January 2016

Tryanuary. An idea. To help breweries, pubs, bars, bottle shops. To encourage people to try something new. An antidote to that other – puritanical – nonsense. You know, Dry Wotsitsface……. I mean, January is miserable enough without denying yourself one of life’s pleasures, right?

So where did this idea start?

(“Don’t Mess With Me”)

Here. In Congleton. And in Glossop. And in Manchester. On Twitter. And all in a twitter exchange involving three of the people here today. Shane from Cheshire Brewhouse, Stuart from Howard Town Brewery and last, but by no means least, Andy Heggs, the man, the legend, that makes this all happen.

So it is that early one January morning, that we’re in an industrial unit on the edge of Congleton. To brew a beer inspired by Tryanuary with the people who birthed this movement. And it IS a movement.

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So. Take over a 1/3^rd ton of Malted Barley, a whole MASS of fragrant UK hops, a lot of water and yeast. And make a beer. Job done!

Well…..no. It takes skill. Attention to detail. Knowhow and passion. Which is what the likes of Shane & Stuart display every day they go to work. These are two of the many brewers in this region that don’t get a fraction of the headlines that others get. Yet they produce some astonishingly good beer. Beer that flies under the radar of most. And that’s their loss. It truly is.

So, Shane, Stuart, Andy, Carl from Crisp Maltings and YT. 300kg of Pale Malt, 50kg of Munich Malt, and 25kg of Wheat Malt went into this mash tun and all but filled it. And filled the air with that most appetizing of smells. It’s kind of like an early morning bakery, porridge too.

The aim of this beer was for an English hopped IPA with an eventual abv of 6.4%. Fruity and bitter. But anyone who starts thinking “brown and twiggy” should take my advise and…..

Get. In. The. Sea.

These hops are massively, fruitily, fragrant.

5kgs of Admiral. One of the greatest of English hops. Massively aromatic and fruity.

5kgs of Experimental hop CF159. SO fresh and fruity.

I could go on with the rest of the hop charge, but I won’t.

This is to be a big beer. Loaded with vibrant fruity citrus flavours. And a big malt backbone to support those lively hops.

Mashing in done and transfer to the copper for the boil completed, it was time for laughter, fun and great tales. And with the likes of Shane, Stuart and Carl, there was no lack. These are good beer people who both know their onions (and their malts & hops etc…) and can spin entertaining yarns. I laughed so much I nearly bought a round…..

60 minutes before the end of boil, in went a big old lump of those fruity Admiral hops for bitterness with Admiral, EKG and CF159 in for flavour later on, CF159 & Admiral being added later as aroma hops.

This is an obviously condensed account of what happened. You have to be a home brewer or an utter beer nerd to want to know (what my dear old Mum would have called) the ins and outs of a cat’s arse of the details of a brew day.

What you NEED to know is that January is sponsored by TRYANUARY. And this beer is both inspired by and to celebrate this movement

It will be big. It will be fruity. It will be hoppy. It has been made (let’s be honest here…) by two brewers who are amongst the best out there. And, with the big sugar extraction from the Crisp malt, it has ended up at 6.6% abv.

And the beer is called TRYPA (see what we did there?)

You ALSO need to know that it is out there in the wild RIGHT NOW! And that Shane, Stuart, Andy, Carl and YT will be at The Junction in Castleford on 30^th of this month. Where this beer will be served from a wooden cask.

I can’t wait.

It’s Tryanuary. So……

Try a new beer.

Try a new brewery.

Try a new Bar or Pub.

Shop in an Independent Bottle Beer Shop.

Because if we don’t use them, we could lose them. January is a hard month in all aspects of the beer business.

I’m doing my bit…..

(This post was first published on the Tryanuaty webside on 30/01/2016. Read that here

Last July, I had a schoolboyish whinge. You can read that HERE (but you REALLY need to have nothing better to do!). The whine was about the use of the word “facile” by the blogging powerhouses that are Boak & Bailey. I got that. Facile was probably spot on to be fair, in so far as their experience is far broader than mine. I quote

“Of course beer is a business like any other – Richard Burhouse says it is ‘naive that people think breweries wouldn’t want to protect their brands’ – but for consumers who have bought into the admittedly facile mantra that ‘beer people are good people’, and an ideal of community co-operation between ‘little guys’, it is rather saddening.”

Spot on. (Click the hyperlink for the – admittedly ENORMOUS – whole post)

The above was a reference to the phrase “Beer People Are Good People” and the ensuing hashtag, which (and I’m not a boastful kind of fella – ask around) I kind of put out there. And I continue to do so. Unashamedly.

It is – I suppose – my truth.

It’s been sad to note that there has been quite a lot of carping and piss taking in certain circles recently about that there hashtag. I shouldn’t take it personally I suppose, because it almost certainly isn’t aimed at me. But, like a big kid, I do.

It stings a little.

I suppose this is a bit like the title of a certain Manic Street Preachers album* – but, different people have different stories to tell. That is the essence of blogging I suppose. That, and opinion.

Now. I’ve never claimed to be smartest of cookies. I certainly never went to university (“never took a paper or a learning degree”) and envy those who are much better with words than I. I’m not deep. I’m fairly thin skinned too, which is one of the reasons why I pop 5mg of Amlopodine each and every day. That and being overweight.

But, you know, over the last 3 1/2 years or so, I’ve made a lot of friends in this beer world. These are – to me – good people. I don’t come across snarkiness or bitching. What I see is co-operation. People helping each other and working together.

Did you think that I REALLY put on two beer festivals on my own? It took the help of a huge number of people with goodwill, love and kindness. A whole lot of people giving up time and money to put on a show. It’s things and people like this that help me. There are some bloody good people knocking around Manchester and the North. I love them. I truly do. And that isn’t just words.

I get too emotional. I’ve always said that when this stops being fun, I’ll quit. So I’ll stop here.

#BeerPeopleAreGoodPeople Especially where I come from and in the beery milieu that I frequent.

This is MY truth. If yours is different, there’s a comments section.

This is the thin skinned one signing out.

(*”This Is My Truth. Tell Me Yours” was a quote by the great Labour politician Aneurin Bevan. Appropriated by The Manics for the title of their 5th studio album. We need more people like Bevan.)

So. Day 12. And horrendously, fashionably, late. And?

I thought I’d come back to Manchester. To this city’s Marquee Brewery. People can say – and vote for – whoever they like, but for me, that brewery is Marble. Tried and tested. Time and again, over years, not months.

So. What have I got? A lightly hazy golden beer, with a thin white head and an enormous aroma full of mango and grapefruit. Hugely tart and full of drooling promise. But can it walk that talk?

In the words of Salt’N’Pepa “Ooh, baby baby….” In other words, “Oh yes!”

Massively fruity, with grapefruit, lemon tartness and tropical mango, I’m reaching for the grass skirt and garlands of flowers for around my neck. It sure ain’t a pretty look, believe me!

At 4.7% abv, this is medium bodied with a really smooth carbonation, that fruit party eventually fades slightly and dances away, leaving a pleasing bitter finish and a sticky resinous aftertaste.

I want more. Always a sign of a good beer. And Marble do that.

Same time next year?

So. Day 12. And horrendously, fashionably, late. And?

I thought I’d come back to Manchester. To this city’s Marquee Brewery. People can say – and vote for – whoever they like, but for me, that brewery is Marble. Tried and tested. Time and again, over years, not months.

So. What have I got? A lightly hazy golden beer, with a thin white head and an enormous aroma full of mango and grapefruit. Hugely tart and full of drooling promise. But can it walk that talk?

In the words of Salt’N’Pepa “Ooh, baby baby….” In other words, “Oh yes!”

Massively fruity, with grapefruit, lemon tartness and tropical mango, I’m reaching for the grass skirt and garlands of flowers for around my neck. It sure ain’t a pretty look, believe me!

At 4.7% abv, this is medium bodied with a really smooth carbonation, that fruit party eventually fades slightly and dances away, leaving a pleasing bitter finish and a sticky resinous aftertaste.

I want more. Always a sign of a good beer. And Marble do that.

Same time next year?