Brewing with Big G

Last week I was extremely privileged to be a part of a select few brewers, bloggers, industry insiders and all round beer geeks that were invited along to UBREW to join Brooklyn Brewery’s Brewmaster: Garrett Oliver in brewing a special, small batch of beer while he was on a whistle stop tour of London. The event organised by Brooklyn Brewery was a dream day for any beer nerd. Watching first hand one of the most pinnacle figures in the US craft beer movement work his magic with as much enthusiasm as the first brew he ever made was an enlightenment.

To Garrett’s praise, he had decided not to brew the obvious choice of an American IPA (which I’m sure everyone would have been more than happy with) but instead decided to tilt his trademark straw hat to his surroundings and brew a traditionally inspired English Pale Ale. Furthermore, the ingredients were far from obvious or easily sourced. The brew used Plumage-Archer malt, a malt used in the pale ales brewed in England back at the beginning of the 20^th Century and known for its outstanding brewing qualities. An addition of dark crystal malt was also added to add dark fruit and brown sugar flavours as well as an amber depth in the brews colour. The hops used were Canterbury White Bine, a variety of Golding and once considered the best of the English hops when originally grown in Surrey. The hops were so fresh that they had been picked that morning and were not delivered until after the brew had already begun. We all got to smell the hops (as well as add some to the brew) which promise to add deep floral notes. The final addition to the brew was Burton Ale Yeast which promise to add fruit and honey flavours.

This brew should come in at approximately 7% abv and will be dry hopped after fermentation to give it plenty of kick.

Observing Garrett’s constant smile as he took pride and joy in his work, it was clear for all to see that this was not just a job or a hobby but his life’s passion. Something that I’m sure many in the room could connect with.  

As if watching the brew take place was not enough, we were also treated to samples of specially selected Ghost Bottles. These are a limited collection of champagne bottled beers brewed by Brooklyn Brewery that rarely see the light of day, let alone make it into circulation. Most have been barrel aged with added ingredients such as cherries. 

Here is a quick run-through of the beers we sampled -

-        Dark Matter; A Brown ale aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrel. The ageing adds huge depth to this rich ale full of dark fruits and roasted malts. Extremely smooth and subtle flavours mislead the senses from the 8% abv.

-        Wild Horse; A 7% Brett aged Porter. This was bursting with dark chocolate, dark/sharp fruits, toffee and bitter coffee. The rich, velvety texture of this proves that Brett doesn’t necessarily mean sour.

-        Bel Air Kettle Sour; A dry hopped sour coming in at 7%. Spicy, tangy, sour and sweet. A lovely combination of tart orange, floral hop and spice.

-        K is for Kriek; A sour aged in Bourbon barrels, this time a mere 10%. Packed full of sweet honey and caramel, bitter orange, sour cherries and boozy Bourbon. An absolute delight and way too easy to drink.

-        Hand & Seal; A 13% Barley Wine aged in Cognac barrels. Vanilla, floral hop and dark fruits are all brought together by the sweet Cognac. Again, way too easy to drink. A Bourbon aged version of this is available to buy which I shall be hunting out.   

A big thank you to Garrett, Rachael and Brooklyn Brewery for arranging this and letting me be a part of it. I cannot wait to try the finished product.