"Why bring politics into beer?"

So said one bloke - presumably a Tory - at my recent meet the brewer when I proffered my opinion I was glad Thatcher was dead....  well, IMO politics is, or SHOULD, be in everything we do and say.  I know there are those who have no opinions and simply spout what the papers tell them, or just don't care about politics (look where apathy got in 1930's Germany...) but I disagree; the effects of the stupid decisions of politicians matter to everyone and if you're not informed, with an opinion, then you may as well bend over and take whatever is coming your way, and I guarantee it won't be a box of chocolates.

Anyhow, in this vein, we have brewed a beer with local newcomers Twt Lol (in Welsh this means, vaguely, "little joke") and, in a departure from Phil's normal traditional beers, we've cooked up a hoppy amber ale with the luscious US Mosaic and Chinook hops.  The pumpclip features a photo of the nearby Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales, currently threatened with closure due to Tory inaction, and it really does feel like a case of the last stand for UK industry down here.... 

So, to all those involved in the fight to keep a UK steel production capability, we dedicate this hoppy amber IPA and may steel not go the same way as coal... although I'd not hold my breath with a Tory government in charge.  

See, politics is in everything.

The latest dark brew....

Despite rumours to the contrary, we always try to have a dark beer on sale at all times as

a) people like them

b) they round out our range

c) they stop people taking the piss that we only brew pale hoppy beer
d) they smell really nice when you're brewing them, and

e) we actually like them!

So, with our current offering "Aur Du" (Black Gold, an oatmeal stout) down to single figures in the coldstore, we decided it was time to brew up a replacement... but what?

We thought about another coffee porter but don't want to get typecast (again!) by always brewing coffee beers, so went instead for a porter/stout concoction hopped mainly with the totally bizarre Sorachi Ace hop, one of Gazza's favourites but one that is notoriously difficult to use as it takes over everything else, plus it doesn't taste right in 95% of the pale beers it's used in (says Gazza).

Sorachi Ace is a fascinating little critter; originally developed by Sapporo in Japan (along with it's now extinct sibling Furano Ace) but now grown on the west coast of the USA and, even more interesting, it's flavour continues to develop; years back it was all lemon sorbet, then it morphed into dill and herbs, whereas now the dill is still there but a most bizarre coconut/gorse bush character is coming to the fore and it's bloody gorgeous!

We already have a Sorachi porter, "Graveyard Eyes", but this new brew is a very different animal with all the other hops cut out (except one!), a lower ABV and a very different malt makeup so we'll be very interested to see how it comes out in a few weeks time....

Another "third tank" one-off...

When we brew big batches (12 barrels, 2300 litres) of "Temple of Love" or "Golden Pixie", and occasionally other beers we generally sell 2 of the 3 tanks as the mother beer - i.e. what it's actually called - and the final tank we have a play around with by dry-hopping with either a single hop or mixture of hops we don't normally utilise for this beer, just to see what we can come up with!  These are called "third tank" beers.

Well, we've done it again with the last brew of Temple, so thanks to the magic of dry-hopping will you welcome "Citracana"!  The name is a simple mash-together of the two hops used for dry-hopping; Citra, the mangoey, sweet fruity darling of many a brewer (and consequently difficult to get hold of...) plus Olicana, one of the new UK hops from the Faram's breeding programme, which has the usual European grassy character with some additional soft fruits.

On initial tastings these two hops seem to have come up with something pretty special indeed!  The base beer gives a strong bitterness and oily hoppiness, but the aroma and top-notes of the flavour are all tropical fruit and sweetness; to say Gazza is happy with it might be an understatement, but the bad news is that of the 14 casks and 2 kegs, within 2 hours of filling them we are all but sold out... 

So, if you manage to defy the odds and find some "Citracana", let us know what you think!

The eternal wheel

Brewers are modern-day alchemists (well, some are...) turning this

Into this.....

With a lot of work inbetween.....

Two brews this week

That's right, owing to sales far exceeding expectations recently we've got to brew twice this week to keep the tanks topped up!

First up will be "Golden Pixie" as we've totally sold out and as it's one of the supposed regular beers at Hopbunker we thought we'd best brew some more!  Second will be the return of an old favourite in the form of "Slave to the Wage", a New Zealand-hopped brew with a subtle balance between malt and the fruity hops; this is always a good seller when we make it so get your orders in now ;)

Next week we're still considering what to brew, although it may just be something very hoppy yet again.... we'll see.

Week of catchup!

Owing to Gav being away we're not brewing this week, but hopefully we'll get lots of things sorted out and in order to get straight back into it again next week!  Sales have been crazy this week and, as a result, we have almost zero stock so need to get brewing and refill the tanks to replenish our supplies...

Next week we'll be brewing a big batch of Golden Pixie (as the last one has already sold out) plus another brew, hopefully - if the hops are available - the return of one of Gazza's favourites.  We'll also have to brew Citra+ again as the whole lot (bar a couple of casks) has been sold already, and some isn't even in the barrels yet!

Our collab with Twt Lol is currently on chill and tasting lovely (plus it's being dry-hopped with Mosaic which will make it indescribably lovelier), it doesn't have a name yet but we're working on that!  No rush....

A tonne of malt is on it's way so we'd best get planning some beers!

The UK hop beer now has a name!

If you know of the band Killing Joke you'll recognise the picture.... if not, then this beer is named as a joke against us in that we are well known for our vociferous opposition to British hops as they just don't taste of enough for us.  All well and good, but this brew has been made with over 90% UK hops in the form of the superstar of the new UK hop varieties, Jester, which is very un-British in it's character!

Think rhubarb, gooseberry, squishy tropical fruits and a soft bitterness and you'll have a fair grasp of what this tastes like!  Jester present very much like a New Zealand hop in that they have a soft, tropical fruity character, and we're dry hopping with a dose of another new UK hop, Olicana, which we've not used before but promises peachy aromas... hopefully it'll deliver on that to give us a new UK classic!

Collab with Twt Lol

This week, with Gav away on holiday, things are a bit quieter than normal at Hopcraft Towers but Gazza is still washing casks, filling them up, and all the other assorted things which running a brewery involves doing, all the messy, time consuming things which most people don't know about!

But, amongst all the other stuff, we need to brew some beer so Gazza will be hosting Phil from new local brewer Twt Lol in Treforest; Phil is known for his traditional beer, some of which use local hops, but this time we'll be cooking up a Red IPA with Mosaic and Chinook hops in the copper which most definitely aren't traditional!  The return collaboration in Treforest will be a pale ale using the New Zealand hops Green Bullet and Waimea, sometime in May.

There's no name for this beer as yet, and not even a definitive recipe until Wednesday morning, but everything will be alright on the day I'm sure of it.... the malt, hops and yeast are here so whatever happens we'll make something tasty!

Brewing with UK hops this week!

You heard me right, UK hops....

Well hang on a minute, isn't that Fuggles & Goldings?  Erm... no, it isn't, and rest assured I'd only use those rancid bracts ironically or as part of a collab, but these are dead good UK hops, probably the two best on the market at the moment.... Olicana and Jester.

Both are products of the Charles Faram breeding programme and both show very un-UK characteristics in their makeup, with Olicana having a subtle passionfruit and mango character (think Citra lite) whereas Jester have a big, brash bold soft tropical fruit hit similar to some of the New Zealand hops such as Riwaka.... so between them we should have something pretty good!

We're using "normal" UK malt (rather than the low-colour or super pale we normally use) for the brew to give a more traditional character, but that's it as far as tradition goes as we'll be piling in the hops with our normal "hop burst" approach with 95% of the copper hops going in during the last 20 minutes and a 5kg charge of dry-hop in the conditioning tanks.... 

So, here's hoping something interesting comes out of this little experiment, something distinctly British but with a new-world edge.... bring it on!!

Sorry - been busy!

Apologies for the lack of updates, but we've been really busy / away from the brewery / far too busy to update the blog / etc etc etc.....

Anyhow, I promise to update it more often in future, whenever I can, so here's a little about what we've been doing this last few weeks...

Gazza has had (and still has) manflu.... yes, that's right, even brewers get it!  This has rather drained the creative and motivational juices which is one of the reasons not much has been updated recently, amongst others... so now you know.

We had to postpone last weeks' brew of Bunker Gold owing to said manflu (and not really needing to brew) but we've brewed it today and tomorrow is the turn of perennial favourite "Citra Plus" which has finally settled on a winning recipe and, as long as the Citra hops are luscious enough, should be blasting a bar near you soon.  We've had an order from a wholesaler for 12 casks of this so may have to brew it again pretty soon afterwards!

Next week we may be having a play with the new UK Jester hops and seeing how they perform alongside something like Cascade or Chinook.

Then Gav is off for 2 weeks so Gazza will be making do on his own with random helpers to tide us over; we may have a collab to brew with Phil from Twt Lol whilst Gav is away which has been pencilled in as a Red IPA with lots of US hops, before a return collab which will be a pale brew hopped with NZ fruity hops.

More news as it happens!

20 barrels of beer and a meet the brewer!

That's this week in a nutshell!

We're brewing a "big" batch of "Temple of Love" on Tuesday as the last batch sold out in record time thus making Temple, by default, the nearest thing we have to a permanent beer in our range.... as it was originally devised as a low ABV one-off hoppy pale ale it's success has surprised us no end, but as it's well liked by the brewing team - both for it's brewing process and flavour - we're not complaining!

The second brew on Wednesday is a new one-off Oatmeal stout in remembrance of the local coal mining industry which was deliberately laid waste by Thatcher.  "Aur Du" (which translates as Black Gold in Welsh, one of the local names for coal) contains 9% oatmeal and 12% dark grains to give a big, toasty stout with a smooth edge, brewed with Polish hops to commemorate the link between our region and the coal mining area of Silesia in southern Poland which still has working coal mines, for now...

Then, on Thursday, Gazza is off up the M6 to Preston for a meet the brewer at the Moorbrook pub; these events aren't very common as Gazza is usually much too busy procrastinating to actually do any promo work, so make the most of it.... the running order should be various beers with the story behind each one, then some food - hopefully the pub's famous pies!  See you at the hop....

First they came for the Miners.....

.... and now it's the turn of the Steelworkers, albeit this time in a case of deliberate non-intervention rather than deliberate and intentional destruction, but the result will be the same; whole communities left desolate, people unemployed with no hope of finding another job, mass migration of the young to find work leaving dying communities.  We've seen it before, it'll happen again very soon, and at the hands of the Tories yet again, the party of the rich and the elite.

Anyway, to make sure the coal industry of the Valleys isn't forgotten, we're brewing an oatmeal stout in honour of those brave men who powered the industrial revolution and were then declared surplus to requirements in the shiny new world of services rather than manufacturing, and made the scapegoat of a war against the trade union movement.  

This one's for every miner and now, sadly, every steelworker.... 

The policies of this government are clear – to destroy the coal industry and the NUM. – Arthur Scargill

Brewing Oceanic....

.... is what we're doing today!  It's one of our most popular beers (and also one of the most expensive to make owing to the large amounts of Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin hops which go into it) and we don't expect it to hang around for long once it's ready....

The Pacific hops are smelling absolutely lovely and we're confident this will be the best batch of Oceanic thus far!

We've been joined by Jon from South Wales Whisky Group for a bit of brewing "experience" which, predictably, means digging the mash.... 

An Amber ale is born!

With a complicated malt bill of 6 different grains - Propino pale malt, Melanoidin, CaraPils, Wheat malt, Carafa Special 3 and Biscuit malt - this is the kind of colour we were after for "Over the Wire"...

Add lots of New Zealand Kohatu hops, some US Summit and Columbus, and there you go!

Latest brew - another amber ale!

Yes, it's true, yet another brew from us which isn't pale but is most certainly hoppy....

"Over the Wire" is a new one-off amber ale using Belgian Biscuit malt and German Melanoidin malt to give a deep golden hue which we're beefing up with lots of oily, pungent American Columbus and New Zealand Kohatu hops; a strange combination, but one which should work well hopefully...

This week's happenings....

.... include picking up more kegs from the makers, buying kilos of coffee beans to add to our coffee porter "Wales Coming Down" (which is due to go into tank on Friday for a weeks' conditioning), washing casks, reassembling and waterproofing a hot liquor tank heating element, plus a myriad of other bits and pieces which make things so much fun!

This week we're brewing twice, yet again!  First up is an old Pixie Spring beer resurrected due to demand from the Hopbunker; "Deliverance" is an amber/golden colour with a low bitterness but a good level of fruity hoppiness atop the bready, crunchy malt body giving what is, for us, a rare balanced beer with malt and hops pretty much in equilibrium.

Next up is a return to normality in the form of "Corazon de Oro", or heart of gold, which is a pale, citrussy and bitter brew much more in the Hopcraft tradition; using the rare Czech Kazbek hop alongside fruity American Chinook, this is a rebrew (although to a slightly different - I say improved - recipe) of a recent beer which went so well the first time around we thought we'd do it again...

Next week will be a single brew only as Gazza is taking a short break to Poland in search of interesting craft beers (of which there are many!) but in traditional Hopcraft style we've not decided yet what to brew...  I'm sure we'll think of something before then!

Two brews a week!

... is what we're doing at present!   A fairly quiet January, as is customary, has suddenly burst into a mad-busy February which has taken us a bit by surprise, a fact our beer stocks testify to (as in, we have sod-all in the coldstore....)

So, a big brew of Golden Pixie today (which will also spawn two short-run beers) then a new coffee porter tomorrow, "Wales Coming Down", followed by two more (8 barrel) brews next week!  We've pencilled in a re-brew of "Corazon de Oro" which went down a storm first time around, plus the return of Pixie Spring "Deliverance" in it's first outing in over a year!  All dependent on hop supply, obviously...

The following week we're - maybe, orders permitting - down to one brew then we'll see how it goes, but with the Rugby on we're expecting a lot of throughput in the Hopbunker so maybe it'll mean even more brewing... ah well, such is life :)

God Complex

This brew is a collaboration with Alex Oliver, aka "Brassneck" or "Space Cadet", from Bristol and is based on the rather clever notion that all the hops used are named after gods of some sort or other;

Azacca is the Haitian god of agriculture,

Zeus is the Greek god of the sky and thunder,

Magnum could be loosely taken to mean Magnum Opus, or "great work", which is an alchemical term for the process of working with the prima materia to create the philosopher's stone... 

We were supposed to have some Herkules but Gazza forgot to order it, and the dry-hop will be the slightly tenuously-linked Mosaic... (Roman mosaic floors, get it?).

Brewing today... and tomorrow....

Today, despite a dodgy element in our hot liquor tank, we brewed "Who's been Sleeping in my Brain?", a golden, hoppy and fruity beer with Citra and Topaz hops which should come out at around 4.4% and be pretty damn delicious, or so we're hoping, with a big fruity characater and bitter, fruity, hop-oily finish.

It was, I think, our earliest finish ever, with the transfer complete by 1450, and we'd even finished the copper cleaning before sundown; a sure sign that spring is on it's way... and we're doing it all again tomorrow when we brew yet another hoppy beastie, this one called "God Complex" and containing Azacca, Zeus and Mosaic hops (see what we did there, clever eh?) and is a collaboration with "Space Cadet" from Bristol... should be interesting!

It's getting steamy in here!

Inside the very shiny copper

Hop pellet waste... smells lovely, looks rancid!

One step forwards three steps back...

This week saw our three-phase electrics pack up rendering Thursday's brew impossible as we had no hot water to brew with! Annoying as this was, it allowed us to get various other things done around the place to the point where "Project CLT" is now moving along apace with the cooling unit for FV4 now in it's new home, almost cabled up, connected to the FV's cooling coil and the IBC in-place ready to become our cold liquor tank!

Hopefully the problems with the electrics seem to be (we've an electrician coming Monday) simply a blown fuse protecting the contactors, although we'd like to get it all checked over anyhow just in case there's owt else obvious we can have fixed...

Obviously, not being able to brew has set us back beer-wise, so we're now brewing "Who's been sleeping in my Brain?" next Wednesday and a collaboration with the "Space Cadet" on Thursday (he's a prospective brewer who's worked at various West country breweries) which only contains hops named after gods, owing to which it has the stunningly obvious but very good name of "God Complex"... 

On the plus side, however, our new Espresso machine arrived.... !