Jun 18 2013
Ramsbottom Craft Brewery – June 2013
The Bury area, totally under my radar, has become a mini brewery mecca. The area is home to Brightside (recently relocated to Radcliffe), Deeply Vale, First Chop (soon to commence brewing in their own premises in Salford), Irwell Works, Leyden (at The Lord Raglan in Nangreaves), Outstanding and (since December 2011) Ramsbottom Craft Brewery.
As is becoming a bit of a theme now, I stumbled upon a Twitter ‘exchange’ between Tyson The Beerhound and Matt Holmes, the owner and brewer at Ramsbottom Craft. At the end of this exchange, tentative arrangements were made to pop round at an indeterminate date when Matt may be brewing. One evening I saw a tweet addressed to myself and Tyson, along the lines of “brewing tomorrow, fancy popping round…..? Well. You know me and temptation!
Unfortunately that fine Beerhound couldn’t make it due to work commitments. However, I was on holiday so, one sunny afternoon, I find myself lost in Ramsbottom!
Having driven onto the street listed on the website, it was all residential! Confused. I was utterly convinced I was looking for an industrial unit! A quick exchange with Tyson corrected that impression, so I headed back and knocked at the front door of a house I had recently passed. The door was opened and I was met by a genial young man (Matt) and the delicious unmistakable smells of an operating brewery!
(The Mash Tun)
Not long after finishing our initial introductions (we had never previously met!), it was obvious that something was slightly wrong! At that point Matt was ‘sparging’ (a bit like rinsing the malt to get all available sugars from the grains) and the transfer of the ‘wort’ (the extracted sugars that form the basis of the finished beer) wasn’t going smoothly! There appeared to be a blockage, so, stirring implement in hand, Matt dived in (not literally!) to the Tun and got it sorted, freed the blockage and the process went smoothly! This issue was not unconnected with the large amount of grain in the Tun, the aim being for a wort to produce a finished beer of around 6% abv. These are indeed ‘Hand Crafted’ ales! (I – sort of – mucked in with a bit of ‘re-circulation’ of the wort, good fun!)
Having never gone the ‘tinned wort’ route as a home brewer, Matt dived straight in with full grain brewing, using only whole leaf hops. Sourcing his stainless steel ware from Germany, he built his own brewery doing all the plumbing, cladding and wiring himself. He registered with HMRC (boo!) in December 2011 and commenced brewing pretty much from that date.
The Hot Liquor Tank (HLT), Mash Tun, Copper and his various fermenting vessels (6) and his bottles and casks are all stored and housed within his converted garage, and he produces quite a variety of beer in this 2 1/4 Bbl kit! Beers flavoured with Chilli and Lemongrass, Ginger, Cocoa nibs……
A native Midlander transported “oop north”, Matt is truly a one-man outfit doing the brewing, sales & distribution all himself, though, by his own admission, brewing is to the fore at the moment. Brew it, phone calls, then move it appears to be the way. Impressively, he fits this all around his day job as an Estate Agent too!
(A bit of sparging)
Matt’s beers are either cask or bottle conditioned and I noted a number of filled 9 gallon firkins, 2 of which had his Chilligrass Wheat Beer ready for a local Ramsbottom Bar/Restaurant The Hearth of The Ram and a number of bottles ready for packaging / orders. The bottles can be purchased either direct from Matt or from Summerseat Garden Centre
Matt’s Cask Conditioned offerings can be occasionally located at the (aforementioned) Hearth of The Ram and The Major pub in Ramsbottom, The Coach & Horses in Edenfield (nr Ramsbottom), The Masons Arms in Rawtenstall, The Magnet in Stockport, The Angel in Manchester, Trackside in Bury and others in the Blackburn area.
I sensed that Matt was a busy chap this afternoon, but he graciously let me have a taste of one of his mainstays (and I think he needed a refresher after his travails!), Rammy Ale, a nice copper coloured bitter with a good balance and dry lightly hoppy finish. With driving, I couldn’t sample any more beer, so having not had any of his beers before today, I picked up a few bottles for later tasting and said my farewells to let Matt get on with the brew.
It really is amazing quite what you can fit into a small space, and there is a little room for expansion, but, as things take off further, Matt may need to consider larger premises. Check the website at http://ramsbottombrewery.com/. Matt runs a “Beer Club” where – within a certain radius – for £30 a quarter, he’ll deliver a mixed case of RCB beers.
Later that week, I tried a bottle of the Chilligrass Wheat Beer. Extremely pale (well, it is an all wheat beer!) at 4.4% abv there was some lemony citrus and spice on the nose. In the mouth, I got the refreshing characteristics of the wheat with a sharp peppery chilli kick! It certainly lives up to its name and definitely woke up my sleepy taste buds!
A nice bloke Matt. Cares passionately about what he brews, is obviously a dab had with the DIY and plumbing and indulges in some experimentation with his beers (Can’t wait to try the Thai Wit!), both beers I tried were full of flavour with my personal preference being the lip licking fiery Chilligrass. I’ll certainly be looking out for his beers on draught at The Angel.
On that note….’til next time!
Slainte!
Feb 23 2015
Bottled Ales – February 2015
“They’ve got their definitions and they won’t fiddle round trying to rethink them ‘cos there’s no middle ground.
Short change me and they short change the show, I almost tell myself ‘George, change the flow’.
But they should have know better. Never send a boy to do a man’s job, that’s a waste of a go-getter.
It’s all hard work but now I got that bragging right. Try to put me in a box, but it’s not that black and white.”
(“Sad State of Affairs” – The Herbaliser ft George the Poet)
(Clip via Herbaliser TV on YouTube)
A bit of a different feel with the clip this time. One night a couple of years back, I was flicking through E-Music, looking for something to buy and I came across the album “There Were Seven” by The Herbaliser and heard this track. I like Rap. Yes, I’m 50 years old in 8 weeks and I like Rap. I have ever since I heard the stone cold classic “Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel”. But, despite the rise of UK Rap over the last 10 years or more, nothing moved me. Until this track.
Literate, great flow and rhythm. It has everything I want. The older I get, the wider the poles, from thoughtful lyrics, message and literacy to squalling feedback and white noise. I can’t explain, I don’t have the words. I guess you like what you like. Which brings me to beer…..
1. About Thyme – Beer Nouveau (Prestwich) – 4.2% abv – Pale Ale – 330ml – Barbeerian (Prestwich)
The other thing about it is that with a really low bitterness, this is such an easy drinking beer. Herbal thyme up front but with a nice gentle hoppy dry finish. To some people, thyme may not be up their Street, but I love this beer. My favourite that Steve has made so far. Would be perfect with some roast chicken!
The whole caboodle is rounded off by a dry resinous sticky finish. If only you could get their beer over this hill on cask. Hmmm…#ISBF2015 anyone?
This fruitiness eventually recedes and relents enough to give way to a fruity and quite sticky resinous finish. All in all a cracker.
Then the beer. A hazy righteous Manc Murky light brown /dark golden beer with a proper white fluffy head and an aroma that just reeked of the fruit basket! Peach, oranges, mango. Yum.
I was at Black Jack when the boys were brewing their first batch of this on the Six O’clock Brewing kit and was yet to taste it until now. Remedied. And how.
And MY does it deliver on those promises! Fruity. So fruity. More Mango than peach, but that lime is certainly present and correct. This is absolutely lovely and so packed with fruity goodness that there simply HAS to be at least two of your five a day in here!
Nice snappy dry and resinous finish to this accomplished Pale Ale. A beaut.
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