shop.

And just by way of a small post script to this particular chapter of our Funk Dungeon story… the bottling of this special release took place around the same time as we were receiving this year’s batch of fruit from Locksley’s, and so the cycle begins again! We’ve chosen to add the Moro oranges into a heritage grain saison wort this year, so it will be super interesting to see how the flavour develops in a different base beer. Watch this space, coming not-very-soon…

We’re incredibly proud to announce that we are involved in this year’s Mayday Project, organised by McColl’s Brewery and sponsored by hop merchants BarthHaas.

The Mayday Project sees seven UK breweries come together to create 6 unique collaboration beers, all of which are due to launch across the country on Friday 26th April in both keg and can. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of men’s mental health, get people talking and reduce the stigma. 15p from each pint or can is donated and split between three Mayday charities.

The beers are:

McColl’s Brewery x Abbeydale Brewery Signal – 5.5% Extra Hoppy Bier

Roosters Brewery Co. x McColl’s Brewery Perfect Circle – 4.3% Session Cold IPA

Moor Beer x McColl’s Brewery Changing Minds – 2.5% Hoppy Table Beer

Brew York x McColl’s Brewery A Problem Shared – 5.8% West Coast IPA

Attic Brew Co. x McColl’s Brewery Life Raft – 3.8% Session Pale

Anspach & Hobday x McColl’s Brewery Parachute Pale – 4.5% Pale Ale

Twenty-five venues will be pouring all six beers simultaneously (head here for full details of where you can find the beers – local to us in Sheffield we have the Wonky Labrador and the Rutland Arms participating), while cans will be available in 6-packs (containing 1 of each beer) from the McColl’s webshop.

We loved our day up in Bishop Auckland with McColl’s and BarthHaas rustling up “Signal”, a dialled up hybrid that is hoppy like an IPA yet co-fermented to sit closer to a Belgian Saison – inspired by McColl’s incredible “Lowlands”, recently described by the Craft Beer Channel as the “UK’s Taras Boulba” and exactly the sort of thing that our Robin, who had the privilege of joining the brewday, really enjoys. Signal is a dry and bitter bier that is light and refreshing, dry hopped with Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon and Enigma hops that offer notes of lemongrass and ginger, plus a delicate farmhouse character in the finish.

The three charities involved were chosen for their practical, proactive and genuinely effective means of encouraging men to tackle the issues they face, often feelings of isolation, loneliness, guilt or a loss of pride and community. They are: Men’s Pie Club from Newcastle who work to combat social isolation and a lack of belonging in men, and the associated mental health issues. They do this in a simple way by providing a time and a space (and all the equipment) to make pies, maybe have a cuppa and a natter as well.

Second up is ManUp? from Ipswich who are on a mission to challenge the adapted term ‘Man up’ – don’t just brush yourself down and get on with it! Beyond that they want to abolish the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and have a great number of resources to achieve this.

And finally we have Bristol based Grieving Pint, who provide regular and accessible sessions for young men to speak about their mental health, over a pint, actively promoting collective and responsible drinking.

A huge thank you to McColl’s for inviting us to be involved, and to BarthHaas for their support. Please join us in raising a glass in support of this amazing project on Friday 26^th April.

Introducing Bretted Best Bitter! This exciting new Funk Dungeon release is a collaboration with our pals Will and James from the fantastic Manchester-based Balance Brewing & Blending, who specialise in mixed-culture wild and sour beers.

Working with a Manchester brewery meant we just had to create our take on a bitter! Brewed using entirely UK grown ingredients in keeping with one of the key drivers behind the Funk Dungeon project, this one uses Chevalier heritage grain, with crystal malt and a rigorous dry hop with aged Keyworth Early. The pleasant malt sweetness balances beautifully with a bold, slightly funky hop character. Pitched with each of our house blends of yeasts, a complex mix which has produced a delightfully refreshing and light beer with a delicate tart finish, coming in at 3.4% ABV and pH 3.8. It’s also both vegan and gluten free.

On the brewday, the Chevalier didn’t give us a great deal of sugar and the resulting wort wasn’t particularly fermentable by our house yeast, which wouldn’t have been ideal for our “clean” beer! However, it was perfect for this project as it gave plenty of potential for refermentation in barrel. This refermentation was sloooooow, with the beer spending nine months in European Oak barrel, allowing for exciting layers of flavour to develop over time.

After packaging, the beer has spent a further 4 months in bottle prior to release, to allow for a rounding out of flavour and time for a gentle carbonation to develop.

The other side of the Pennines to us here in Sheffield also had a major influence on the design for this collaborative brew. Hence the main feature of the illustration is a skellie suffragette – loosely inspired by the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst which can be found in St Peter’s Square, in the city centre of her home town of Manchester. The statue, sculpted by Hazel Reeves, portrays Pankhurst standing on a chair, which was perfect for us to emulate and be inspired by to bring in a playful element using the literal meaning of the word “balance” – and with it being “the Rainy City” we couldn’t resist adding in an umbrella!

The beer launches at the Balance Taproom, on the (rather aptly named for the occasion) Sheffield Street in Manchester, on Friday 26^th April. Our Funk Dungeon lead brewer Jim will be there along with Will and James to chat about the beer and enjoy a few tasty mixed ferm drinks together. Please join us! There’s an exclusive pin heading to the event, and it will then be available in keg and 750ml bottle from Monday 29^th April (you can pre-order now, including from our online shop).

PS – We’ve also still got a couple of barrels of this beer resting in the Dungeon which will be released at a currently undetermined point in the future! We plan to spend some time in the beautiful Peak District which lies in between our two breweries to forage some fun additional ingredients for these, so watch this space for Bretted Best Bitter pt. 2…

Next in our series where we introduce you to the people behind the beers, it’s the turn of Christie – Quality Manager here as well as the chap most likely to give you a glimpse behind the scenes on our social media channels or tell you about our beers at a Meet the Brewer event!

First up, the basics! What’s your name and where do you come from?

Christie, Huddersfield

What is your role at Abbeydale Brewery?

Quality Manager (brewer with a calculator)

What’s your favourite beer style and why?

I’ve got simple taste with beer, can’t go wrong with easy drinking cask pales or a pint of lager (with or without a lemonade top). In terms of a single beer though, I often really crave a pint of Acorn Barnsley Bitter. But saying that my favourite beers to make are IPA’s.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Abbeydale Brewery?

It’s a manual job where I get to use my hands with a sprinkling of creativity.

Best place to enjoy a pint?

Rutland Arms (Sheffield city centre)

Where did you have your first (legal!) pint?

The Nook in Holmfirth

Favourite snack to enjoy alongside a beer?

Those jalapeno pretzel piece things, or a pork pie.

When you’re not making beer, what do you get up to?

I’ve got a very needy allotment!

Who’s your hero (beery or otherwise!)?

Patrick Swayze in Roadhouse

And finally… If you were a cartoon character, who would it be?

Skeletor

We’ve been having a mild disagreement. You’ll have to excuse the puns – we’ve been working on them for some time.

We last had a mild available in early summer 2014. Dr Morton’s The Wrong Stuff, as it was cruelly named, was a bit of an experiment for us at the time – a somewhat controversial style with a fusty reputation, and a hard sell. But the times they are a’changing after all, and mild is finally having its day – a revival, a resurgence, a renaissance. We’ve formed two distinct “camps” amongst Team Abbeydale, one side hankering after that smooth, sweet nectar served in a dimpled glass, donning our flat caps and kicking up a grass roots movement for mild, evoking charming pubs of yore with a roaring fire and horse brass galore… and on the other side, the sales team, still traumatised by their past memories of a beer that outstayed its welcome.

The pro-mild side of the fence has finally got their way. And almost a full decade later, or 3,577 days to be precise, a Mild is back on our availability list.

Introducing Dark Mild, from our Restoration series, brewed using entirely UK grown ingredients. Characterised by a smooth, malt-driven sweetness, balanced by a touch of roast character and hints of coffee. The ultimate British hop, the unsung hero that is Fuggles, were added to our beloved hopback. These delicate hops provide a grassy character and a gentle bitterness in keeping with the traditions of this historic style, with a finish that invites you straight back for more. It’s classic, comforting, rounded and mellow. 4.0% ABV, vegan and gluten free. Anyone else thirsty?!

Mild at heart or mildly perturbed – which side are you on?! We’d love you to let us know. Dark Mild launches TODAY, April 1^st (and no, it isn’t an April Fools), – cans are available from independent retailers, including from our online shop, or give us a call on 0114 2812712 if you’d like a cask for your venue. Our sales team are still mildly unconvinced (I’m nearly done, I promise), and I’d love you to help me prove them wrong! [*Edited to add on 01/04/24 at 12.37 – cask all gone, thank you Mild Things!]

Cheers!

Laura – A Mildly Delighted Marketing Manager

PS – Such has been my yearning for a mild that I first started writing notes for this blog post in February 2021. Once it was (a little reluctantly) agreed that this beer could be added to the plan, we came to officially give it a place it on our recipe database. A list of beer styles is pre-populated for us to choose from… and out of 43 in total ranging from imperial stout to gruit, there was no option for mild! Consider this heinous oversight officially rectified. The mild comeback is well and truly on.