Double Brewday

We've been spending so much time with our heads in plans and whatnot recently, that we haven't had too much time to actually brew. A sad state of affairs for a brewery.

We changed all that a few days ago with a rather epic double brew day, and thought we'd share it with you. 

We'll do a proper posting at some point about the kit we're using, as well as where we want to go next, but for now...

...the hot liquor tun (HLT)...

...the mash tun (on a crate, on an upturned freezer, obviously). And next to it the copper (on a bench, obviously). 

High tech this isn't, as evidenced by this tangle of hoses (more organised than it may appear) that leads from the sink in the room above and provides the cellar with water...

That said, it works rather well albeit with a few idiosyncrasies. 

We started off with a fairly straightforward pale ale to get warmed up. With nothing but Maris Otter and East Kent Goldings, I suppose you would have to say this is a very Kentish pale ale. And why not, there's a lot of great produce around us so why not use it. 

Next up was something just a little bit different. Nothing crazy, but a Belgian Dubbel, with Bobek hops and dark candi sugar, and a pinch of chocolate malt in the grist.  The wort that came out of the mash was simply amazing, sweet and thick and chocolatey. We agreed that, in a strangely good way, it tastes like the crap hot chocolate you get in French services. But, honestly, it was so damn good. 

The candi rocks went into the boil with the first hop additions, and the OG was bang on what we'd shot for. Nice to be on the money after a little time out of the game. 

Success all round, and good to be finally back to doing what we really care about. 

We'll keep you posted as the beers progress and will definitely do a tasting post once we crack them open. 

What We're Drinking 3

What We're Drinking 3:

As we head into the depths of winter (although here in Valencia I'm sitting on the terrace in my shirt sleeves as the mercury's at a pleasant 21º) it seemed like a good time to have another tasting session, so here's another round up of some more Spanish beers.  In a radical change of format, I tasted 4 (count 'em - 4) beers rather than the usual 3.  Exciting times!     

 VLC Lager

The first beer I tasted was VLC Lager.  This is a beer brewed for La Boutique de la Cerveza, a bottle shop here in Valencia, by Cerveza de Benicalap, but you can find it in other bottle shops as well.  It's quite an interesting beer in that it seems to be trying to tempt in Spanish drinkers who would never usually dream of trying anything other than a typical pale lager.  A gateway beer, if you will.  

It's 5.5% alcohol and describes itself as a bottom-fermented lager which proudly announces the fact that it uses Spanish malts (Pilsener and Caramalt) and hops (Hallertau and "Fluger") in the brewing process.  I'm not entirely sure what "Fluger" hops are; I can't find anything on the internet about them so either a) they've misspelt "Fuggles", b) I'm not translating things properly or c) "Fluger" is a mysterious type of hop about which I am completely in the dark.  Either of those 3 is a very real possibility.

It pours a pale, hazy golden colour and has a big fluffy cotton wool head.  There is a subtle, fruity touch of orange in the aroma and there is a high level of carbonation, something which you find with a lot of Spanish craft beers.  There is a nice fruity taste which gives way to a satisfying touch of bitterness in the finish.  

Overall, it's a very pleasant, refreshing beer.  I'm not sure I'd describe it as a lager, it tastes similar to a lot of blonde beers, but who cares what it's called as long as it tastes ok?  Whether it will convert the ice-cold San Miguel lovers I don't know, but I can certainly see it being drunk on terrazas in the summertime.  Or indeed wintertime, as it turns out.    

Senia Rossa

Second beer of the evening was from the Senia brewery and was their blonde / pale ale offering "Rossa". This is a 5% beer and - like all the Spanish artisan beers written about so far - is bottle conditioned.  It's a hazy, golden-copper colour in the glass with very little head and a fruity, citrus aroma (a touch of grapefruit?) which is very common is this style of Spanish ale.  

Taste-wise, first impressions are of a slight tartness with a decent level of bitterness right through to the finish. Fruit flavours are at the fore with a yeastiness in the mix as well.  There's a slight touch of biscuity chewiness which reminds me a little bit of the kind of body you'd find in a classic British bitter.  

Not unlike the VLC Lager, this is another beer which you'd be happy knocking back on a balmy summer's evening.  It's very refreshing and that nice bitterness makes it very moreish.  Overall a really nice example of a style which is very popular amongst Spanish craft brewers.

Spigha Na Valora

Spigha is a brewery based in Alcoy between Valencia and Alicante.  One charge which could be levelled against some of the new Spanish craft breweries is that there is a lack of consistency in their products - I have tried some Spanish beers which have been great one bottle, dodgy the next.  This is not a criticism that one could make of Spigha whose beers are always of a consistently high quality.

Na Valora is a pale ale which pours a deep orange-copper colour with a small white head.  On the nose there are fruity notes again, citrusy, with perhaps a touch of peach, which all adds up to a very tempting package indeed!

There's a fairly high level of bitterness from the start with the fruitiness coming through later along with a touch of sweetness for balance.  The dry bitterness makes it a very quenching drop and leaves a long lasting taste in the mouth.  

This is a very good beer, part of a range of 3 (soon to be 4) produced by Spigha, all of which are very pleasant indeed.  Spigha is a great example of a quality Spanish brewery making genuinely good beers - not just good Spanish beers.  I've seen their beers for sale on some UK mail order sites and have heard of them being sold in some British pubs as well so it's nice to see them having some deserved success further afield.

Tyris Smoky Porter

The last beer on the menu was one which I mentioned last time out - Tyris' Smoky Porter.  It's a 4.5% porter drawing its influence from the classic London style and using a touch of smoked malt to keep things interesting.  Black, chocolate and smoked malts are used, along with English hops (it doesn't specify which on the website but I *think* I remember reading Fuggles and Goldings).  

Smoky Porter pours a dark black colour with a dirty white head.  There's a nice roasted malt aroma with some coffee notes and a touch of the promised smokiness.  In the mouth it has a fairly sweet, dry flavour with the roasted malt flavour coming through and a flick (perhaps that should be a wisp) of smoke.  There's a touch of bitterness along with coffee and chocolate flavours as you'd expect from that malt line up.  It's actually surprisingly light for a porter (I've seen it criticised as being a bit thin but I think that's slightly harsh) and very drinkable.   

I mentioned last time that I'm a big fan of Tyris as a brewery and I really like this porter.  It's not as deep or complex as some of the sturdier British and US examples but as a Spanish take on a classic style it definitely wins me over.

So there we are, 4 more Spanish beers helping to demonstrate further that beer is on the up here.  Tyris and Spigha beers are available via mail order from several UK beer retailers and it's good to see them getting recognised outside their own back yards.  I'm back off to the terrace to crack open one more bottle to see out the evening.       

http://www.vlclager.com/inicio.htm
http://www.cervezasnacionales.es/cervezas-artesanas-senia/   The Senia website seems to be down so info is here
http://www.spigha.es/es/cerveza-artesana-spigha/cerveza-artesana-na-valora.php
http://www.cervezatyris.com/portfolio-view/smoky-porter/

What We're Drinking #2

So, after having written about the Spanish beer scene a week or so ago, I thought I'd probably better follow up on my promise to write about some of my favourite Iberian brews.  It's a difficult task obviously, tasting and championing cracking beer, but I feel a deep sense of commitment to the readers of this blog (and also as today's Thursday, and Thursday's the new Friday - or so I'm told - it would be rude not to) so chin chin and on with it, as they possibly say.  

Spanish beer takes a lot of inspiration from the US and its craft beer scene, although there are plenty of nods to Blighty as well.  IPAs are pretty ubiquitous amongst Spanish brewers as well as a good smattering of dark beers and most have a "Rubia" which can be anything from a Blond-style Ale to something more lagerish. They also tend to recommend that you serve the beer hazy and that you drink the yeast as well rather than leave it in the bottle.  Hence a lot of descriptions of Spanish beer tend to be along the lines of "Hazy golden colour...".

Happily for me, there is also a determination amongst many of the brewers to make more unique, "Spanish" beer; so experimentation - as mentioned previously on the blog - is a key word here.  Smoked malts, fruits and twists on familiar styles are all in evidence as brewers embrace the spirit of adventure.

So, to the tasting...

First up is Paqui Brown from the Tyris brewery.  It's a 5.4% Brown Ale and my bottle had a best before date of March 2014.  It's a single varietal beer using Simcoe hops only.  It's nice to see such information on a Spanish beer as on quite a few the I've tried it's been hard enough to identify the brewery and beer name let alone see any insight into malts and hops used.

Tyris is a local brewery from Valencia (happily, where I'm living) which seems to be having a decent amount of success.  You can find their beers now not just in speciality delis and bottle shops, but also in mainstream supermarkets and even - say it quietly - in some bars.  Having tried their whole range, I can honestly say that they deserve their success as they are making beers that Spain can be rightly proud of.  They have got a line up of pretty classic styles (IPA, Porter, American Pale, Brown Ale) but all have a Spanish twist which takes them beyond mere facsimiles of their British or US cousins.  I was actually intending to write about 3 Tyris beers for this blog but when I went to the shop they'd completely sold out of the fantastic Smoky Porter. Still, gives me an excuse to go back next week.  For the sake of completeness, obviously.

Paqui Brown pours a deep coppery-orange colour with a small, dirty-white head.  It smells surprisingly fruity for a brown ale although there is a wholesome, malty note there too.  First taste is quite a surprise - I was expecting the classic nutty, sweet flavour so common to British brown ales but here the Simcoe hops jump out at you straight away.  After the hops there is a good deal of sweetness and then a sweet finish with a nice kick of bitterness at the end as the Simcoe says "Adios" (although to be honest, it's more likely to be "Hasta Luego").  It's actually a very refreshing beer and it would go fantastically well with a barbecue; the sweetness completing those caramelized flavours perfectly.

I really like this beer.  Maybe you could complain that it's not perhaps a brown ale in the strictest sense, but I think you'd have to be having a pretty miserable day to do so.  And after all, they don't say that it's a British Brown Ale, so who's to say what a Spanish Brown Ale should taste like?  The important thing is that it tastes great.  The good news is that it should soon be easier to get hold of in the UK too.  After chatting with a chap from the brewery at a craft fair, he said that they were launching soon through a distributor there so keep an eye out and taste with open mind (and mouth, to avoid mess).  You won't be disappointed.

My second Tyris beer of the night was VIPA - Valencian India Pale Ale.  It's an IPA (had you guessed?) weighing in at a solid IPA-grade 6.1%.  On the bottle (which had a best before date of May 2014) it's described as an homage to George Hodgson which is nice, as I imagine hordes of Spanish drinkers rushing off to Wikipedia to find out who they should be thanking for the style they seem to be whole-heartedly adopting.  The Tyris website say that they use Pale Ale and Pilsen malts with Northern Brewer, Styrian Goldings and Citra hops.  It's also made with a touch of bitter orange peel - that Spanish twist again.

VIPA pours a hazy orange colour with a small, frothy white head.  Nose in and it smells very fruity with the orange there as promised.  It tastes very fruity too, and the orange peel is there although it's not too overpowering, more sitting in the mix and popping up now and again to assert its presence.  The finish is dry, bitter and orangey and you can tell its alcoholic strength.

This was one of the first craft beers that I tried in Spain and I loved it immediately.  I loved the fact that it's a tribute to, but not a copy of, a style we're so familiar with.  It's different enough to distinguish itself in a pretty crowded IPA market place.  It's definitely worth seeking out although again, as with the Paqui Brown, try with an open mind and don't expect an American or British IPA.  

Lastly I went for Sagra Premium.  This is described by the brewery as a Blond Ale and clocks in at 5.4%. My bottle had a best before date of September 2015.  Sagra is an interesting brewery from the Toledo region which seems to be doing a good job of getting its beers sold further afield.

Sagra Premium pours a clear, pale copper/golden colour and has a thin white head which doesn't hang around for too long.  When I first smelt it, I was reminded of a light, British style bitter as it had a nice balance of fruity hops and sweet malt on the nose.  Deeper sniffing brings more fruitiness - some peach, perhaps - and a further sense of impending malty sweetness.

My first swig had that fruit at the fore followed by a slight bitterness and an almost honeyish finish.  The hoppiness comes through on the palate really nicely and is well balanced by the sweetness of the malt.  The overall result is extremely refreshing and moreish - as I suppose anything labelled as a Blond Ale should be. It's a great example of a Spanish beer from a brewery which seems to be doing a lot to further the cause of Spanish beer in general.  I've tried a couple of theirs now and have been suitably impressed.  Looking on their website, it seems they do quite a few different styles including an IPA (as mentioned, a popular style in Spain) and a wonderful looking special porter and blond triple which I've made a mental (and now digital) note to seek out as soon as possible.

And so round one of my Spanish tasting is complete.  Fortunately there is now enough good Spanish beer to merit a round two.  And three.  And...  well; you get the fuzzily drawn picture.  

http://www.cervezasagra.es/cervezas.html

http://www.cervezatyris.com/

 

Become a Friend of Boutilliers'

We're friendly guys, and I'm guessing you are too.

Sign up to our mailing list - on the right hand side of the homepage - and become an official Friend of Boutilliers'. In return, we'll do all of these things:

1. Let you know when the brewery gets fired up for real. 

2. Let you know where you can buy our beers. 

3. Make sure you're the first to know about our super special Friend offers, limited additon runs, competitions, free stuff, you name it. 

4. Let you know about the Friends of Boutilliers' priority ordering days as and when they happen. 

5. We'll be really nice and promise not to bombard you with emails too often and we will NEVER (NEVER EVER) sell your email to anyone else. 

6. We'll be friendly and try and do nice things for you as often as we can. 

And all you have to do is give us your email and tell us you want to become a Friend...and maybe leave a friendly comment too (optional). 

So let's be friends, eh? Make love not war and all that (don't worry we're not hippies, well not completely). 

The Beer in the Spain

As one half of Boutilliers' currently living in Spain prior to the opening of the brewery, I'm happy to be witnessing something of a brewing explosion in the peninsula.

When you think of Spain, you think of lots of things:  paella, flamenco, sandy beaches, drunken British tourists, but one thing that you probably don't think of is decent beer.  There's a good reason for this, namely that the vast majority of Spanish beers are identikit light lagers served a fraction above freezing.  Now though, that image may have to change as Spain undergoes something of a beer revolution.  

For the last few years, microbreweries have been sprouting up across the country, even as the economic crisis bites.  Indeed, it has been suggested that the crisis is partly to thank for this phenomenon as many of those who had been made redundant have turned to brewing for employment as the possibility of finding work in traditional industries has disappeared. 

Spanish micros face many difficulties which are not faced in traditional beery countries like the UK.  First, they have to fight against the idea that "cerveza" can only be very pale and very cold.  The Spanish baulk at the idea of serving a poor wine with dinner but tend to view beer merely as a refreshing drink on a par with Coke or 7Up (I've actually worked in places where they've had beer in vending machines alongside other soft drinks).  The idea that beer is something that can be savoured and enjoyed in and of itself is not a common one.  Similarly, beer is not usually thought of as a night-out drink.  If people are out on a big one, spirits and mixers are much more common.

Secondly, the access to the market is incredibly difficult.  Most bars in Spain serve one beer on tap and the same beer in bottles.  If you are lucky, they may also serve a "premium" beer, generally Heineken in these parts.  It's very unusual to see craft beers in a bar.  Even where there is a selection of different beers (often in Irish bars), the same distributor is generally used, so you'll get Grimbergen, Judas, Leffe Brown and a couple of Paulener beers if you're lucky.  I've seen only a handful of places with local beers on offer and in one of those places, where their menu beamed "Ask about our artesan beers", asking about said beers provoked only a series of blank looks until, after some rummaging, one of the staff found a couple of bottles tucked away at the back of a fridge and said "It must be these I suppose".  

Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, the cost is often seen as prohibitive.  Buying a craft beer in a shop will set you back about €2 - 2.50; a can of Amstel or similar costs between 30 and 50 cents.  It is a difficult job to persuade people that rather than buying a case of 12 beers for €5, they should buy 2 or 3 craft beers instead.  In a country where unemployment is running at around 25% (closer to 50% amongst the young) and wages are falling, it's a difficult case to make with the result that many of those who do buy craft beer treat it more as a "special occasion" product; an interesting novelty.

So, with these barriers placed firmly in its way, it would seem that beer's march across the country should be dead before it starts.  However, beer does have a few things going for it...  

First off is the quality argument.  The Spanish are immensely proud of the quality of their produce, from their acorn fed pigs which produce "Jamón de Bellota" to their wines and even their Asturian cider.  Quality in food and drink is important, hence it would seem a small step to extend this feeling to beer.  After all, if you eat good food and drink good wine, why not add good beer to that list?  

There is also an intense regionalism in Spain seen not only politically but also in relation to produce.  Tell a Valenciano that you had a Paella in Madrid and he'll happily tell you that what you ate was definitely not paella as only in Valencia do they know how to make the ricey delight.  This regional pride extends to beers, so much so that if you're in Galicia, you'll almost certainly be drinking Estrella Galicia, Mahou in Madrid, Cruzcampo in Andalucia and so on.  Despite the fact that these drinks are almost exactly the same, people from the region tend to swear that their own super chilled lager is the best in the country.  If the craft beer producers can attempt to tap into this regionalism and generate a sense of ownership of their beers in the local population then sales should be boosted.

Many micros are attempting to make this connection, for example with the use of local languages either alongside or instead of Spanish on their bottles.  To further this regionalism, you will find local fruits used in some brews (Valencia orange IPA?  Yes please!), local landmarks used on labels and anything else that the brewer can think of to tie the beer to it's area.

Finally, supermarkets are slowly picking up on the trend.  Now if you go into a large Carrefour or El Corte Inglés, you can generally find at least some local Spanish beers on offer alongside all of the lagers.  This is helping to combat an idea that good beer has to be imported and normalising somewhat the sight of Spanish
artisan beers in the mind of the consumer.

Overall, it's an exciting time to be in Spain as a beer drinker.  There are new breweries popping up across the country and seemingly always a new beer to try when you go into a bottle shop.  So whilst it's certainly true that Spain lags behind in the beer world, it is making up ground quickly.  The most exciting thing about this explosion is the creativity - Spanish brewers are seemingly happy to look anywhere for their inspiration. This leads to some interesting fruit beers, some twists on traditional ale styles (orange IPA as mentioned above, for example) as well as some, well, "interesting" efforts (artichoke beer...  interesting, rather than outstanding!).  The quality of some of the beers is, it has to be said, lacking.  However, if you pop into a bottle shop or a deli and ask for some recommendations, you'll certainly find some interesting examples and there are some breweries which are making truly fantastic beer.  I'll write about a few of my favourites over the coming weeks.

A Word On Timescales

When we announced to the world our intentions a few weeks back, we thought that no one would be listening. After all, we haven't even fired up the hot liquor tank yet, let alone sold a beer.

Well, how wrong we were. Turns out there were quite a few of you listening, and your interest, advice, encouragement - and most importantly your enthusiasm - has been remarkable and greatly appreciated. Thanks guys. 

We've been getting loads of questions about the new project (where are we? how can we get hold of your beer?), and so far our honest, if rather unhelpful, response can only be, er, dunno. Figuring that this might make us look a little under prepared (as if!), not to mention get a little tedious for those asking the questions, we thought we'd post a little something on the timescales. We'll also try and answer a few of the common questions in the process. 

The next few months will be spent refining our business plan. We hope to have this finalised by the new year. As I've said before we're still so young that everything's still up for grabs - from where we'll be based, to barrel size, to whether we'll be selling casks, bottles or a mixture of both. We know we'll be based in east Kent but beyond that, little else is set in stone. Front runners for our final resting place are Faversham and Margate, but we'll see. 

The first few months of 2014 will be spent taking our plan to "investors" (to use the business term) / "family & friends" (to speak truthfully). We're really not talking Dragons' Den here guys. 

Hopefully we'll have all our investment in place by spring 2014. And at that stage we can then start putting our plans into place - finding a home, sorting out our design and all that fun stuff. We're under no illusions (well, we might be...I suppose we wouldn't know) that it'll fall into place quickly but, with hard work and luck, we hope to be brewing the first Boutilliers' brew late autumn/early winter 2014. Just in time to get some roasted malts into the mash. 

We'll see. I'm sure there'll be plenty of changes to that plan alone the way. But as long as we get there in the end, right? We'll keep you posted along the way. 

Living The Dream

I believe that's what folks say to other folks upon being told said folks run a brewery. And to be honest that doesn't seem too far from the mark. For now at least.

We're at an incredibly early stage in development (no money, no premises, no kit) but I think it's fair to say that, daunting fear of failure and losing all our worldly possessions aside, we feel like kids in the proverbial sweet shop. But we're also well aware that setting up shop isn't going to be all plain sailing, and there'll no doubt be plenty of times when we feel "the dream" is not far off becoming a nightmare. 

And therein lies the purpose of this modest blog. A document, if nothing else, of the highs and lows of the soon-to-be Boutilliers' Brewery. For better, for worse. For richer and hopefully not too much poorer.