Panic on the streets of Bodmin

This mornin’ I woke up in a curfew. Not really but that lyric leads me nicely on to our subject for this post, the Rock riots. Our riots have been somewhat unreported and for the sake of Rock's reputation for up market holidays I will divulge very little. Suffice it to say the lady from the pasty shop was very put out and neither of the seagulls has been apprehended. I blame the parents.

As we approach the August bank holiday I am excited to have a few of my handmade creations appearing in the capital. At The Rake an 18 month old Abbey beer aged with Brettanomyces and a 3 year old spontaneousy refermented blonde. Both beers appear courtesy of St Roger of Ryman who is allowing me to join in his St Austell Brewery beer festival. I am particularly pleased with the blonde which is bone dry and beautifully lactic. It was made by fermenting a wort using Saccharomyces until fully attenuated and then left in an open vessel until a pellicle forms. The beer and the pellicle were then transferred to a wooden cask for 3 years of microbiological rioting and looting.

At the White Horse Parson’s Green two of my Belgian-themed beers are appearing at the Belgian Beer Festival. The 18 month old Abbey as previously described and cask 2010 Honey Spice Tripel which was tasting too good for words earlier today, if I do say so myself.

Further delight comes having DW and Monsieur Rock recommended ahead of wine as partners for food at  double Michelin starred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw. If I could blag my way to getting a table I’d go and check it out but I suspect they are booked up until 2020.   

The Council will convene and decide your fate

I have always wondered how the Champion Beer of Britain is judged. Now I know.

I’ve judged a few competitions and the CBOB definitely ranks as one of the best-organised. The structure of the panel is also very good with each section panel comprising a brewer, a flavour specialist, a couple of CAMRA tasters, a drinks industry professional and lay person. The panel I was sitting on was judging category winners for their suitability for supreme champion. Adding the scores from the preceding round took longer than expected so our panel waited for an hour to do our tasting. I did get quite tense, a condition not helped by being directly under the PA speaker which seemingly had not been adjusted since the Slayer concert last week.

When the beers came out it was good to get going. The first was evidently brewed with Citra with all of the panel enjoying the aroma but being underwhelmed by the flavour. It was interesting that although the rest of the panel did not know the names of off flavours they all considered the beers to less appealing as a result. There were varying degrees of sensitivity to diacetyl and H₂S on the panel with one taster being blind to each (but not both) of them at the concentration in the beers we sampled. I suppose that this is valid as it probably mirrors the spread of capabilities in the general population. The rest of the panel were treated to an exhibition of the cocky brewer (me) getting carried away with identifying the flavour compounds, hops, fermentation temperature, salt balance and yeast variety. For this I apologise!

There was unanimity in the panel on our two favourites but we must have been low markers as neither were in the top 3 on the day.

The CBOB competition does not enjoy the best reputation for fairness with brewers around the country (the ones I have spoken to at least). A lot feel that there is always an air of wheels within wheels about it.  The process for getting a beer into the final has been described to me but I still struggled to understand it. It also seems to change frequently. Once I was told that regional festival winners automatically got through but speaking to a few regional winners this week none of them had progressed. A few breweries have had several beers getting to the final for several years in a row without medals. Surely if the beer wasn’t good enough for two years in a row it should be moved aside for another brew? Maybe it’s time for an X factor style beer competition where progress from the auditions to the final is plain to see? I would volunteer to be Simon Cowell but I could never get away with the trousers and jumper puppies.

Having judged the final I can reassure all brewers that this aspect is well designed to find the best beer in the field on the day. It was an enjoyable experience and I am still delighted to have been asked.

Finally I would like to pass on my congratulations to John Boyce for his win. He’s a good bloke and it’s a great beer. 

Greatness in all its Glory

Instead of trying to accurately describe a day at the GBBF, I thought it easier to list the people I can remember meeting. The GBBF is not only the best place in the UK to sample great beer it is also a collection of the loveliest people in the UK. After meeting the following perhaps it was no surprise that I fell asleep on the 18:06 from Paddington and nearly missed my stop. It was great to see you and we must do it all again next year!  

Simon Loveless (Princetown)

Mark Dredge

Darren Norbury

Kristy McCready
Paul Corbett

James Clarke (Hook Norton)

Sue Novak

Fran Novak

Martin Cullimore (Batemans)

Peter Robson (Muntons)

Andy Mogg

John Palfrey

Peter Simpson

Angelo (Brew Warf)

Richard Simpson

Flo Vialan (Purity)

Paul Halsey (Purity)

Roger Ryman (St Austell)

Tim Webb

Bill Dobson (Brains)

Pete Brown

Melissa Cole

Zak Avery

Peter Ells (Tim Taylor)

Andy Leman (Tim Taylor)

Hardnott Dave

Mrs Hardnott Dave

Kevin Mitchell (Murphy’s)

Chris Kay (Bristol Beer Factory)

“Mr Drink and Eat”

The Beer Monkey

Mark Tetlow (Everards)

Steven Crawley (Calendonian)

Armin Palmer

David Nijs (Marstons)

Rhys Laurence

Stefano Cossi and Mrs (Thornbridge)

Matt Brophy (Flying Dog)

Glyn Roberts

Michelle Perret

Adrian Tierney-Jones

Adrian Redgrove (Castle Rock)

Steve from (Marstons)

Richard Knight

Chris Hearn (Loddon)

Nigel Stevenson (James Clay)

Mark Slater (St Peter’s)

Fergus Fitzgerald (Adnams)

Krijn Kraak

Fantasy and Superstition

Today I am wearing my lucky Wednesday socks. You may think it strange that me, a man of science would have superstitions. Brewing is an art which relies to varying degrees on luck. Sometimes in the best run breweries where everything is measured and controlled the biological nature of the process leads to a change which is undesirable. In fact undesirable doesn’t cover it, a living hell and a waking nightmare comes closer.

Since I have been brewing I have accumulated a laughable range of superstitions. The day begins with getting up at a time where the minutes are not 13. 5:15 is fine, 5:13 spells disaster. The lucky socks are then donned with the right one worn inside out. The magpies encountered on the way into work must be saluted, called lovely, and asked how their wives are. I must then spit and touch blue then black. Also on my route in I must weave in and out to avoid the manholes in the road. This superstition has led to a few near misses and one finger greetings from oncoming motorists.

On arrival I must follow my usual routine of checks and later when I read the micro results this must be done in a specific order starting with getting the anaerobic bag out of the incubator. The time 11:11 is lucky and I try to look at clocks around this time. Unfortunately eleven thirteen (I can’t write the numerals out or this post will be blighted) is very unlucky, so my timing must be good. The brewery boiler is kept running by a rusty horseshoe on the burner cover. This horseshoe was moved across from the old burner when we up-scaled. It has not proven to be overly effective over the years but we persevere.

Should my superstitions not do the trick I hedge my bets by working hard and maintaining a healthy level of distrust of all equipment and analyses. As I have discovered this week there are some things in life which you can’t gain through hard work, superstition or luck.

Be lucky       

See how your rules spoiled the game

There is a fact which is oft quoted, “On average when a customer has a good experience they tell two people. When they have a bad experience they tell ten”. This may be true, partially true, based on the truth or inaccurate. I would love to see the survey techniques, population and the statistical analysis behind it. I had a good experience on Saturday night with the best meal I have had in recent memory so I thought I’d do my bit to shift the statistical balance and tell you, the thousand or so people who view my blog each week. The meal at the Longcross Hotel, Port Isaac was solid, unfussy, flawless and satisfying. As an aperitif I had a bottle of Cuvee Saint-Gilloise which was sensationally fantastic and could have contributed a slight halo effect, as did the very well kept Sharp’s served at the bar.

I would like to pass on my commiserations to Brewdog for losing their pitch at the GBBF. There is a silver lining of course. In cancelling their booking CAMRA have managed to remind Brewdog that they do in fact hate CAMRA and everything they stand for. I wonder how such strong feelings could have been forgotten so readily? It seems now that they were only going to buy a pitch there to save drinkers from the scourge that is cask ale and beer made without American hops. The thousands of pounds saved should be some consolation and could be used to stage a radical stunt out the front of Earl’s Court involving burning effigies of middle aged people with sandals and beards or perhaps a tissue paper model of a noble hop cone. I’m sure that as people with integrity and a respect for beer and brewing they will let their boycotting of the event do the talking, I for one hope so.