| Thankfully, cask is back on the menu with the gradual reopening of pubs through beer gardens, indoor table service and the final step of attempting normal service. The lockdown wasn’t quite the opportunity for everyone across the beer industry to show off their prowess in small packaging and beer via mail, some of the more traditionally driven outfits around decided to hibernate for a while in the face of the market sag on need for cask beer. |  |
For Peerless Brewing, this has been an interesting period to undertake some observation and Steve Briscoe has had a keen eye on the situation since last March. As a response to the change in market and to look to bolster the brewery’s options going forward, they have set up a ‘craft beer arm’ to Peerless in the Free Rein project. The general concept was hit upon by Steve, as the brewery have occasionally dabbled with more modern styles of brewing, but never fully committed to anything.
Steve’s reasoning was quite simple:
“The guys in the brewery, Alex (Morley) and Greg (Mason) have really wanted to do some more creative brews for quite some time. We all come from a home-brewing background, so that desire and ease to just try something new has always been ticking along for us. With this venture we feel we can ‘pandemic proof’ the business somewhat and allow us to continue to brew and sell under difficult conditions. The Focus on cask has meant we shied away from keg and can, but with this brand on our side means we can avoid any potential confusion with Peerless’ output.”
Steve’s reasoning was quite simple:
“The guys in the brewery, Alex (Morley) and Greg (Mason) have really wanted to do some more creative brews for quite some time. We all come from a home-brewing background, so that desire and ease to just try something new has always been ticking along for us. With this venture we feel we can ‘pandemic proof’ the business somewhat and allow us to continue to brew and sell under difficult conditions. The Focus on cask has meant we shied away from keg and can, but with this brand on our side means we can avoid any potential confusion with Peerless’ output.”
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The main copper at the Peerless Brewhouse produce batches of between 4500 and 5000 litres, but with the adaptation of an old Grundy tank, some smaller batches are now available for Free Rein to access. Brews will be between 800 and 1000 litres, meaning more experimental brews can be carried out to test demand for the styles they’ll be putting out there. To date, there have been three styles brewed (Mocha Matari, Mama Loves Mango and Tectonic) but Steve is open to Imperial Stouts, Double IPAs and fruited sour ales being produced under the Free Rein branding.
When asked about taking the leap from small package 500ml glass bottles (for the more traditional market) into canned beers, Steve was again quite open to the reason for following that path:
“The market for craft beer is pretty well established now in kegs and definitely cans, so it seemed the sensible method to put small package there. Currently, the canning will be carried out by Morrow Brothers in Preston who have also been doing the 500ml bottles for Peerless for some time now. As a professional packager, they’ll provide comprehensive laboratory results to us for the ABV, dissolved Oxygen and a full suite of micro tests, so we can have more assurance on our product being treated right.”
Apparently the Free Rein brand and name came about to keep things simple, something of a case of ‘does what it says on the tin’ (no pun intended). It allows the team to play about with recipes without being constrained with the conceptions of what Peerless Brewing is all about. Peerless was started 12 years ago and at the time and Steve felt that there was a preconception from other more traditional brewing orientated marketplaces that it was a craft beer brand, but things move and evolve.
“I still personally prefer cask dispense as a go to beverage, but there is absolutely no doubt that is a massive thirst for beers that are outside the constraints of the cask beer marketplace. The fact that we will only be brewing smaller bathes for canning and to go into kegs is the main difference in this. You should be able to pick up some of the Free Rein beers in bars, pubs and bottle shops soon and they are available for both local and nationwide delivery through the website as well as direct from the brewery itself”.
You can order Free Rein beers online from here:
[ https://www.beersno42.co.uk/products/free-rein-mixed-case ]
When asked about taking the leap from small package 500ml glass bottles (for the more traditional market) into canned beers, Steve was again quite open to the reason for following that path:
“The market for craft beer is pretty well established now in kegs and definitely cans, so it seemed the sensible method to put small package there. Currently, the canning will be carried out by Morrow Brothers in Preston who have also been doing the 500ml bottles for Peerless for some time now. As a professional packager, they’ll provide comprehensive laboratory results to us for the ABV, dissolved Oxygen and a full suite of micro tests, so we can have more assurance on our product being treated right.”
Apparently the Free Rein brand and name came about to keep things simple, something of a case of ‘does what it says on the tin’ (no pun intended). It allows the team to play about with recipes without being constrained with the conceptions of what Peerless Brewing is all about. Peerless was started 12 years ago and at the time and Steve felt that there was a preconception from other more traditional brewing orientated marketplaces that it was a craft beer brand, but things move and evolve.
“I still personally prefer cask dispense as a go to beverage, but there is absolutely no doubt that is a massive thirst for beers that are outside the constraints of the cask beer marketplace. The fact that we will only be brewing smaller bathes for canning and to go into kegs is the main difference in this. You should be able to pick up some of the Free Rein beers in bars, pubs and bottle shops soon and they are available for both local and nationwide delivery through the website as well as direct from the brewery itself”.
You can order Free Rein beers online from here:
[ https://www.beersno42.co.uk/products/free-rein-mixed-case ]
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In other news concerning Peerless Brewing, they have recently done some brewing under contract for an Aloe Vera beer. The recipe apparently took some adjustment, but the end result is a pretty stunning Pink Guava and Dragon fruit flavoured Aloe Beer.
This is also available online, from here: [ https://aloebirra.co.uk ]
One final juicy bit of information that Steve parted on was alluding to another change of rein or perhaps, reign, with his ownership of Peerless Brewing and Free Rein:
“It’s no secret that Rose (Steve’s wife – ed) and I are getting older and can’t do this forever. Both being in our sixties, we’re facing the inevitable that we’ll have to consider retirement at some point in the future. So if anybody wants to come and run or buy a profitable and well established brewery with an excellent set up, kit and a fantastic staff then they should get in touch with us!”.
Bombshell.
Keep your eyes out for the Free Rein beers, which are landing on shelves and in fridges now!
The LBC.
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Follow Peerless on Twitter: twitter.com/PeerlessBrewing
Follow Peerless on Facebook: facebook.com/PeerlessBrewing
This is also available online, from here: [ https://aloebirra.co.uk ]
One final juicy bit of information that Steve parted on was alluding to another change of rein or perhaps, reign, with his ownership of Peerless Brewing and Free Rein:
“It’s no secret that Rose (Steve’s wife – ed) and I are getting older and can’t do this forever. Both being in our sixties, we’re facing the inevitable that we’ll have to consider retirement at some point in the future. So if anybody wants to come and run or buy a profitable and well established brewery with an excellent set up, kit and a fantastic staff then they should get in touch with us!”.
Bombshell.
Keep your eyes out for the Free Rein beers, which are landing on shelves and in fridges now!
The LBC.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Peerless on Twitter: twitter.com/PeerlessBrewing
Follow Peerless on Facebook: facebook.com/PeerlessBrewing
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