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  • LIVERPOOL BEER COLLECTIVE
  • The Committee
  • Blog
  • News
  • TRYANUARY
  • Forthcoming Events
  • Who is in the Collective?
  • Contact
  • Member Directory
  Liverpool Beer Collective

LBW19 - Anspach & Hobday

6/14/2019

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A trip down to London’s Bermondsey ‘Beer Mile’ is always a tantalising prospect, with some heavy hitters on the UK scene based along the stretch of railway arches providing some simply stunning beers.  On this occasion, the trip was one with more of a focus on industry than imbibing.  An early start for us from Reading’s Earley station, a connection at Waterloo and then on via the tube to Bermondsey meant the slightly cloudy head from the night before took some management. 
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Thankfully the groundwork on the type of brew and recipe specifics had undergone some discussion prior to the trip – not quite as much brain power would be needed from our end!
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The narrow but well managed space at Anspach & Hobday is one of the more ‘snug’ arrangements the Beer Collective have brewed in; space is at a premium in this city, but the work around is quite sleek. The sleekness is on the layout of the mash tun, kettle and hot liquor tank was impressive; for those of a certain age who can remember the late 1980’s computer game ‘Pipe Dream’, there was a piece of kit perfect for managing the transfers in the form of a junction plate/exchanger.

 
Headroom was also something not exactly in abundance on the premises; pouring the malt into the mash tun was a fairly awkward activity; heavy sacks full of grain being lifted whilst simultaneously avoiding cracking your head on a girder was an interesting sport.  The mix of malts used in this beer were designed to give maximum colour and crispness and provide a bedrock for the hop combination to really sing for our collaboration beer.  Late addition of darker malts to the sparge meant some deeper colour without too much of the roasted character which was less desirable in this brew.
 
During the mash and the boil, we indulged in some of the wonderful beer fresh from the tanks at the brewery; the lager, pale ale and a recent Gose brewed for Harry Potter themed bars all went down very easily indeed and were a stark reminder just how solid and enjoyable the beers brewed by Anspach & Hobday really are.  We were also invited to try another brewery collaboration tradition, with some Irish whisky added to the wort it was a rather sweet, fortifying but ultimately delicious combination, albeit unusual for breakfast time!  The wort upon transfer was given various additions of big new world hops for both bittering and aroma, Chinook and Columbus used mainly, with some dry hopping to follow using two other excellently juicy varieties of hop.
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This was an excellent day; plenty of hard work, plenty of chatter and loads of great ideas.  The future is looking rather interesting for Anspach & Hobday given their recently successful round of crowdfunding to expand their operations; be assured that they deserve it too.  Excellent, solid and satisfying beers are consistently sent out from the brewery and if you’re ever in the area, the Taproom on Druid Street is a must visit.  The beer produced during this brew day should be available is multiple venues across Liverpool and Merseyside, as well as in Anspach & Hobday’s brewery tap.  We really can’t wait to get to try it!
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Anspach & Hobday and the Liverpool Beer Collective give you:
 
Cygnus X – a Black IPA
 
 
Angela Cottrell and Pedro.
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LBW19 - Glen Affric

5/25/2019

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After the success of last year’s Glen Affric  and Liverpool Beer Collective collaboration brew (Morning Lemon; a lemon and lactose oatmeal pale ale which has since become part of the brewery’s extended core range and is being sold in cans), we were delighted to brew a beer with them again this year for Liverpool Beer Week 2019.

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It is a busy time for Glen Affric at the moment, as they fine tune and expand their operations, even though they were busy they were all so welcoming and patient with us all day long! (The Glen Affric in-house sodas were immense!) Keep your eyes on these guys; we expect huge things from them going forward!
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A mid-April Monday morning in Birkenhead was bright and breezy as Collective members Neil and David arrived at the brewery before 9am.  The canning operations were already in full swing in the brewery, with the team putting even more delicious sodas into small packages.

Onto the brewing business at hand, the grain bill for the brew was a straight 50/50 split between pale malt and wheat, as you would generally expect in a traditional wheat beer style brew. You’ve also got to love Crisp’s allergy warning on their wheat sacks!  The pale malt was added into the mash tun first, to prevent obstructive clumps of wheat forming (resulting in what’s known as ‘stuck mash’) and complicating the process further down the line.
The well-behaved wort was then transferred to the kettle to boil.
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 Approximately 60 minutes into the boil, a 400g addition of Dana hops were introduced, it wasn’t intended for this beer to be a ‘hop-forward’ ale, so 400g was plenty!
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A higher target ABV required a longer-than-usual boil, following the completion of the boil, the spent grains were bagged up and stored all ready to be donated to local farmers for feeding their livestock or use in composting.  At the end of the boil, the precious sugary liquor was cooled down to a yeast-friendly temperature and then transferred to a ready-sanitised and prepared fermenting vessel.  At this point, WB-06 yeast was pitched and the vessel sealed ready to allow the microbes to do their work!

This marked the end of brew day for Neil and David, but as follow up and to provide the final flourish to the Imperial Wheat ale, Blueberry was to be added close to the end of fermentation to give it a punchy blueberry flavour and aroma augmenting the fruity characteristics provided by the yeast.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Glen Affric and Liverpool Beer Collective present to you, Breakfast Pancakes – a 7.2% Imperial Blueberry Wheat Beer.
 
Neil Ashton and David Stephen Michael.
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#LBW19 is coming!

4/14/2019

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It's hard work, this putting together a Beer Week lark.  Events, offers, other exciting facets of promoting great beers not just from our brilliant local brewers, but those from further afield.
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Over the coming weeks, we will be working with (primarily) our sponsors and official partners as well as loads of other venues, breweries and collaborators not just on Merseyside, but some other friends from around the UK!

Get ready for Beer Dinners, Tap Takeovers and Meet the Brewer events, along with some exciting offers to win beery goodies, merchandise and other great prizes.  The Liverpool Beer Collective has also been really busy behind the scenes discussing making some excellent one off beers ready in time for the Beer Week, ready for pouring at select bars across the city.  We'll keep you up to date with blogs in the run up to the Launch Party about these beers, who we are brewing with and what the beers will be!  We can't wait... we might burst!

Stay tuned to our Twitter thread and that of the Liverpool Beer Week official account too (twitter.com/LivBeerWeek) for new updates, offers and other stuff in the run up and during #LBW19.

One of the first offers we have for you is a tidy 20% discount on ticket prices for this year's Liverpool Craft Beer Expo at the end of LBW19. 
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Use the code AMBBEERCOLLECT20 over on this site: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-craft-beer-expo-2019-tickets-48696822507 and claim your tickets! 

Some amazing breweries have already confirmed, with more being announced over the next few weeks.
The likes of Verdant, Northern Monk, North Brewing, Left Handed Giant, Black Lodge, Dry and Bitter, Two Tribes, Whiplash, Wylam and many more will be present and pouring some great beers for the Expo party.

This year's Liverpool Beer Week is set to be bigger, better and more colourful than last year's event.

You might just have to book a week off work....
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TRYANUARY BEER&CHEESE @ OKTOPUS

1/14/2019

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Beer and cheese pairings are a match made in heaven for many; though a windy and wet January evening on a Sunday of all days might have been a bridge too far for many. 
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Despite the inclement conditions and the time of year when many often hide away from social occasions, the turnout was incredibly healthy for Black Lodge Brewery and the Liverpool Beer Collective for the pairing event as part of Merseyside’s #Tryanuary offerings.  Decamped from the former Black Lodge premises (as the brewery is currently undergoing a move to new premises and a significant brewery expansion – due for business, hopefully sometime in the early Spring), Oktopus played host to the event on this occasion.

The menu of five different Black Lodge beers along with five carefully selected cheeses and accompaniments was excellent – a balance of compliment (augment or draw on similar flavours), contrast (present different flavour sets to bring out the varied characteristics of both drink/food in a harmonious manner) and cut (using acidity of the drink to cut through any rich or fatty flavours of the food).  Black Lodge Brewery’s Rachel held the fort admirably for the event, not only being the perfect host but picking brilliant pairings for the evening, which went down well across the table.
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The pairings were as follows:


Equinox Pale Ale x Mozzarella/tomato/basil

Knoxville Girl ‘Acid Mash’ Pale x Cornish Brie/Grapes

Konami Code Lactose Sour x Welsh Goats Cheese/Grapes

Children of the Haze DDH US IPA x Snowdonia Cheddar/Pickled onion
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Chapter Brewing - Forgotten Decibels Abbey Ale x Blue Cheese/Fresh figs

Some of the sour ales present were a bit too challenging for a few people to finish the full measure – but everyone to a person indulged in the spirit of the event and tried everything. Hopefully new friendships were forged, new experiences and preferences gained and judging by the atmosphere at the end of the evening, a superb evening had by all.

​A perfect #Tryanuary evening; well done Black Lodge and well done Rachel!
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#TRYANUARY 2019

12/15/2018

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Following on from our participation in the #Tryanuary initiative in 2018, the Liverpool Beer Collective is again volunteering to be a local Champion for the cause and encourage people to support local breweries, pubs and bars in what is traditionally a really tough trading period for them.
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The upshot is that following often serious levels of indulgence over the festive period, people feel for many reasons that they need a month of abstinence or even a ‘detox’ (*shudder*).  Whilst having a break from rich food and alcohol is certainly good for your body and mental health, having a liver and kidneys is what really gives you that ‘detox’ – there doesn’t appear to be any consensus, scientifically at least, that you can actually detox over a period of a month.  

​Tie this idea of a month-long detox into a collective effort to do good and you end up with an initiative such as Dryanuary – people seeking sponsorship in their efforts to abstain from alcohol and raise money for a number of worthwhile charities.  Whilst well-meaning, sadly the truth is that this often hurts smaller businesses and in the worst instances, costs people their jobs and livelihoods due to a significant dent in revenue when they do need it most.  Local and independent businesses often bear the brunt of the tightening of purse strings during tricky trading periods; whilst larger companies suffer a bit, they have reserves and resource that the person down the road brewing lovely beers, baking cakes or making fresh bread every day can only dream of.


​The full remit for #Tryanuary can be seen via this link: [https://www.tryanuary.com/]. 

The full list for the Merseyside events is over on this part of the website: www.liverpoolbeercollective.com/tryanuary.html

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​Given we at the Liverpool Beer Collective are in this for the long-haul, we encourage people to use this time of year to be sociable, try a new beer and support a local micro-pub or bottle shop.  Cut down consumption by all means, be sensible (as you should all year round) and do feel as though you can contribute still to any charitable plans you were making anyway!  We will be working with many local venues to host events, aimed at broadening people’s horizons in the world of beer, be it real ale, craft beer, cask dispense or any other format.  These events are there to help break up what is often a bleak month that drags in light of Christmas passing and people battening down the hatches.

​So relax, enjoy your Christmas and keep checking our website and social media feeds for updates – there will be a number of events hosted in Liverpool throughout January to help ease the post-Christmas Winter blues, both ticketed and free to attend.  If you are a venue looking to get involved, please drop us an email and we’ll get you added to the #Tryanuary Calendar! 

Any time you try something new - a pub, a beer, a shop or bar... just tweet/facebook or instagram post using the #Tryanuary hashtag.

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LIVERPOOL BEER WEEK - HANDYMAN COLLAB BREW

7/20/2018

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Although they only opened their doors about a year ago, Handyman are already well established (and much loved) on the Liverpool beer scene. Brewing out of an old hardware shop on Smithdown Road, Handyman has a bit more of  something about it, more than your average brewery or bar.
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They regularly host and get involved with events in the local community (Smithdown Road festival, craft fairs, etc) and are often giving local artists opportunities to show people what they have to offer.

For Beer Collective member Andy, this Liverpool Beer Week colab encapsulates the ethos of what Handyman is about. The Liverpool Homebrew Club (LHBC) were invited to the Handyman to host one of their monthly meetings, this time with a special IPA competition. There were around 20 submissions with all the beers being blind tasted and judged by homebrew club members and local brewers from the likes of Mad Hatter. The winner of that competition would get the opportunity to brew their beer at Handyman. Fortunately (and unusually) for Andy, his recipe came out on top.

Andy met with Ken, Pete (LHBC members) and brewer Colin Stronge on yet another stifling Sunday morning. Colin (formerly of Buxton Brewery and now at Northern Monk and Handyman) has a sterling reputation for knowing how to make a good beer and Andy really couldn't wait to get started; a massive opportunity to nerd-out, ask questions and learn.

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The brewery at Handyman is not in your typical setting. Elevated in the centre of the premises above the bar, almost as if on stilts, the ‘nano’ brewery is a relatively small space.

We started the day by running through the recipe which was kept was true to the original and simply scaled up. We planned to make a New England IPA with mega juicy tropical flavours of pineapple, mango and grapefruit. When the boil ended we cooled the beer to 80c and started a whirlpool adding generous amounts of Citra, El Dorado and Denali before finally transferring to the fermenter. The smell from hops was fantastic.
Many thanks to the Liverpool Homebrewers, Colin, Suzie, Andy and everyone else at Handyman for making this happen. 

The Handyman Brewery and the Liverpool Homebrew Club give to you a big and juicy, hop-forward NEIPA; Handyman x Liverpool Homebrew Club NEIPA 

​[If you wish to place an order for this collaboration brew, please contact 
admin@handymansupermarket.co.uk  - supplies are very limited]  
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Liverpool Beer Week - Rock the Boat Collab Brew

7/19/2018

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The hot liquor tank started up before 6am, quite a brutal start for the uninitiated.  170kg of English pale malt and a touch of torrified wheat was enough to give this collaboration brew a lovely golden colour.  The weather was glorious, albeit rather warm as per the previous brews the Collective have undertaken!

Beer Collective member Jaime arrived and helped to get the brew moving on the day, discovering  how physical and tough a brewers' day can actually be.  
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Rock the Boat's premises out in Little Crosby are quite detached from the rest of Crosby on the outskirts of Liverpool and given how remote it seems, you'd be forgive for thinking the former carpenter's workshop was in another county altogether.  A little later in the morning, the transfer to the kettle began, followed swiftly by a boil.  No hops were added initially, to avoid overly bittering the final beer, but equal amounts of Ekuanot and Mosaic were added over four stages to the wort over the course of an hour.  American yeast was added to bring out the juiciness of this beer and on the second day of fermentation, additional hopping was undertaken.
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After six days, the final gravity was taken and the beer weighed in at a robust 5.8%; the beer was then kegged and racked to cask.

Quite a departure for Rock the Boat in terms of brewing technique and style, but finally, a West Coast US IPA has been created and we cannot wait to try it!

Rock the Boat Brewing Company and the LBC give to you a big West Coast US IPA; Brigantine

​[If you wish to place an order for this collaboration brew in pin or in key-keg, please contact beer@rocktheboatbrewery.co.uk - supplies are very limited]  
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LIVERPOOL BEER WEEK - AD HOP COLLAB BREW

7/18/2018

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It was all go at AD HOP Brewing on collaboration day.  A brewery borne of the old days at 23 Club (may it rest in peace), AD HOP have steadily grown over the years from a cuckoo outfit to their own premises, whilst providing the Liverpool scene some very memorable beers in both cask and keg.

The brewery, run by the duo of Anders and Andy has delivered a stream of eccentric brews and when the Collective was invited to brew with them, we could hardly pass the offer up.  Especially for Liverpool Beer Week.
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The Collective's Andy Lynes joined AD HOP's Andy at the brewery on another sweltering day on Merseyside, starting things off with a brief tour of the facility before getting on with the matter at hand.  The premises are in an unassuming area of the city and littered with brewing equipment over the whole premises, meaning they can engineer their kit in a flexible fashion.

The brief discussion of the recipe led to the aim of a session IPA being created, showcasing some of the two Andy's favourite hops.  Upon completion of the mash and transfer to the kettle, things relaxed a little and a few additions of hops to the boil were followed by 30 minute whirlpool additions including Amarillo, Chinook, Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe.  A few beers were then taken in to take the edge off proceedings!
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Upon completion of the fermentation, the beer was dry hopped with Citra, Lemon Drop and Amarillo hops to complete a juicy and dank beer; a true hop cocktail at 4.9% abv.

AD HOP Brewing and the LBC give to you a Hop-heavy Session IPA; Gollum

​[If you wish to place an order for this collaboration brew, please contact sales@ADHOPbrewing.com - supplies are very limited]  
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Liverpool Beer Week - Gibberish Collab Brew

7/18/2018

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The ever changing mind of Gaz Matthews is a tricky thing to harness.  He's found his new home in the Gibberish Brewpub, the former site of his old stable in Mad Hatter Brewing and since December 2017, has set about creating something which has added a vast swathe of colour to the Baltic Triangle. 

​It's not quite the precision of Mondrian, but neither is it a blitzkrieg crayoning of a huge orange sun on a child's drawing of a sunny landscape, as with most things it's somewhere in between.  
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It's a cobbling together of styles along with no shortage of craft and creativity, in short, it is Gibberish by name and almost Gibberish by nature; and it works.

Brew days with Gaz are never dull days and our collaboration was no exception.  Before arriving there were a number of idea floating round about the style that was going to be made; a herbal stout, a big hazy and juicy NEIPA, an adjunct pale ale and finally, the style that was settled on, a fruit-sour ale. 

Using Pilsner Malt, wheat, unmalted wheat and flaked oats in combination with a low hop dose from Tettnanger hops, the beer was keg-conditioned and soured with lactobacillus courtesy of Chorlton Brewery's 'sour power'.
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The final flourish was to add the passion fruit to the ale, tempering the acidity and bringing some balance and adding to the refreshment of the brew.  Ready to serve at the Liverpool Beer Week Launch Party.  

Gibberish and the LBC give to you a passion-fruit sour; Passion of the Grist.


​[If you wish to place an order for this collaboration brew, please contact brewerygibberish@gmail.com - supplies are very limited]  
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LIVERPOOL BEER WEEK - Neptune Collab Brew

7/8/2018

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Making beer this Summer has been quite an ordeal, so we can only feel sympathy for our brewing brethren.  

​Heavy lifting, hot liquids and digging out mash tuns is no work to be doing whilst the sun is shining; surely that kind of work should be for colder days and the fruits of brewing labour should be for the warmer moments?

Regardless, there was brewing to do, for members of the Liverpool Beer Collective and head brewer, Les O'Grady; getting a delicious beer ready in time for the festivities of Liverpool Beer Week was the order of the stifling Saturday morning.
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Thankfully most of the calculations had been carried out by Les prior to the arrival of the Collective members, so all there was to do for the first part of the morning was to empty the sacks of malt into the mash tun and release all the sugars ready to prepare the wort for the boil.

A generous dose of Summit hops was weighed out and added to the boil for the final half of the boil.  The liquor was then transferred across and cooled ready for pitching the yeast, but before the microbes were released to do their thing, a generous helping of grapefruit pulp was added to get this saison into a fruity and lightly acidic mood for palates of the discerning Liverpool Beer Week drinkers. 
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Further additions of grapefruit have been added to this grapefruit dry-hop saison following fermentation to bolster the fruit element of this beer in readiness for the end of July and the launch party.

Neptune Brewery and the LBC give to you:  Tempestivus

[If you wish to place an order for this collaboration brew, please contact info@neptunebrewery.com - supplies are very limited]
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