Off to Bavaria!

Well, Franconia actually, which as any fule kno is technically part of Bavaria, but far superior for brewing much better beer and being the name of a 40.  But you already knew that...

But why Franconia in November?  Well, it's that time of year when the Weyermann maltings in Bamberg, still family run and operating from a Lowryesque Victorian era brick complex (with plenty of new bits added on), throws open the doors for their annual "Bavarian party" where customers from around the world are invited to roll up, say hello to the Weyermann family, then eat and drink lots of lovely comestibles including - in my opinion - the most interesting German beers brewed on the on-site brewery; what's not to like?

It's an invitation-only affair so you need to be recommended; luckily for us Farams, the hop merchants, like us enough to put us forwards onto the invitation list and so Gazza is off to Germany on Friday, flying with Lufthansa to really get into the German spirit of things!  It's not just a jolly - as much as it may sound like one - as much chin wagging with other brewers will be done and ideas for new beers brought back.

Before that, though, we're doing some work and casking up some "Exercise One", the latest Joy Division series brew - this one containing Citra and Eldorado - and "Naughty Boy", our oatmeal pale ale which is crafted from a whole host of fruity hops.   We'll also be putting away the casks of "Cloister Enkel" which were racked last week and have spent the weekend conditioning in the brewery plus all the random cleaning, tidying and suchlike these procedures inevitably invoke.

We're also brewing again: this time we're sticking with the super pale malt but this time with New Zealand hops; Dr Rudi, Waimea and Pacific Jade will be utilised to produce what we hope will be a lovely mellow fruity brew with the trademark NZ soft tropical zestiness... it's as yet un-named, as is now traditional for us!

On the up and coming list - and yes, there actually is one of these - are "Permanent Revolution", our red half-IPA, another brew of Golden Pixie, the next Joy Division beer "Something must Break" which uses Citra and Chinook, plus the start of our "Insult to History" series of beers which may kick off with an Imperial Mild... maybe, we've not decided yet.