As things tend to happen in life, they happen in threes... collaborations are no exception it seems. Over the last couple weeks we ended up brewing a few in the South West.
First up, after SIBA X this year, i took a trip down to Cornwall to visit the folk at Harbour Brewing Co. Just like the postcards the sun was shining, the air was fresh and the views were scenic. When I saw the old Chevrolet & half pipe there & herd The Pixies blaring on the radio, I knew I would like these guys.
We decided brew a strong hopped up lager, around 6.5%, medium-high bitterness and bursting with hops. We selected Equinox & Columbus hops and added them all as whirlpool & dry-hops then fermented it with a blend of our lager yeasts.
Our assistant head brewer Craig Laurie also took a trip down south recently for a tasting/meet the brewer at Independent Spirit of Bath. While he was down a couple of collaborations also seemed a wise idea.
1st stop on Craig's list was a trip to Arbor Ales in Bristol. The guys decided on brewing up a Blood Orange IPA, which as many people know can be rather delicious! As you can see above they used A LOT of hops & A LOT of oranges (400 apparently) which were all juiced into a repuposed dog bath (clean obviously)... hence the suggested beer name... Bloodbath (TBC).
Next up for Craig was a trip to Beerd Brewery, sister brewery/bar/pizzeria of Bath Ales. On their rather cool copper brewhouse they brewed up a Hoppy American Wheat Ale, brewed with large amounts of Australian & American Hops.
There will be a very limited amount of these beers available in a few weeks time, but of course it would be rude not to host a launch party or two for them too! Keep those ears open and eyes peeled, details to follow.
"Three... is the magic number" - De La Soul