brewers contact 2008

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Volume 8 Issue 4 December 2008Price £2.50

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Inside This IssuePeter Garrod’s Double Success 2

Amber, Gold and Black 4

Brown Ale 5

To Krausen or Not to Krausen 6

Raw Hop Bitter or a fewRamblings on Brewing withGreen Hops 8

Copper... is it harmful inbrewing applications? 9

Janette Edge - An Appreciation 10

Trouble at BreweryThe Editors Problems 11

An Introduction to our newMembership Secretary 13

Adur Brewery 14

Scottish Craft Brewers 15

Kit Review 16

The Lady behind the ‘Sutton Success’ – Sara Carter.

The Craft Brewers top ‘Brewster’ beingpersuaded to write an article to explainher success!

Some might say that it’s a little unusual to find a woman who likes to drink beer let alone make it and probably I would agree with that. Currently, it seems that more and more women are taking up the beverage, at least that seems to be the case within my circle of friends, and by observing the attendees of beer festivals, competitions and pub goer's over the course of the last year.

Speaking for myself though, drinking beer is not a new discovery. I started drinking bitters, milds and pale ales from the sprightly age of about 8 or 9. Yes, 8 or 9 because I grew up in a pub and every Sunday morning my dad would clean the pipes in the pub and on pulling the beer through the clean pipes would taste the beer to make sure it was

good. He would hand me the glass and ask my opinion and we’d move on to the next pump.

I guess this is where my love of beer came from along with being born in Yorkshire, beer was in the blood.

It seemed therefore a natural progression for me to want to make my own beer. I gave it a go in the early 90’s mainly from kits and doing the odd partial mash but for one reason or another, mainly moving house, I gave it up.

Then, approx a year ago my interest was rekindled. I

was getting more and more disappointed with bottled beers and also the lack of choice in my local pub I thought I would look into starting to brew again. What was different this time around however was the Internet.

A quick Google on beer kits brought me to various brewing forums, mainly Jims Beer Kit. On it I found details of a popular kit that I thought would be worth a go, especially as it came with its own keg and gas bulbs. I had to purchase all the other necessary items again as they had l ong s i nce d i s appea red , a hydrometer, thermometer and fermenting bin, but the bug bit quite hard and I quickly moved into all grain. I think it’s the brewing community that has also made this hobby so enjoyable. The various internet forums full of advice and information, my local brewing club the North

Hampshire Brewers, the CBA and the many beer festivals and excellent local ales that are proving very popular at the moment. I hadn’t been to a beer festival before going to Derby earlier this year. This I really enjoyed, particularly because I got to meet other brewers and taste other craft brews.

Through the rest of the year I continued to brew on average twice a month and attend local beer festivals and the GBBF where I was really pleased to see all the women attending and the tour this year introducing real ale to women.

The end to my first brewing year has been especially exciting by not only being lucky enough to start working at a local brewery this month, but in also wining, ‘Overall Champion’ at Sutton in November with “Bombay IPA” and coming runner up in the Bitter to 1039 category with my “Robbie The Elder” both totally unexpected accolades given the high standard of beers I tasted at the event.

I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect end to 2008 and I’m already looking forward to entering next year’s competitions and tasting more great beer!

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Peter Garrod’sDouble Success

Bombay IPA Brewed 28th Sept 2008

21lt 1052 OG 1010 FG

ABV 5.6%

IBU 56

Based on mash efficiency of 75%

All liquor treated using a Campden tablet also CRS and DLS to Brupaks recommendations.

Malts -

5kg Maris Otter (Low Colour)

166g Vienna Malt

Hops -

11g Northern Brewer 8%aa (10 IBU) 75 min boil

10g Centennial 10%aa (11.3 IBU)75 min boil

8g Amarillo 9.6%aa (8.5 IBU)75 min boil

10g Northern Brewer 8%aa (8.1 IBU) 45 min boil

10g Centennial 10%aa (10.1 IBU)45 min boil

8g Amarillo 9.6%aa (7.5 IBU)45 min boil

40g Northern Brewer 8%aa at turn off and steeped for 30 min

40g Centennial 10% at turn off and steeped for 30 min

30g Amarillo 9.6%aa at turn off and steeped for 30 min

Yeast -

Nottingham x 2 sachets

Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins boil

13lt mash liquor and mashed at 65.5C for 90 min then fly sparged, stopping sparging with final runnings at 1024 SG

Boiled for 75mins. Preboil SG 1043. Chilled and then fermented at 20C for 5 days then 18C for a further 5 days until kegged and bottled.

This beer was based on Jaipur IPA from the Thornbridge Brewery in Derbyshire.

Huge thanks goes to Kelly Ryan at Thornbridge Brewery for the information supplied and this is my tweaked version of the original.

Sutton Success!A superb range of first class beers where presented to the judges at the ‘London and South East Craft Brewing Competition’ held at Sutton, Surrey on Saturday 15th November 2008. Over seventy different beers were on offer to the public in the afternoon, including several from two brewster’s! Chief judge, Geoff Cooper commented on the ever increasing standard of brewing, which made their job even harder this year. The Overall Champion was Sara Carter, for her ‘Bombay IPA 1052’ which had the perfect combination of malt, hop bitterness and aroma. She also won a second for her bitter, ‘Robbie the Elder’ as well, novice Sara had only started to brew this year, she was up against some stiff competition from some of the association’s best brewers.

Congratulations to her on her success at Sutton.

Many thanks go to Richard and his hard working team.

Bitters up to 1039

1st. Phil Wilcox. Dengie Best Bitter 1036

2nd. Sara Carter. Robbie the Elder Bitter 1039

Bitters 1040 - 1042

1st. Andy Hill Burlesque Bitter 1040

2nd. Phil Wilcox. Hoppy Helper (Bottled) Bitter 1040

Bitters 1043 - 1046

1st. Peter Garrod. Daft as a Brush Bitter 1046

2nd. Paul Spearman. 50cc Bitter 1046

3rd. Simon Howard. Stiff Squirrel Bitter1044

Bitters 1047 and over.

1st. Nick Reese. Something for the Weekend Bitter 1054

2nd. Pete Garrod. Golden Wolf Bitter 1055

Speciality.

1st. Sara Carter. Bombay IPA1052

2nd. Simon Howard. Chimaybe Belgian dark strong 1093

Mild.

1st. Mark McGee. Fergus Magoo Scottish Mild 1064

2nd. Andy Hill. Black Widow Mild 1036

Porter & Stout.

1st. Allan Gayton. Sandalwood Porter 1058

2nd. Allan Gayton. Sandalwood Stout 1052

Overall Champion.

Sara Carter. Bombay IPA 1052

Richard, the show organiser

One evening I was browsing the ‘Jimsbeerkit’ forum, when I noticed a post by Clive Donald of Brupaks. It was regarding Homebrewing on TV and, as my wife was out and I’d had a couple, I thought it would be amusing to respond.

I had absolutely no expectation that I would even get a response, let alone receive in my inbox the next day, a message from Clive saying that the ‘Tonight’ show wanted my phone number! This led me to appear on the Trevor MacDonald’s, “Ton igh t” , ‘Cred i t Crunch Winners’, special.

Well from there, discussions with ITV commenced, regarding what I

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do, why, how, etc. The first part of the filming would take place in my brewery and they sent me a list of questions they intended to ask along with the expected answers, that had b e e n g l e a n e d f r o m o u r conversations. So here is the full (proposed) interview and my comments:

1. What was your first experience of making homebrew? (18-years-old, my dad bought me a homebrew kit, it was awful but I drank it because I was a student and couldn’t afford pub prices every night, it was a way of saving money.)

2. How long have you been making your own homebrew, and how has it improved from your 1st experience of it as a teenager? (I have been making homebrew for the past 4 years, the improvement of the kits these days is unrecognisable to how they used to be.) May I either here or in the interview correct you by describing my hobby as ‘Craft Brewing’. ‘Homebrew’ has a stigma attached to it, which we are trying to shake off. It is a craft, after all!

You are correct that the current ‘kits’ have improved in the last decade, but I don’t use them. My beer is of a high quality because I use the same raw ingredients that bespoke craft brewers use - but I am not governed by an accountant: I use plenty of top quality malt and hops and still save more than £2/pint!

3. What type of drinks do you brew yourself, and what are the brews comparable with to the drinks you’d buy in a pub? (Wine, Beer and Cider beer is like Deuchars IPA etc, both the beer and wine you brew yourself is comparable to the stuff you’d get in your local pub, or buy at the supermarket) I like to brew hoppy golden ale, similar to Deuchars)

4.What got you interested in brewing your own ales and wines? (The price of alcohol has gone up and up over the years, the amount of tax we pay on a pint is far too much, the price of brewing my own is only

a fraction of what I’d pay in the pub. Also, the quality is the same if not better and it’s a great hobby)

5. What do your family and friends think of your homebrew? (I make the homebrew in my garden shed - my wife calls it ‘the brewery’...)

I most appreciate those that are honest and descriptive in their opinions, so that I can improve my skills, in turn improving the reputation of my craft. In return, I brew some beers to suit my tastes and some beers to suit the tastes of my friends - they tend to like that gesture! My cider is always ready in spring and is also very well regarded!

6. So how much does your homebrew cost compared to what you’d pay at your local pub? (With all the ingredients, equipment and production costs, my beer works out at around 40 pence a pint, the same pint would cost around £2.60 in the pub, so even though my particular ale is quite expensive compared to some homebrew, it still saves me a lot of money) But don’t forget the cider - I made 36 Gallons for a staggering £0.00, though I do use my garden shredder and a press which I bought years ago for a total of £65. I have help collecting the apples, so I’ll only be keeping two thirds of it.

And I’ll have some wine fermenting in the brewery too - I grew the grapes myself on my 2 dozen vines (5 growing on a big frame in the back garden) and so they’ll pay for themselves with this recent first harvest.

7. So as well as saving yourself money, do you also provide beer and wine for other people; family and friends? I make wine and beer for my friends and family, so I’m saving them money too.

You may only produce alcohol at home for ‘domestic consumption’. The tax man would hate to think I’m doing him out of anything and since it was made legal in the sixties

they’ve left craft brewers alone. So I would like to point out that none of my alcohol leaves my home, unless I go with it. My peers would think me dreadfully irresponsible if we said otherwise!

8. How has the credit crunch affected you financially? Are you having to tighten your belt, or is the saving you’re making through brewing your own beers and wine saving you so much money that it’s easing the financial strain? I’m saving a lot by brewing my own, obviously we’re a little more careful with money than we might have been a couple of years ago, but at least we can still have a bottle of wine, or a few beers at the weekend and it costs virtually nothing)

9. So if you drink on average 10 pints of beer a week, in a pub that would cost you about £26 a week, but drinking your homebrewed beer only costs around £4.00 a week over a year that’s a huge saving; just under £1,500 a year on beer alone. What does £1,500 mean to you? A holiday, pay the mortgage on your house for a couple of months? Pay your road tax for about 8 years!! Pay for your weekly grocery shop for over 3 months!

So if we halve all those numbers, then we’re good. Of course with Christmas coming up and with us entertaining friends and family, this saving will be significant (and will mean more presents for the kids!)

10. Do you think people can avoid the credit crunch with money saving ideas like homebrew? There are so many money saving ideas if you look hard enough - I think a lot of people could avoid the credit crunch if they thought of creative ways to save money like brewing their own beers and wines, growing their own veg etc...)

During filming I tried really hard to stick to those answers, but for some reason they wanted me to stuff a pint glass full of hops (your guess is as good as mine…) and cap some bottles (which were full of water).

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Peter Garrod, our man on ITV

A history of British beer styles from Porter to Bitter, Mild to Stout, including IPA, Brown Ale, Burton Ale, Old Ale, Barley Wine, Stingo, Golden Ale, Gale Ale, Honey Ale, White Beer, Heather Ale and Mum.

E-Book Specifications: Price per Unit (e-book): £5.00, 223 pages. Format Adobe PDF, printing is allowed

We h a v e a s k e d s e v e r a l o f o u r members to review a chapter from his new book over the next few issues, starting with Ant Hayes, who is a qualified beer judge.

Amber, Gold & Blackby Martin Cornell

Then they sprang something on me. They decided they wanted to film me and a friend enjoying a pint in the garden so they could create a ‘Magners moment’ (something to do with sunset and lightly effervescing refreshments). So feeling decidedly short of friends at 4 p.m. on a freezing cold Tuesday afternoon, I had to go and knock on r a n d o m d o o r s i n t h e neighbourhood, saying “come and have a beer in my garden and be on telly”. Obviously someone was up for it. Strange sort of chap. They cut that bit!

And then there was the second day of filming. They wanted to take a few of my beers with them to a pub in London for Pat Cash, Richard Farleigh and Jilly Goolden to taste. I refused, saying that I would transport them to ensure they arrived in good shape. So upon arrival in the London pub after a very anxious journey across London, I was told that they wanted to film me arriving at the pub. Apparently my walking is excellent. They cut that out too, so you’ll have to take my word for it!

Then they wanted to film me opening and pouring the beer, ready to be tasted. I had to explain about the sediment and they brought me up a freshly rinsed jug. I uncapped my bottle, poured into the jug, decanted into the 3 glasses and then that was me done. So much for my visions of having a jolly afternoon swilling beer with the celebs, they wanted the brewer, the beer and the celebs all kept separate so that the taste test would be fair.

So I sat downstairs in the pub on my own, eating and drinking on Sir Trevor’s expense account and awaiting the celebs and the result.

Pat Cash was first, furious at some lack of nicety that he had expected. Perfectly nice to me though and he was quite inquisitive about my set-up. Richard Farleigh came next and disappeared upstairs quick as a flash. No time for me!

Final ly the wondrous J i l ly appeared. Whirled upstairs after the briefest of greetings and set about doing her make-up. After a while a member of the crew visited me to report that Jilly was curious at being summoned to drink homebrew and wanted to know how I made it. Pat took to his horse again and after a while Jilly decided to interrogate me in person!

“Are you the brewer?”“Yes”

“What do you make it from?”“Grain & hops”

“You mash?”“Yes”

“You can’t call him a ‘home brewer’, he’s a ‘craft brewer’. He doesn’t just buy a tin from a high street chemist; his process and skills are extremely sophisticated. How are we supposed to tell which beer is which? In fact, his beer will probably taste the best”

“I love you”“Well it’s true”

And so on. I elaborated upon my statement of affection by saying that it was wonderful that someone so very much in the public eye had the correct nomenclature to hand, and that her opinion of what we all do was very much appreciated.

I think it showed in the tasting clip! They all preferred the same beer; Jilly suspected it was mine and was right. She claimed that ‘this brewer really knows what he’s doing’ and Pat Cash called me ‘a real Pro’.

Well since then, we have had the Sutton competition. I’m not really one for naming beers; I feel it’s akin to naming a cup of tea, but you sort of have to for a comp. So ‘Jilly’s Favourite’ went in, as did ‘Daft as a Brush’ (a tribute to a reader of this publication) and ‘Golden Wolf’ (Ray, thanks for the yeast - it’s working nicely on it’s third brew now and cropping very well.)

My ‘Daft as a Brush’ took 1st in its class, the ‘Golden Wolf’ took 2nd in its class and I’m highly amused that

‘Jilly’s Favourite’ didn’t even get a look-in. Just goes to show that even an average brew can knock spots off some commercial offerings bottle or cask conditioned!

For those that did not see the programme, go to uk.utube.com-search for, credit crunch winners-video, scroll down to credit crunch winners, homebrew clip.

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In 1885 Alfred Barnard undertook to visit the whiskey distilleries of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.

The Noted Breweries ofGreat Britain and Ireland.4 Volumes 1889 - 1891 Lager - A Personal

Journey (Part 1)by Alfred Barnard

by Tony Barnsley

His publication The Whiskey Distilleries of the United Kingdom, published in 1887, has become a world famous guide for the whiskey industry in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Following on from that success Barnard undertook a similar project with the noted breweries. Published over three years and four volumes The Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland is a magnificent insight into the brewing industry at the end of the nineteenth century. The primary aims of the volumes were to make the reader aware of the scale and nature of the brewing industry as well as providing some biographical details on the more eminen t b r ewing f ami l i e s , including the world famous Guinness brewery and many other breweries in Dublin and Cork.

Over 110 breweries are covered over nearly 2,200 pages. Many of the descriptions of the breweries are accompanied by detailed sketches or photographs of the premises. If you like beer or even just have an interest in the brewing tradition then you will love this publication.

It would cost thousands of pounds to buy the original volumes, if you could find a seller.

However, Trinity College Dublin have scanned their copies a produced a CD which is available from our fellow CBA member at Beer-Inn Print costing £21 + postage.

With Christmas wish lists upon us you may find it interesting to search the beerinnprint.co.uk website where you are bound to find at least one book you fancy.

Ps: He was an Irishman, that’s why he spells it ‘Whiskey’.

I feel that lager has a very much-maligned profile amongst home brewers in the UK, although given

the current offerings on the taps at any bar in the UK that could be understandable, in fact as a committed ale drinker in my early brewing days I would agree. I was, however, fortunate enough in 1987 to spend 5 weeks touring Southern Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Italy, and my eyes were well and truly opened to the wonderful variety and quality of European beer. The other reason why lager is not a style that is regularly tackled by craft brewers is that is perceived as ‘too difficult’, fussy or finicky, which is just not true. Certainly in the past with under modified, steely malt requiring a decoction mash, that could be said to be a problem, but today it is very unlikely that any brewer will encounter such malt... unless you are lucky enough to live in the north western corner of the Czech republic.

The biggest problem with the perception of lager is actually the fault of marketing men (and women) where we have come to expect that lager is a pale, tasteless, fizzy, frozen beverage, anything out of the ordinary or that doesn’t fit in with the current marketing campaign is quietly shunted off to the sides. Slalom and Slalom D were two quality lagers brewed at the Lion Brewery in Blackburn that were killed by Scottish and Newcastle in favour of McEwans Lager. There is a huge variety in lager styles (and these might be covered in more detail in later articles), from the pale Pils and Helles, right though to the Dunkels and Schwarzbiers, and ranging in strength from the quaffing beers served ‘vom fass’ up to the dopplebocks and triple bocks like Eggenberg Urbock, and Paulaner Salvator. The other surprise on my tour was that the beers were not necessarily crystal clear and served with carbon dioxide top pressure. I had many pints of fantastic Czech pilsners that were gravity served from cask just like ‘real ale’, and

Brown Aleby Antony Hayes

Chapter 9 of Martyn Cornell's Amber Gold & Black covers brown ale. Although brown beer has been enjoyed in Britain for centuries, the story of brown ale is both recent and short. Brown ale was first brewed by Mann, Crossman & Paulin of the Albion brewery in Whitechapel Road, London in 1902. Mann's London Brown Ale saw a rapid rise to success thanks in no small part to government intervention in the beer market, leading to falling gravities. Lower gravity beer went off more quickly, leading punters to mix bottled brown ale with draught beer to freshen it. This resulted in famous names such as brown-and-mild, brown-and-bitter, and half-and-half. Other breweries tried to cash in by brewing their own brown ales, or by bottling their milds and calling these brown ale. London brown ale reached its peak in the 1950s, before tailing off quickly. Today Mann's Brown Ale has around 90% market share, of a small market.

London Brown Ale sparked the birth of North East Strong brown ale, a Newcastle based version that was fruitier, stronger and amber coloured. This beer remains popular today, and in many ways inspired the birth of American Brown Ale.

The book takes you through the history of these beer styles, with plenty of detail as to who brewed what, and thoughts on why. It is easy to read, with great examples of beer labels, and led me to reach for a brown ale or two.

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‘Ein bier vom fass bitte’ would very well result in a lager that very closely resembled a wheat beer in opacity. While these beers were served cold they were never served ‘ice’ cold, which seems to be the trend in all too many bars these days.

Despite several failed attempts at brewing a lager in the Pils style, to comply with requests from other drinkers in the house, my first successful attempt was an extract beer made with the then ‘new’ dried lager yeast Saflager S-23. The main difficulty with making a lager from extract is that the liquid extracts that were available at the time were not pale enough, but Muntons brought out their dried malt extracts, and the extra light is well suited to making Pils style lagers. The same can also be said of Brupaks liquid malt extracts being based on Muntons Cedarex extract, which when fresh is of excellent quality. My first successful lager was an extract clone of Bitburger Pils, which, despite it being one of the best known and widely advertised beers in Germany, is actually of high quality and has considerable taste.

So here is the recipe.

Bitburger Pils 25L at OG 1.046 (11.4% Plato) and 38IBU

• Dissolve 3Kg Muntons Extra Light Dry Malt Extract in 28L of hot water and bring to the boil.

• Once boiling, add 65g Northern Brewer hops.

• After 45 minutes, add 25g Tettnang Hops and boil for another 45 minutes.

• After switch off add another 15g Tettnang hops, or cool to 70°C and then add the hops.

• Cool and transfer to the fermenter (I prefer to use enclosed fermenters for lagers, such as the 25L winemaker fermenters).

Pitch a sufficient amount of yeast, one 11g sachet of Saflager 23 is just about enough although if you are

fermenting at lower temperatures you might want to consider pitching double or even triple this amount, and aerate well. The FV (fermenting vessel) should then be placed somewhere cool for the initial fermentation, ideally around 10-12°C but up to 15°C is fine... If you cannot get the temperature below 15°C then consider pitching a neutral ale yeast (say Nottingham), and you will still end up with a clean beer. Lager yeast fermented at the lower range of ale temperatures produces a lot more esters than a clean ale yeast. In a perfect world you would use a temperature-controlled fermenter, but a cool area of the house where the temperature does not fluctuate wildly will be fine.

The primary fermentation will take about around 11-12 days, possibly longer if the temperature is lower, but once a stable gravity reading has been reached, bring the fermenter into somewhere warmer (around 16-18°C) to allow the yeast to clean up any diacetyl for a couple of days, then back into the cold for a further couple of days to drop out excess yeast. Transfer to a secondary fermenter, with minimal aeration) and keep in the cold to lager. At this stage the colder the temperature the better, and 0-1°C is ideal. Traditionally the lagering period would be around 1 week for every degree Plato of original gravity, this is an 11 Plato beer so would lager for 11 weeks. This is not really required though so after 4 weeks, transfer to a keg or bottling bucket and bottle. Using Corny kegs I prefer not to add conditioning sugar, but when bottling I add ½ a tsp of white sugar to the bottle just to develop some condition... I am not a fan of over gassy beer in general, and lager does not have to be served with enormous amounts of gas to give it flavour, so keep the carbonation levels low... who knows you might prefer it.

So my tips for a successful extract lager.

Introduction

Krausen is the term used by German brewers to describe the foamy, rocky head of yeast that forms at the peak of fermentation. The process of Krausening is recommended for strong bottle conditioned beers, Belgian beers mainly use this process. Basically, what happens

To Krausen or Notto Krausen –That is the questionby Ron Allison

• Use good quality pale extract. If using liquid extract then try and get hold of some Brupaks extract and really use the freshest you can get.

• Use traditional hops, and preferably the vacuum packed ones, I prefer flowers but pellets work very well.

• Pitch sufficient yeast - probably the most important factor. If you under pitch you stress the yeast, stressed yeast produce esters that need to be kept to a minimum.

• If you will not be pitching adequate yeast, then pitch at a warm temperature (say 18°C), then reduce the temperature to fermentation temperature (10-12°C) over 24 hours. While this will produce some esters, the faster fermentation is likely to clean them up.

• Try to ferment at a constant temperature, falling below the desired temperature is ok, as fermentation will just take longer, but rising above 15°C is less than ideal.

• Store cold after a diacetyl rest, even if it looks clear and tastes fine, it will improve with cold storage.

• Do not over prime/carbonate your beer, it will have plenty of flavour and doesn’t need the carbon dioxide bite.

Don’t serve it ice chilled, 8-10°C is more than cold enough, allow the hop aroma to make its presence known.

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decided not to Krausen. The original gravity was 1066, final gravity, after three days, 1016, and Brupak Belgian yeast was used.

The beer has turned out quite well, being perfectly drinkable, having no off flavours, and possessing some complexity, but the condition is not what it should be. Peter Fawcett has tried some and thinks that although quite a good beer it would have been better if it had been Krausened. I think this is a very fair assessment.

In November 2007 I brewed a Barley Wine and in June 2008 I brewed a Trippel Ale. The former started at 1085, finished at 1022 (after 60 hours), and S33 yeast was used. The latter started at 1062, finished at 1012 (again after about 60 hours) and S33 yeast was also used.

I Krausened both beers. In the case of the Barley Wine after the fermentation was over the beer was siphoned into three one-gallon jars and left in a cold garage for 11 days. During this period the beer dropped very clear in the gallon jars with a thick layer of yeast evident. The beer was then siphoned from the gallon jars (that had been left in the house for 18 hours to get up to temperature). About 0.25L of vigorously fermenting wort from another brew, using Gervin yeast, had been siphoned into a clean and sterilised jug. Thirty-two 0.33L bottles and six 0.5L bottles were filled. The usual amount of priming sugar had been added and after the bottles had been filled, one level teaspoon of wort for the smaller bottles and 2 teaspoons for the larger bottles was added via a funnel. After capping, the bottles were shaken up to distribute everything. This beer has turned out to be well conditioned and forms a thick long-lasting head. Presumably, you might be thinking, this is because of the Krausening. However, as a control, three bottles were filled and primed immediately following the initial fermentation. Much to my surprise, the bottle I opened 3 months later,

although still rather young, also possessed ample condition and the same taste and complexity as the Krausened beer.

I opened the remaining control bottle in the middle of October. There was ample condition and the beer poured with a thick creamy head but this subsided quite quickly. My tasting notes go on to describe a fruity aroma and a fairly complex initial taste with fruit and malt on the palate and some bitterness on the aftertaste. The lack of a lasting head may have been due to the non-Krausening, but I can’t be sure.

I used the same process with the Trippel Ale, but this time the Krausening yeast was Nottingham and the beer was left in the one-gallon jars for 23 days. After only 3 w e e k s o f t h e s e c o n d a r y conditioning my curiosity got the better of me and I opened a bottle. Although still very young for the style and gravity, I was pleased to find that there was ample condition a n d a l r e a d y s o m e Tr i p p e l characteristics could be detected.

As a control, one bottle was filled and primed after the fermentation was over. This was opened at the end of October. The beer had ample condition, a large white head, and was crystal clear. The head subsided fairly quickly but there were distinct Belgian Tripel characteristics and it was a pleasant drink. The night before I had opened a Krausened example. The head lasted until the end and my memory, although slightly hazy as this was a last drink before retiring, was of a more rounded and complex beer than the non-Krausened example.

Some Concluding Remarks

Although my recent experience is still rather limited I am beginning to formulate some general conclusions with regard to my own brewing practice. Given my relative lack of experience these are rather tentative and I would welcome feedback from fellow brewers who have tried this technique.

during the commercial process is that the wort is allowed to ferment out in the normal manner, then racked to another vessel where, after some further conditioning (it is sometimes filtered or centrifuged to remove tired yeast), is then re-pitched with fresh yeast. This is usually the same strain as that used in the original fermentation as the brewery always has this available.

However, any beer or lager yeast (preferably an alcohol tolerant strain) can be used for bottle conditioning, as the main flavour characteristics are provided by the primary strain.

The rationale for Krausening is that with high gravity beers the yeast is exhausted after the original fermentat ion and there are insufficient active cells left to provide an adequate secondary fermentation. In particular Belgian bottled conditioned beers have a higher level of carbonation than their British equivalents and the brewery cannot afford the risk of shipping out beer with poor condition.

An obvious question at this stage is “how strong is a strong beer” and a second question is “does the exhaustion factor apply to all yeasts”?

A Little HistoryI started my “brewing career” on 22 December 1970. I used a variety of kits for several years but from 1976 to 1981. Closely Following Dave Lines recipes; I brewed 18 full mash beers. Most of these were standard bitters but 3 of my efforts were Barley Wines, using the process and recipe in his book. This was my introduction to Krausening and my notes indicated that it was successful. For various reasons I reverted to solely using kits in 1981 until changing entirely to full-mash brewing in 2005.

Recent ExperiencesIn 2007 I brewed a Trappist style Dubbel Ale for the first time and for whatever reason (possibly laziness)

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I have a rather large number of brewing books assembled over the years but not one covers the subject of the use of green un-dried hops at all. I have been growing my own Fuggles now for the last ten years or so and have normally dried and stored them before brewing with them, but I have always fancied experimenting and using them green to try to get that elusive massive hop nose.

My first attempt using a handful of them straight off the bine to “dry” hop a 20ltr Cornie of a 4.2% bitter resulted in 20ltrs of grassy tasting drain cleaner. (The surplus 3 litres were bottled without the dry hops and was ok.) Not to be put off, two years ago I made a Bitter with the hops only partially dried, I had harvested them in the afternoon and left them overnight in my shed to get rid of any insects and brewed the following day with them.

The hops were very ripe and just starting to go brown and from my records I ended up with a 22 ltrs in the fermenter from a fairly standard recipe as follows.

OG 1.044

4400gms Maris otter

250gms Crystal 120

175gms Fuggles for 90 minutes(Unknown alpha acid.

50gms Fuggles 15 minutes.

(Unknown alpha acid)

Note. I usually estimate a value of 4.5% when using the Fuggles dried.

The hops had lost about 20% of their weight overnight, weighing 290 Gms when I harvested them. (On a dry day)

The resulting beer was excellent and even with my poor sense of smell had a good hop aroma. So I was determined to try using the hops as fresh as I could get them the following year.

Last year my crop like many others was a failure due to white mould and insect at tack but this year everything was right, masses of beautiful cones and not an insect to be seen apart from the odd caterpillar.

On the brew day it was chucking it down, (the name for heavy rain in Lancashire). Luckily I had a Hippo bag lying around so I just pulled down a few of the bines, threw them in and dragged them round into the brewery.

When I had the mash doughed in, the same grain bill as above, I set too picking the cones off the bines and by the time came to sparge I had 420gms of beautiful green hops ready to go in the boil. You can't get fresher than that. A maximum of 90 minutes from picking to boiling. (I guesstumated that 490 gms very wet would be somewhere near the 290gms semi-dry that I had 2 years ago)

Raw Hop Bitter or a fewRamblings on Brewingwith Green Hops

by Derek Spedding

In go the bad boys

The type of yeast used in the initial fermentation is almost certainly of some importance, i.e. some may be more robust than others. As supporting evidence I have brewed both an Old Ale, and a traditional IPA, in 2008 with starting gravities of 1062 and 1068 respectively. Neither were Krausened, yet the secondary fermentation has been strong, the condition very good, the beer very clear, and the heads thick and long lasting.

Muntons Gold, Nottingham, and S33 appear to be robust yeasts and capable of secondary fermentation even when the original gravity is relatively high. Belgian-type yeasts may be rather less robust.

This is very tentative, but it may be that even though the overall condition of non-Krausened Belgian-type beers may be good, the head retention and overall character is a little inferior to the Krausened variety.

The malts used may have some influence as well because the ‘traditional’ strong British-type beers appear to be fine without Krausening.

The whole business is clearly complex with a host of variables including the malts used, the primary yeast, the level of priming, and possibly the Krausening yeast.

If in doubt, then Krausen. I am convinced that my Dubbel would have been better if it had been Krausened (and note that a Belgian yeast was used). I cannot say at what gravity Krausening becomes very desirable, if not essential. As suggested above this may depend on the yeast and the malts used, but regardless of the yeast I would Krausen everything above 1070 and above around 1062 if a non-robust yeast is used.

Finally, I would like to thank Peter Fawcett for his help, advice, and general encouragement and, in particular, for correcting some errors of fact in my first draft.

Krausening,the cauliflowerlike, headof yeast

These were added as follows-

200gm for 90 minutes

100gm for 15 minutes

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usually regarded as a fault in beer, and in breweries where the beer has had no contact with copper; an addition of copper sulphate was traditionally used to precipitate the excess sulphur as insoluble copper su lph ide . More recen t ly a c o m p o u n d c a l l e d Z e t o l i t e (Murphy’s) is used to achieve the same effect. There are however, situations, usually caused by unsuitable chemicals used for cleaning, or an excess of liquor treatment, which could cause levels of dissolved copper high enough to cause the yeast to mutate with subsequent fermentation problems, and also the potential for haze formation in our beer.

Some general advice on cleaning copper.

• Never use bleach or peracetic acid for cleaning or sterilising copper. (tech ed The data sheet from Murphy’s explicitly states not to use on copper and zinc, this is due to the fact that these metals catalyse the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide found in peracetic acid, leaving the copper oxide layer open to attack by the acetic acid... the solution goes bright blue and a sludgy white precipitate is formed, just don’t ask how I know ).

• If using alkaline cleaners such as caustic soda, sodium percarbonate (Oxiclean) or tri-sodium phosphate for cleaning deposits such as in counter-flow chillers do not leave in contact for longer than is necessary to do the job. After washing out well with hot water fill with a weak solution of phosphoric acid or just plain vinegar. This will remove any toxic compounds formed by the alkaline detergents and finally rinse with water again.

• In general, acidic cleaners are preferable for cleaning copper, dilute phosphoric acid and vinegar are safe to use. And apparently dilute hydrochloric acid is also reputed to be safe. Use acids well diluted at about 2-3% strength.

120gms at Switch off with a 20 min soak before crash chilling.

The resulting beer although still very young was put into a Cornie and a week later I filled 2 Pep bottles and took them along to the Northern Craft Brewers Meeting at the organic Little Valley Brewery near Hebden Bridge for evaluation. Our learned brethren gave me their opinions; most were polite but mixed and varied from, too bitter, to not bitter enough. Some said they thought that it would develop into a good beer in time and some even said it was a good beer but no one said it had a good hop nose.

My own opinion was that it was just a too savage hop bitterness without the hop nose that I was looking for and I couldn’t detect a great deal of difference from a normal over hopped beer. As far as I could tell there was not much sign of the grassiness that happened when I tried dry hopping with green hops some years earlier.

When I wrote this, the beer had only been brewed for 3 weeks so it will hopefully age out into a well-balanced beer.

I would welcome any more information that anyone may have on this subject. Maybe the way to go is by chance the way I did it 2 seasons ago by leaving the hops overnight and then using them. Comparisons of this nature are always difficult but from memory it gave a far superior beer, or was I just lucky?

As I sit down to finally edit this, the beer has been in the Cornie some 4 weeks and it’s coming along nicely but it’s not the result that I was trying to achieve.

In conclusion I found that for me, this is not the way to go to get a massive hop aroma though according to a pod cast that I heard recently, it seems the Americans are brewing with green hops with good results but the question is, How and what are they doing different?

Most of us will have read the article titled by Chris Holliland from Brewlab in the current issue of Brewers Contact in which he states “the best advice that I can give is to replace all copper and brass fittings with stainless steel as soon as you can.” Also his remarks in the March 08 issue whilst reviewing the Therminator. “Personally I would much rather not have copper in the brewery, it poisons yeast and people, promotes the oxidisation of beer and eventually dissolves away.”

I’ve done a little research on the subject and concluded that there’s no need to throw away our copper fittings away and spend a fortune replacing them! Copper has a long history in brewing as a relatively inert metal and is still in use at many traditional breweries including the Museum Brewery at Coors. From a current commercial book on yeast handling I quote;

“Copper has been widely used as FV’s in many traditional UK breweries with many of these vessels having been in constant use for over a hundred years. Copper has excellent properties with respect to inertness, strength, durability and ease of cleaning.

It is interesting to note that although relatively small concentrations of copper ions are toxic to yeast it must be assumed that the ever present layer of oxide exerts a protective effect.”

Traces of copper apparently have some benefit. Breweries that use liquor with heavy levels of gypsum, such as found in Burton, have observed that when they changed to S/S plant, their beers acquired a sulphur aroma known as the “Burton snatch.” This is now

Copper... is it harmful inbrewing applications?

by Peter Fawcett

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Unsafe acids include sulphuric and nitric acid even if well diluted and these must never be used for cleaning copper.

At home the only copper present in my brewery is the CFC coil. After use it is flushed out with hot water and before use placed in an oven at 175°C for an hour. And after every 4th brew it is filled with warm Oxiclean (Tesco) or caustic soda solution if I consider it necessary. After cleaning and flushing well with hot water I fill up and leave to soak for a few hours with either Star San, (an acidic cleaner) or phosphoric acid diluted to around pH 2. If I don’t have either of these handy I just use hot vinegar. A flush out with hot water is all that is required prior to use.

I think Chris Holliland could have added that copper is safe with proper cleaning practices in place, but as the brewery standard steriliser now seems to be paracetic acid I think that this is a greater concern for breweries that use this cleaner. However, as far as brass is concerned I’m not disputing his remark, as I haven’t yet researched this.

(Tech Ed. There is a very interesting paragraph, probably the most useful one, in John Palmers book How To Brew describing the safe cleaning and care of copper in the brewery. The article can be found online at http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html)

Janette Edge –An Appreciation

Bill Cooper, the previousMembership Secretary,pays tribute.

Janette Edge has come to the end of her term as Membership Secretary. Not that there is any fixed term but, as I know from personal experience, there comes a point when you realise that enough is enough. I would like to think I left the system in good working order but all I can claim is that the system was better when I left it than when I started, simply because CBA had changed over time and I adapted to the changing situation as best as I could. Janette was better prepared and sensibly developed her own system. Under her regime things have become s l i cker and be t t e r organised. Renewals are mainly by standing order, reminders, where they are necessary, are issued regularly. The number of local groups has increased and is increasing, and over the years Janette has been able to visit many of them. The area structure, such as it was, has been revised to better fit the spread of membership. In short the CBA has moved closer to James’ original concept. Well-done Janette.

The Membership Secretary function might appear, at first glance, to be a

simple matter of routine record keep ing and co l l ec t ion o f subscriptions but in fact the post is the central point of contact with the membership. Gillian Grafton, the first membership secretary, made a point of inviting new members to put their questions on practical brewing problems and had the distinct advantage, back in the days, of knowing what the world wide web was and how to make good use of it. I always found the real interest in the job was this contact with the members and particularly finding answers to their questions and in giving guidance to new members. Janette has continued this tradition seamlessly making full use of emails, on line discussion groups and personal contact. My vivid memory of her is her amazing energy and capacity for work and her unfailing good humour. We are sorry she is leaving but we acknowledge that all good things must to an end and we are truly grateful for the time and effort she has expended on our behalf over the last 5 years. Thank you very much Janette for all your good work and enjoy your release from harness

Janette is succeeded by Greg Pittaway from Birmingham and we are very glad he has been able to take over. We hope he finds the job rewarding and we look forward to seeing how he imprints his personality on the position. Great to have you on board Greg, and I hope you will find it all worthwhile. Maybe we shall see you and Lynne in Scotland again in the not too distant future.

Ron Allison MCBA Co-ordinator writes.I was sorry to learn that Janette Edge had resigned from the post of CBA Membership Secretary, although five years is a long time to hold the post. I first had dealings with Janette as a member of the CBA and for the last two years or so as Co-ordinator of the Midlands group.

I a lways found her to be exceptionally reliable and efficient

Whilst we make every endeavour to get ‘Brewers Contact’ out for the last week of every quarter, we are at the mercy of many things.

The September edition was late due to our printer hurting his back. However, the show went on without too much delay.

I am glad to report that he is on the road to recovery.

Ed

Delivery Dates

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and usually in fine good humour no matter what the provocation she was faced with. A good example was my response to her plea to pay the annual subscription by setting up a standing order. I duly did this and was feeling quite pleased with myself as the payment went through. However, a month later I received an email from Janette telling me that instead of ensuring that the order took effect once a year, I had apparently set it up to go through every month. On checking with my bank I found that indeed this was so.

From the co-ordinating perspective, emails regularly arrived informing me that a new member was in the Midlands group area, thus allowing me to contact them and issue an invitation to join the MCBA.

Enjoy all your extra “free” time Janette and perhaps we will see some more prize-winning beers very soon?

James McCrorie writes.

Janette Edge took over the task of CBA Membership Secretary from Bill Cooper in 2003 and worked assiduously on behalf of the Membership until her resignation in September 2008.

The role of Membership Secretary is all encompassing; dealing with initial enquiries, processing m e m b e r s h i p a p p l i c a t i o n s , maintaining membership records, informing Regional Organisers of new members in their area, encouraging existing members to re-new their subscriptions and providing ‘after sale’ care by providing advice and information. Not least is the vital task of preparing and printing of address labels for the printer to dispatch the important Brewer’s Contact. In between these tasks are a multitude of other tasks on behalf of CBA, not least of which is being the first contact with CBA for the many enquiries received and projecting the best possible image of CBA.

All of these tasks Janette performed

with the highest level of dedication and CBA’s reputation owes much to her willingness to provide the best possible service to, and on behalf of, the membership.

Her contributions to Brewer’s Contact under the ‘nom-de-plume’ of “Elena the Cleaner” showed she had more than a little experience in some aspects of brewing. Indeed she was much involved in the brewing process, as explained in the article ‘How Do They Do It’ in the September 2005 edition of Brewer’s Contact. What surprised her and ‘her boys’ was winning the first prize in the under OG 1043 category at the 2005 Derby Craft Brewing Festival, as the above photograph shows, beating her husband David and Peter Fawcett, both renowned prize winning brewers.

In addition to all that, Janette was a very active member of the Midlands g r o u p p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e organisation and running of the Derby Festivals. Indeed much of the success of these were the result of her enthusiasm and efforts.

A great number of CBA Members have spoken to me expressing their thanks for all Janette’s hard work over the past five years and have par t icu la r ly ment ioned her consideration and kindness towards them.

Janette, thank you for all you have done for CBA and for the generous way you have done it. CBA is in better shape than it was when you took over and much of this is due to your efforts.

We all wish you the very best in all that keeps you occupied in the future.

Trouble at Brewery.The Editors Problems

My article about the weather affecting my brewing has brought forth a raft of responses, many thanks to all concerned.

I will be in contact with you to further my knowledge and would

welcome your comments on the e x t e n s i v e s u g g e s t i o n s , i n preparation for an article in the March edition of Brewers Contact.

E.R. Southby, PracticalBrewing, 3rd Edition, Ed,C.H. Jolliffe.The Brewing TradeReview 1985, 391pp.

Reviewed by Michael Newman

This is my favourite brewing book ever. Yes, even more than Graham Wheeler’s magnum opus!

Southby was a consulting brewer of experience and certainly believed himself to be an authority on all aspects of his trade.

He was no shrinking violet and his character comes over very strongly through his writing style.

This was, arguably, the glory days of British brewing. Porter was still a significant style, stock ale was widely available and running beers were considered a necessary evil. Yeast and its role in fermentation was well understood, although Pasteur's work was sufficiently recent that it has to be briefly discussed in the text rather than being taken as read.

This is a thoroughly scientific, detailed text and many of the methods that are described have recognisably been modified into those that craft brewers use today. All aspect of the brewing process are covered, both theoretically and practically.

For me the book really comes alive when Southby describes the brewing process. I was intrigued to read that Southby is not a great lover of the tower brewery but advocates the use of a horizontal arrangement with the extensive use of pumps (and I didn’t realise there were so many types of pump). There is plenty of in-depth information on

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mashing including temperature stepping, decoction, the Pigeon converter and what we would now call RIMS. Fermentation is similarly covered in detail with cleansing, skimming and stone squares fully explained. Puncheons & Burton unions are described. All through this section I kept thinking, “I reckon I could build one of those”. Oh! the curse of the craft brewing tinker.

There are a few areas that seem surprisingly outmoded in this scientifically based work. Some of the materials used, especially the extensive use of wood to fabricate various brewing vessels, seem very old fashioned compared to much of the rest of the descriptions of the brewery and brewing process. Southby is very strong on the importance of cleanliness, which was clearly a significant problem in a brewery that utilised a lot of wooden equipment. He is very keen on the use of hot water and, especially, steam to clean and disinfect equipment and pipe work, along with a long list of unpleasant chemicals for other uses.

Noticeable by its absence is the term pH. Of course this is because Sørensen did not introduce the concept until 1909. This makes the descriptions of how to control mash acidity rather clumsy and long-winded. pH is one of those topics that can be rather confusing but, trust me, brewing is far easier to describe with it!

Another area that seems at odds with modern thinking is the oxygenation of hot wort in the copper. Southby is insistent that there should be full ebullition during the boil so that oxygen is taken up as much as possible. The myth of hot side aeration not withstanding, although we would agree that a full rolling boil (and them some) is a necessity it is now recommended to encourage various chemical reactions such as isomerisation of hop components

rather than to increase the uptake of air. Still we are back on track with the aeration of cold bitter wort, which is much more in line with the modern concept.

I may have given the impression that this book is totally out of date, which it is in some ways but it was written at the time when the mystery and art of brewing had become the science of brewing. A surprising amount of the advice given is totally in agreement with our current understanding of the brewing process. I am sure that much of this information, especially that on mashing and fermentation, could be adapted to our use with interesting results.

One area struck a discordant note with me. Southby is not adverse to u t i l i s ing surpr is ingly large proportions of non-malted adjuncts and is clearly very taken with the, then quite new, Pigeon converter which I find a little odd because most the work is a directed at improving quality. I suppose we are seeing the seeds of the accountant led, commercial brewing process that we are “enjoying” today. A pint of InBev corn syrup and maize extract anyone?

This book so often amuses me. I have mentioned the writing style already but I also love the way Southby isn’t quite sure if he wants in insure something or ensure it and, frankly I don’t think he cares after all Shakespeare couldn’t even spell his name and he did OK. Southby clearly enjoys the word ebullition and uses it whenever possible. And I have learnt never to place one vessel above another ever again. Oh no, I am going to place it so that it commands the lower vessel. As I mentioned above Southby is not slow in coming forward. Several times throughout the book whilst describing a crucial stage in the process our hero tells us that the best device to use is use is “Southby’s patent widget”. But to be fair it isn’t always his device. Oh no, on

occasion it is his brother’s patent widget. Keep it in the family.

If you can get hold of this book I t h o r o u g h l y r e c o m m e n d i t , especially if you are interested in the history of UK brewing or want an insight into the beer of our great-grandfathers. It certainly isn’t a dull, dusty textbook.

Actually it’s a rather good read. And hopefully it will encourage you to brew some historically informed beer using some new (or rather, old) techniques.

Southby’s Practical Brewing is available from several booksellers on www.abebooks.com. Priced around £130.00

The National Brewing Library is an English language collection relating to brewing, distilling, other alcoholic beverages and dependent trades. The collection aims to be the primary and most comprehensive source of information in the UK, on the scientific, technological, historical and social aspects of the above.

In January 2001 The Institute of Brewing (founded in 1886) and The International Brewers’ Guild (founded in 1906) merged to form The Institute and Guild of Brewing (now the Institute of Brewing & Distilling). At about the same time The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Assoc ia t ion ( fo rmer ly The Brewers’ Society, founded in 1822) reviewed its objectives and, as The British Beer and Pub Association, moved to new premises where they could no longer house their library.

Under the auspices of The Institute and Guild of Brewing, the libraries of the Institute of Brewing, The International Brewers’ Guild and the technical reference library of The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association were combined. These

The NationalBrewing Library

by James McCrorie

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were supplemented further by the book collection held within the extensive Whitbread Brewing Archive, following the decision of Whitbread to sell its brewing business. These combined libraries have been brought together to form The National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University.

The National Brewing Library comprises more than 3500 volumes and provides a unique English language collection relating to brewing, other alcoholic beverages and dependent trades. About one quarter of the items are unique to the collection and do not appear in the catalogues of The British Library or other major collections.

I recently visited the library and was made most welcome.

From my brief survey it looks certain that they do not have any actual brewing records, unlike the Scottish Brewing Archive but it sure is an Aladdin’s Cave for anyone interested in general brewing history.

Recent additions are all the late Michael Jackson’s library and papers. Apart from his personal library there are at least 10 filing cabinets full, together with racks of loose papers and all his notebooks. As a consummate journalist, Michael kept notes on every event connected with beer and whisky, no matter how minor. However I do not envy whoever takes on the daunting task of cataloguing this collection!

An even more recent addition is Brewer’s Contact and I have promised to organize a complete archive for the library.

Should you consider visiting I suggest you first contact:

National Brewing Library EnquiriesAttn: Donald Marshall Tel: (01865) 483136Email: [email protected] Brookes University Library, Gipsy Lane,Oxford, OX3 0BP

Also worth a visit:

www.brookes.ac.uk/library/speccoll/brewing.html or

www.archives.gla.ac.uk/sba/default.html, for the Scottish Brewing Archive

Alternatively, ‘Google’ the titles.

An Introduction to ourNew ‘MembershipSecretary’,Gregg Pittaway

Hello fellow Brewers!

Write a little about yourself I was asked. An opportunity not to be missed and hopefully set the scene for my style in dealing with membership matters.

Contrary to what Lynne, my wife may say after some 35+ years of living together, I really am a laid back person who loves nothing more than an easy life. Don’t say it, yes she would agree with that!

The trouble is, this attitude also gets applied to my brewing and to be honest I know some of my beers could be better. Having said that, those who have visited my small set u p l e a v e v e r y h a p p y a n d complimentary about my beers.

For me, brewing is very much a hobby. It doesn’t consume me and I enjoy when and what I brew and of course the ultimate reward, drinking it! Meeting fellow brewers and learning so much has always been the highlight of the CBA for me. I set up and ran the Midlands group for 5 years meeting some really good brewers and making many new friends.

So why volunteer for Membership secretary? Someone kindly told me you’re a mug! Maybe I am but I just like the idea of putting something back into this organisation that has served me so well. James received Janette’s resignation on the day he

Greg, hands on!

We are trying to improve the quality of photographs in BC.

The problem arises because every time we send a photograph to the Editor and then to the printer it gets compressed and loses some of the subtleties.

Steve Richardson, our printer, has come up with some suggestions.

Firstly, send your pictures to Graham in as large a file as possible (we will come back to this in a moment) and in colour.

The preferred format is TIFF, as this does not compress the picture. Most photo editing programmes offer this as an option when you click ‘Save as’.

If you cannot save the picture in TIFF format and use JPEG format, save it at the highest quality setting, usually 10 or 12.

This will produce a large file to send over the Internet, particularly if you are sending several pictures, and

Improving Photographs

and I discussed my rejoining and so it came to pass as they say.

I can only thank Janette for her co-opera t ion in comple t ing a successful handover.

Remember, have fun and keep brewing. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just enjoyable.

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may exceed your e-mail server’s size limit.

In this case use the free service offered by mailbigfile.com. This is easy to use; you enter Graham’s e-mail address and attach ONE photograph. It will take 3 to 5 minutes to upload depending on the file size. Mailbigfile send an e-mail to Graham and he logs on and downloads the photos. However, you can only send one photograph at a time.

We are investigating the possibility of printing photos in colour but, in the end, it will come down to costs. In the meantime the above procedure should result in better quality reproduction of photos in BC.

The people in the photo (left to right) are: Will; Mike; Steven; Graeme; Steve; Tash (fiancée of Graeme); Ray; Ed; Colin; Stuart. Those may be the knees of Aris. Missing from the photo are Liam, Peter and the cameraman, James. See their website: 'oxford brewers.com' for further details.

Oxford Brewing Circle

James paid his first visit to the Oxford group on 19th November and found them an enthusiastic and most friendly bunch. They are a little frustrated at not yet finding a pub in central Oxford, which will allow them to bring their own beers for tasting.

However, this does not deter them from enjoying each other’s company as you can see from the photograph below: -

Going commercial – How

This is the second part of my series on going commercial. Late of course; we’ve entered the Christmas period and I’m so busy it’s stupid. On the other hand, it’s a nice problem to have.

In order to get going, you need three things, technique, partners, and capital. I’m not going to discuss the technical basis of brewing at all. I think my beers are excellent, but there are many members of the CBA who have many more years of experience and knowledge than I can lay claim to. The only real difference between brewing 25 litres in your home or 800 litres in a microbrewery is the scale of the operation and some of the cleaning techniques involve dangerous chemicals such as Peracetic acid.

Capital is worth an article on its own. As I write, you can walk away with a 1-barrel brewery (around 160lt) for £3,400. Prices go up from there. Unlike some businesses that can be started with no or minimal

capital, beginning a brewery does need a series of up front purchases however.

This leaves the question of partners. I can’t recommend too highly that if you are going into business in this area, you do so with at least one other person. Running a business requires a variety of skills and its extremely unusual to find every skill required in just one person.

To give an example from my own situation, I absolutely loathe selling which something of a disadvantage for a start-up. I admit it’s weird because I’m more than happy to stand up in front of an audience and give a talk on a subject I know about. In fact, I’ll even talk on subjects I know nothing about. But ask me to walk into a pub, engage the landlord in a discussion and walk out with an order for a firkin of our finest and my stomach turns over and my mouth dries out.

I know another guy who has started very successful businesses built around little more than the ability to sell anything to anyone. He hates paperwork though (which could get him jailed in a microbrewery situation) and he has a magic ability to offend employees. Because of this, he does not actually act as managing director of his own businesses any more; he leaves that to his partners.

Essentially, you are looking for someone with skil ls and a personality that complements your own. Such a person probably shouldn’t be a relative, and may not even be a friend although obviously you have to be on speaking terms. In particular, don’t ask your wife, husband, life partner.

There are two very good reasons for this. First of all, the requirement for plain speaking in a business situation goes way beyond the

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levels of tact needed in a family situation. You will need to have brutally honest discussions about ideas and situations and you can e x p e c t t o b e t o l d h o w extraordinarily bad your ideas are. You will probably have to tell your partner the same thing on other occasions. You do not want this impacting on family life and believe me you will need the support of your family.

The second reason for avoiding going into business with your spouse is the ever-present risk of failure. If the brewery fails, you may need other family income to keep a roof over your head. Such times are very stressful and you don’t want to add divorce to your problems.

I've used the words ‘business partner’ here in an informal sense, that is, someone to work with. I should make it clear that I’m not suggesting you should organize yourself as a partnership. There are a number of alternative options that could work better for you. That’s another article.

Apart from another point of view on how the business is going, partners can make a huge difference in running the brewery. For one thing, brewing with the sort of equipment we use is a very physical task and on a brew day I spend quite a lot of my time wishing I were younger and fitter. Unfortunately the hardest physical work comes at the end of the process when you have to dig out the mash tun and clean the copper. Sharing the load with someone who really is younger and fitter than me has been more than helpful and I’d be the first to admit that I don’t think I could have got the business off the ground or moving along as briskly without my colleagues.

Having another person involved also allows the business to be in two places at once. I can’t recall how many times this has saved our bacon but to give one small example, a large chunk of our brewery turned up without warning at my offices

instead of the building site. I was 200 miles away at the time. My partner was able to get out to the office, guide the lorry to our rural location and take delivery. If he had not been there, the lorry would have had to go away and it could have added quite a delay to our setting up.

In the longer term having someone else around means that we can be simultaneously bottling and delivering firkins, or handling paperwork whilst selling. If you are on your own you are definitely in a ‘one thing at a time’ situation and that will slow you down. During the period we were setting up, another similarly sized brewery located about two hours away went under and I happened to have a discussion with the owner. There were many causes, but he felt his big problem was trying to do it on his own. Don’t repeat the mistake.

Scottish Craft Brewers

2008 has been a relatively quiet year for SCB. For most of the year we seem to have lost our fizz. For the first time in 5 years we did not have a stand at the CAMRA Traditional Beer Festival in Edinburgh. No loss, some said, because while we demonstrated, for all to taste, the quality of beers crafted at home, it did not result in many new members which was the original objective. Our absence was our own fault, given that we knew that CAMRA abhorred the use of gas to aid dispense, for we had not been sufficiently discreet the previous year in the use of gas cylinders to extract beer from our Corneys. We take the view that there is no satisfactory alternative to carbon dioxide. We also do not think it transgresses CAMRA’s basic principles. We have tried compressed air dispense with the aid of a patented bicycle pump contraption, but beer left over-night rapidly deteriorated. We held discussions with CAMRA’s

representatives to try to persuade them of our case, but their leader had already gone public in saying he would have no truck with gas in any circumstances. So much for CAMRA’s oft-trumpeted support of home brewed beers.

I am sorry to report that the rest of our programme has suffered from the lack of dynamic leadership. We could not manage a working quorum for our A.G.M. with few office bearers managing to put in an appearance. But we did show that it was possible to get business done despite the constitution. We have had one enjoyable brewery visit to Strathaven Brewery in Strathclyde, a delightful site in an old watermill, the former home of Heather Ales. The fact that the brewery is commercially viable, starting from a base of a total lack of brewing experience, is a remarkable tribute to hard work, local goodwill and a willingness to innovate and experiment.

The shining light in our 2008 desert has been the initiative of Calum Craigie in starting a monthly, mid-week “Bring and Taste” session in a Masonic lodge in Edinburgh. This group has now held 2 meetings, each attended by 10 or 11 members, including some new faces, and has produced some excellent beers including some from unexpected sources. It looks as if we might be catering for a long felt want, as the small ads used to say. There is already a forward programme until M a y w i t h m e m b e r s b e i n g encouraged to brew specific beer styles for particular meetings.

One other thing might just be worth mentioning. There have been informal approaches for SCB to affiliate to Scottish Amateur Winemakers. This would enable our members to take part in their bi-a n n u a l b e e r ( a n d w i n e ) competitions, but more particularly it might enable us to inject some brewing expertise into their operations, something sadly lacking

BREWER’S CONTACT

Editor: Graham Kingham3, Crooked Oaks, Alswear,Devon, EX36 4LR

[email protected]

Technical Editor: Tony Barnsley

Publisher: James McCrorie,7 Station Terrace, Wimbourne,Dorset, BH21 1RF

[email protected]

Membership Secretary: Greg Pittaway,26 Hawksley Mill Lane, Northfield,Birmingham, B31 2RL

Tel: 0121 475 3842

Articles for publication should besubmitted to the editor by post or email.

Copy date for March 2009 issue is24th February 2009

Printer: V. Richardson & Sons Ltd,Madeley Street, Hull, HU3 2AH

Brewer’s Contact is the Journal of the Craft Brewing Association and is privately circulated to members and friends.

It is published by the Craft Brewing Association.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not those of the Editor or the Association, allegedly.

© Copyright December 2008 held by the Craft Brewing Association.

Requests for reproduction rights are welcomed, but unauthorised reproduction will be vigorously pursued.

The editing team would like to thank all the members for their continuing support, not only regarding writing, for the ‘Brewers Contact’, but for the organising of the brewing circles through out the country and the two excellent festivals, that allow us to

show case our craft.

We wish you all a, ‘Happy Christmas and a Hoppy New Year.’

in recent years. My personal view is that if we do venture in this direction, the competitions, and particularly the judging, would need to be brought up to standards we would find acceptable.

Happy New Year everyone.

Bill Cooper

Scottish Craft Brewers.

“Regrettably, the Midlands CBA committee have decided that they will not be organising a Craft Brewing Festival in Derby, or elsewhere, in 2009.

It is hoped that a Festival can be organised for 2010 but perhaps not in Derby.

Richard Burns is planning to expand his Sutton festival in 2009 so that is something to look forward to”.

Derby 2009

Kit Review

Milestone Brewery, BlackPearl, Irish Stour.

by G. Kingham

First impression are of roasted barley notes coming through on the nose, black in colour with a thick creamy brown coloured head when pouring, which remained during the lifetime of the glass, which was not very long!

After two weeks in the barrel, the brew seemed a bit bland on tasting and somewhat sweetish, but after another week a second visit, with a few friends, had done the trick. A delightful quaffing Irish stout; hints of burnt toast; slight sweetness, with a mild liquorice taste; ending with a lingering bitterness from the dark malts; medium bodied. These where the comments received by my friends, they returned for a second glass.

With an alcoholic content of 4.3% ABV it is a good session beer packed with a lot of taste.

Overall a very successful brew; scoring 10/10 with my tasting panel. True to style, based on this evaluation, I would certainly be brewing some more of their beer kits.

Further details can be found at www.milestonebrewery.co.uk

brewers contact 2008

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