The Black IPA Gold Rush - Part 1

Out of all the IPA substyles out there, Black IPA is perhaps the most maligned and least credited, a contradiction in terms and a literal oxymoron to drinkers, its very status has confounded people since it first came on the scene in the 1990’s. The BJCP designated it as beer that features the dryness, hop-forward balance and flavours of an American IPA but darker in colour, where dark malts are added to give a gentle and supportive flavour rather than give a strongly roasted and astringent note. Garrett Oliver, founder and brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery added “most use dehusked dark malts to avoid a clash between hop bitterness and the acridity that conventional roasted malts can lend to beers.”[1] Black IPA as Badger Brewery once described brings together the best of both worlds, the roasted malt notes of a porter/ stout with vibrant citrussy hoppiness of an IPA. Like most IPA substyles, with the likes of Black IPA, hops take centre stage when it comes to aroma and flavour, as Nick Carr elucidates “hop flavour will be a low-medium venturing into the high range, and can bring notes of berry, pine (resinous), tropical, stone fruit, citrus, and melon. Some fruity elements are acceptable, whether from hops or yeast, however, they are not necessary for the style.”[2]  Although breweries have been producing heavily hopped stouts and porters as far back as the 19^th century[3], the first official Black IPA was Blackwatch Black IPA (5.8%) produced in 1990 by Greg Noonan and Glenn Walter of Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington, Vermont, five years later Jimmy Kimmich joined the team and refined the recipe, introducing Carafa Special 3 malt into the mix, a German variety which he recently came across, a de-husked malt that gave German beers like Dark Lager and Hefeweizens their colour and breaded notes, but without overwhelming their subtle hoppy character. This proved to be a game-changer, and Kimmich became one of the early proponents of this style of beer. Jermey Furzy notes “the modern black IPA likely emerged in part due to the popularity of Dogfish Head’s Indian Brown Ale. First brewed in 1999, this beer opened the door for a hoppy ale brewed with darker malts.”[4] By 2003, Black IPAs were beginning to gather pace from breweries based in the Pacific north-west with the likes of Skull Splitter (9.2%) – Rogue Ales and Skookum Cascadian Dark (7.3%) – Phillips Brewing coming on the scene, these were later joined by the likes of Self-Righteous Black IPA (8.7%) - Stones and James (7.2%) – Hill Farmstead which were hugely influential for the emerging movement as it took hold in the US.[5] By the end of the noughties this style had become very popular especially in the west-coast, Em Saunter states “Black IPAs had a huge moment in 2010 when they became very popular, especially on the west coast of America where hops are grown. Many large breweries had commercially made black IPAs and it was in demand.”[6] At the Great American Beer Festival 2010, the Brewers Association officially recognised Black IPA as a legitimate beer style, and 53 entries appeared at the festival that year.

 

Meanwhile over on home-soil, Black Mass (6.66%) – Abbeydale which was first released in 1996, was effectively the very first Black IPA developed in the UK, despite it not being labelled at the time. Heavily hopped, with a predominant use of Cascade, along with Columbus, Galaxy and Green Bullet. This was complemented by a six-malt base, gathering notes of bitter chocolate, fruitcake, coffee and raisins making it a beast of a beer as notably described; yet at the time the notion of a heavily hopped dark ale was seen as a one-off curiosity and was quietly put aside. While the likes of Black IPAs were increasingly becoming predominant in the US during the noughties, it was largely ignored in the UK. One of the few outliers in the wilderness during this time was Black Ice (4.1%) by Titanic in 2006, a hop-forward dark ale brewed with Cascade and Herkules, with strong citrus notes from the hops cutting through the initial dry notes, a hoppy finish helps round it off along with subtle hints of chocolate. The beer was initially developed as a winter seasonal, before being bottled and sold all year round, yet at the time it was labelled as a Mild due to the lack of awareness for Black IPA at the time.  Just as its appeal was peaking in the US around 2010, Jonny Garrett notes that the increase in popularity for Black IPA in the UK was facilitated by the ascent of the craft beer movement, noting “some of the country’s early leading lights—BrewDog, The Kernel, Beavertown Brewery, Magic Rock Brewing, Buxton Brewery—all had one in their core range, or at least brewed regular Black IPA seasonals. To British breweries opening in the early 2010s, having a Black IPA was proof that you were taking this “craft” thing seriously.” [7] This new generation of brewers took interest in the buzz that was taking place across the pond, and were keen to have a slice of the pie. Soon as a result, during the early 2010’s the rate of Black IPAs produced in the UK gradually increased as brewers flocked to take advantage of this veritable gold rush of innovation. Thornbridge was an early proponent of Black IPA in the UK, launched in 2005, the brewery initially focussed on developing cask beers that utilized traditional recipes, but with a modern twist through the innovative use of hops and malts. Gradually they took influence from popular international beer styles like the emerging Black IPAs in the US, and in 2009 they released Raven (6.6%)[8], that featured a combination of American and New Zealand hops including Centennial and Nelson Sauvin, that gives its piney, fruity character, along with Sorachi Ace that adds aromas of cocoanuts and citrus fruit. Louis Gunz described it at the time “Raven is a massively hopped Black IPA. It pours black as night, has a beautiful intense aroma of pine and sweet roasted malt, citrus and blackcurrants. Flavours are a complex combination of bitter chocolate with pineapple and orange preceding a long bitter finish.”[9] Since it was first launched Raven has become hugely successful, winning a raft of awards and becoming one of Thornbridge’s most noteworthy products. The subsequent success of Raven effectively led the charge for the emergence of Black IPAs in the UK, and as the new decade dawned, Black IPA would soon take the UK brewing industry by storm.

 

2011 proved to be a fruitful year for Black IPAs, on 9^th January, Kernel launched their Black IPA (6.3%) at the Rake Bar, London; members of the London Brewery Alliance[10] were invited to the launch. Meanwhile, St. Austell developed Proper Black (6%), an alternative version of the brewery’s flagship product Proper Job (5.5%). The beer used a multitude of hops, including Brewer’s Gold, Chinook, Centennial and Cascade, Beer Today described it as “black with the faintest hint of red and a thick, foaming tan head. The aroma is piney hops, with a little chocolate malt in the background. On the palate, there’s resinous, grassy hop notes dominating an edge of cocoa and bitter coffee. A great example of the black IPA style.”[11] It would subsequently go onto becoming a popular product for the brewery, appearing in their regular range for the next several years. Likewise, the same year, Moor Beer Co. released Illusion (4.5%) a session Black IPA, Bristol Beer Factory debuted India Ink (6.5%), in May, Buxton showcased their newly released Black Rocks (5.5%) at the Stockport Beer Festival, Brodies produced Dalston Black (7%). one of the first bottled conditioned Black IPAs which Matt Curtis summed up “the malts in the beer are never overpowering and the notes of coffee I often get with this style that I would normally associate with a great stout are very muted but provide a study scaffold for the resinous, zesty flavour.”[12] Meanwhile, the newly launched Windsor & Eton brewery released Conqueror (5%), described as a rich and complex ale brewed with five different malts, along with Summit and Cascade hops, to produce and potent combination of roasted flavours balanced with a pine-hop aroma. Simon Martin from Real Ale Craft Beer proclaimed “it’s a good bittered beer, grapefruit, orange zest going on in the beer too, and then right at the end, when you’re just about to think where’s the chocolate malt, it kicks in right at the end, very subtlety.”[13] It would subsequently go on to be sold in bottle and cask as a part of their regular range, becoming one of their most popular products, and inspiring a number of spin-offs.[14] As the year came to an end, Brewsters joined the fray with Cruella (4.8%), sold as part of the brewery’s Wicked Women range of limited release beers; described as a dramatic beer, it was developed in tribute to the foremost villain of 101 Dalmatians. In December, Magic Rock released Magic 8 Ball (7%) that fused speciality malts with new world hops to create a tropical punchbowl of flavours and aromas, it was subsequently sold in cask, keg and bottles. As 2012 dawned, Stewart Brewing produced Black IPA (5%), initially developed for a beer challenge the beer soon became widely popular, even winning Silver at the 2012 International Beer Challenge, which prompted the brewery to put it on regular release, the following month Kent Brewery introduced their first Black IPA Engima (5.5%). Meanwhile, in March, Brewdog debuted their Libertine Black Ale (7.2%), which was marketed as a voluptuous beast of a beer noted for its hop flavours and complex malt profile, whilst Buxton released Imperial Black (7.5%), one of the first Imperial Black IPAs, it was described on its labels as a game changing beer with abundant fresh hop aromas of zesty citrus pulp and forest fruits, complemented by a roasted malt base. And Otley went in for the pun with Oxymoron (5.5%), noted for using German Carafa malt and 5 different hops, with dry hopping for added flavour. Boak and Bailey were left perplexed, noting at the time, “we detected an alluring hint of smokiness and a clanging grapefruit acid note. Much as we enjoyed it, we’re not sure the effect was deliberate, or that it is really an IPA in any meaningful sense.”[15] Later that year, Salopian produced their first Black IPA, Vertigo (7.2%) bottled conditioned in 330ml bottles it was described as full bodied with chocolaty orange notes and aromas reminiscent of green hops,  moreover Conwy planted the flag for Wales with Riptide (4.6%), brewed with US hops including Columbus, Cascade and Mosaic, it was effectively a tribute to the hoppy aromas of the American IPA, this beer was later retailed in cask and bottle as part of their regular range, becoming one of the most widely sold Black IPAs in Wales.  North of the border, Fyne Ales debuted Sanda Black (5.5%), named after the Sanda lighthouse, located off the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre in southwestern Scotland. It was developed as a cask special, as part of their IPA project exploring malt and hop combinations on different styles of hop-forward beers. It was brewed with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops, along with five types of malt, including Maris Otter, Wheat, Crystal Malt, Carafa Special 3 and Black Malt; the Ormskirk Baron described it as having “bold flavours with aromas of passion fruit and gooseberry burst onto your taste buds before being balanced by roasted chocolate smoothness.”[16] Meanwhile, the recently launched Beavertown Brewery hopped onto the Black IPA bandwagon with Black Betty (7.3%), developed as a homage to penny Sweet Shops, reminiscent of black jacks and fruit salads, the brewery described it as having “tropical fruit flavours offset with liquorice and chocolatey malts, not for the faint hearted.”[17] It gathered a mixed response, Boak and Bailey noted “complex and interesting, then, and exhibiting a distinctive brewery character. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but beers that aren’t to everyone’s taste are what we’d like to see more of,”[15] while Patrick O’ Connor was more favourable “Black Betty is a mouth filling full-bodied brew. This beer is loaded with a wide range of flavours; dark chocolate, caramel and roasted malt leading into some tropical flavours. All topped off with loads of malt.”[18] In the space of two years, a number of breweries across the UK produced a multitude of Black IPAs, this sudden growth in popularity was due to the craft beer boom, where consumers favoured more artisanal produced products over mass-market brands. Yet, the very thing that facilitated it success would soon prove its undoing. 

 List of Refernces 

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[1] Garrett Oliver, The Oxford Companion to Beer definition of dark ale, Craft Beer & Brewing

[2] Nick Carr, Black IPA: The Oxymoron in the Bitter World of Beer, Kegerator, 13^th March 2018

[3] Ron Pattison has uncovered some fascinating early examples of hop-forward stouts, in 1921, Barclay Perkins released Irish Stout (4.3%) that used Goldings and dry hopped Cluster hops, likewise with their Imperial Stout (5.4%) released the same year. Later in 1928, their Export Stout (7.4%) used additional dry hopping in the brew.

[4] Jermey Furzy, The Birth and Rise of the Black IPA, Medium, 15^th April 2015

[5] Around this time, it became hotly debated whether to label this style Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale, Nick Carr adds “Cascadian is a reference to the heavy use of hops from the Northwest region in the style. It is also in this region where many of the early examples were brewed.” CDA’s tend to be brewed with the likes of Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook and Cascade hops which are sourced from these regions, and feature notable hop-forward characteristics and a lower emphasis on roasted malt flavours, yet others have argued there is effectively little difference in flavour between Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale, and they have effectively cohabited each other.

[6] Em Saunter, Beer Style Guide: Get to Know Black IPA with Em Sauter, The Alcohol Professor, 25^th April 2023

[7] Jonny Garrett, Darkest Before the Dawn — The Unlikely Return of Black IPA, Good Beer Hunting, 6^th April 2021

[8] Later renamed Wild Raven.

[9] Louis Gunz, Raven Black IPA, Louis Gunz Beer Inc.

[10] Founder and head brewer of Kernel, Evan O’Riordan was also a member of the London Brewery Alliance.

[11] Beer Today: St. Austell Brewery

[12] Matt Curtis, Tasting Notes - Brodie's Dalston Black IPA, Tasting Ales, 26^th February 2012

[13] Simon Martin, Windsor And Eton Conqueror Black IPA By Windsor and Eton Brewery | Craft Beer Review, Real Ale Craft Beer, 24^th April 2011

[14] Alternative versions have also been released, including the extra strength Conqueror 1075 (7.3%) and rare versions including Irish Conqueror (5.8%) brewed with Irish Whiskey added to the cask, double dry-hopped Conqueror (5%), Ginger Conqueror (5%), and the festival special Caribbean Conqueror (5.8%) brewed with Rum added to the cask, brewed especially for the Hope Extreme beer festival in 2012.

[15] Jessica Boak, Ray Bailay, Tasting: Black Ales and IPAs, Boak and Bailey, 3^rd July 2014

[16] Looking forward to baron rating these EBBC13 ales, The Ormskirk Baron, 27^th April 2013

[17] They're Back: 8 Ball, Smog Rocket & Black Betty, Beavertown Brewery

[18] Patrick O’Connor, Bevvy of the Week: Beavertown – Black Betty, The Life of Stuff, 11^th March 2017 

Beer Review: Thornbridge Lord Marples

Name: Lord Marples

Brewery: Thornbridge

ABV: 4%

Style: Bitter

Location: Bakewell, Derbyshire

Aroma: Malty, fruity, hints of grassy hops and a dash of maramalade. 

Colour: Deep red with a fluffy one finger off white head.

Taste: Bitter, fruity, malt is clearly apparent in the foreground, giving it fruity and tart elements. The hops give it a bitter undercurrent that helps ground the flavours together. The mouthfeel is dry to cloying, overallit is medium bodied, not too heavy on the carbonation. 

Verdict: A decent session bitter with malt forward flavours, with a fruity overtones and a undercurrent of biterness that helps makes this a classic take on the time honoured style. The range of flavours help make up for its lack of strength and make it rather quabable. The use of bottle  conditioning adds to the development of the taste profile.

Rating: 8/10

St Albans Beer & Cider Festival 2024

Another year, another festival; at the end of last month I was down at the St Albans Beer & Cider Festival, which has been held at the Alban Arena since 1996. This visit was my fourth (since 2012) and I was eager to see what was different since my visit last year. There have been some changes since last year, in addition to their stalwart Herts, National and International Bars, this year they have included showcase bars for American cask beer producers and a regional spotlight bar for breweries based around Merseyside, along with brewery bars for new additions to the festival Oakham, Siren Craft Beer and Timothy Taylor's alongside established favourites like Mad Squirrel and Tring for example. As usual I attended on the final day of the festival, however unlike other festivals I've gone to in the past where I've often experienced a dearth of supplies, the organisers rather niftly made sure that a good number of beers and ciders were still in stock, even to the point of postponing the availability of some beers to later in the day; this came to my advantage as it gave us the oppertunity to try out more beers and ciders. 

For my first beer I went local, from a brewery that's only 4.7 miles away; I sampled English Ale (4%) by 3 Brewers, one of their flagship releases it is sold at a number of local pubs in the area, but I was intrigued to try this local offering, despite it's low sessionable strength, it was bitter and rather hoppy with strong malty notes, despite looking like your run-of-the-mill amber coloured ale, its potent mix of flavours made it seem stronger than its ABV suggests, although far from outstanding, it was a decent start to the proceedings. For my next beer I visited one of the brewery bars, and settled on Osset, a Yorkshire based brewery which encountered at last year's festival. I tried out some Voodoo (5%), although described by the brewery as a deliciously rich and full bodied stout, alas I was underwhelmed by the experience overall. Ganted it was smooth and creamy in mouthfell, with notes of coffee, chocolate and lactose making up for most of the flavour-profile. There was a mild hint of Orange somewhere in there, but it wasn't discenrable to the point that you couldn't really tell it was a Orange flavoured stout. Following a luncheon pie from the Real Pie Company, who have been regulars at the festival for a number of years, I sought to refresh my tastebuds and sample a Green Hop Beer. At this time of year, a number of breweries across the South East and the West Midlands produce these beers which involves brewing beers made with hops that were freshly picked within hours of brewing. This creates for a unique taste, so I went for the only such example avaialble at the festival, Green Hop Fuggles (4.2%) by Wantsum. One of a number of green hop beers by the brewery that showcase various hops, it has long been on my bucket list to try. From appearances it was your typical Golden Ale, but the flavours were more than otherwise. It was rather hoppy, exhuding grassy and floral notes that you can only get from freshly picked hops; it was richly dovetailed with a malty background that had hints of fruit, wood-smoke and tart elements. This beer was richly balance without being too hoppy, the brewers evidently understand how to take advantage of the flavour propertises from the hop variety. Needing some fresh-air I went back out into the courtyard and went in search of the Merseyside Bar. There were many beers to choose from, but I eventually settled on Peat Bog Porter (4.9%) by Big Bog brewery, whom at the time of writing have gone into administration so it was really the last chance to try it. Although described as a porter made with dark malts and real liquoriche root, I found it rather misleading. First their was lack of dark malts in the mix, far from looking a porter it resembled more a Brown Ale, which is popular in parts of Northern England. Otherwise it was malty, sweet with some fruitness present though the liquoriche flavours were rather muted which was rather a let down, when it promised so much. Feeling slightly bruised, I was still on the lookout for a proper traditional Porter, in the end I went to the Hertfordshire Bar, and tried out some London Porter (5%) by Mad Squirrel, another local brewer based in Potten End. Reasurringly it was dark, rich and smoky with a sharp bitterness in the foreground, supported by notes of roasted coffee and dark chocolate. It had a medium bodied mouthfeel with a touch of silky creaminess present, without being too cloying and heavy, with a dryness present on the back-end. For an old-school style Porter, it ticked all the boxes and delivered on the flavour front, it was easily beer of the festival in my opinion. 

After trying out a number of beers, we exited the festival for a brief sojurn down the Saturday market that is held weekly in this town. We passed along a bakery stall, and we purchased some baked goods to bring back with us, I ultimately went for a Pork Pie as I has cider on my mind. For the non beer drinkers, this festival caters for all, not only is there a Wine & Spirits bar, there is also the long-standing Cider and Perry bar, situated near the stage. A dizzying mixture of ciders and perries from various producers clogged the stands, varying in strength and flavour (from sweet to dry). My prefernce is generally for medium or sweet ciders, so I settled on Appley Dappley (5.2%) by Snails Bank. A rather unusual concoction, it combines bittersweet apples with Russet variety to create a distinct flavour, although I found it distinctly sweet, there was depth to the flavours. There were strong hints of vanilla and smokiness going on the background which added to the richness and flavour-profile of the cider, and although there was a hint of strength it was too noticeable, on the whole it was refreshing and rather quaffable cider, which went rather well with my Pork Pie, that helped bounce off and amplify the flavours. At this stage of the festival I usually go for stronger ales, although my senses were starting to diminish with every succesive drink. I ultimately went for The Union (6%) by Thornbridge, a classic English style IPA brewed using a Burton union set which the brewery recently acquired from Marstons. it certainly delivered on results, in the foreground their was a potent fruitness with hints of orange, caramel, oak and a whisp of sherry, this was backed up with a balanced hoppiness that deftly balanced with the other flavours without being overwhelming. The colour was a shimmering gold, whilst the mouthfeel was heavy bodied and cloying; this is not your typical IPA with overbearing notes of citrussy hoppiness, all the elements here combine into a maginficent showcase of flavours. For my final beer of the festival, I sampled Talk to the Palm (8.4%) by the London Brewing Company, another relatively local brewer (based in Finchley), I was keen to try out one of their beers, since I was eluded the oppertunity back at Ealing in July. A rather flavoursome Imperial Stout, although it was on the lower register of strength, the flavours were rather noticeable, there were distinct hints of sweetness, vine fruits with a background of spiciness from the bittersweet hops, thrown in was a potent malty background, that had notes of roasted and toasted bitterness without being too forceful, although there were hints of cocoanut it was difficult to determine in all this excitement; and at this strength beer starts tasting more like a spirit, and I sensed some vinous notes of Port and Sherry deep in the hedgrows, it was rounded off with a slick, heavy and creamy mouthfeel, that is typical of the style. 

The beer perfectly round off the proceedings, although by this time I was a little worse for wear, having sampled a great variety of beers. Whenever I visit a beer festival, I'm always on the lookout for variety in my glass, and it was great to see that this festival still had a number of options left avaiable, even on the last day. This festival is one of the biggest in the south-east and with the cessation of the Olympia as the venue for GBBF, along with Ealing it is one of the more high-profile festivals Londoners can easily travel to. For a Herts based beer festival, there is an excellent showcase of beers from producers around the county, but this deftly balanced by beers from producers based around the country, and the international, brewery and regional showcase bars make it seem like a condensed version of GBBF, with the slew of events such as cheese and beer tastings, auctions, talks and pub heritage tours adding to the proceedings. 50 years have passed since the first CAMRA beer festival was held at the Old Market Hall in March 1974, and in it's 27th year at the Alban Arena, the festival has helped showcase the vast nationwide legacy of breweries and beers that have come about over the years thanks to the pioneering efforts. This festival delivers on all fronts, and always provides a memorable and enjoyable experience for visitors. 

Beer Review: Thornbridge Jaipur

Brewery: Thornbridge

Style: IPA

ABV: 5.9%

Location: Bakewell, Derbyshire

Aroma: Distinctly fruity with tropical fruits such as pineapple, guava and grapefruit present; rather hoppy with hints of citrus permeating through in the background, with some residual tartness from the malt.

Colour: Straw coloured golden yellow with a hefty off white two finger head, which is unstandable given that they use low colour Maris Otter malt for their base. It is cloudy, which indicates that they don't use finings in the mix. 

Taste: Rather sharp and bitter with a background of maltiness cascading through. It has a creamy mouthfeel, without too much carbonation getting in the way. The menagerie of hops that include the likes of Chinook, Centennial,  Ahtanum, Simcoe, Columbus and Cascade rumble in the glass, trying to compete for attention, which helps give the beer its distinct flavour profile. Their is some hints of citrus fruit present, yet the overwhelming reliance of hops puts that quickly aside.

Verdict: A distinct and flavourful IPA that doesn't shy away from packing a punch to the tastebuds. The use of several different hops helps add to its overall flavour, yet the over-reliance of hops mutes the malty and fruity notes that help charecterise a traditional IPA, which somewhat takes away from the overall drinking experience. This beer is closer to a Brut IPA or NEIPA in style, so expect don't expect traditional flavours here. Although this flagship beer has won a number of awards for the brewery since it was first released in 2005, as an IPA I wouldn't rate this among my favourites.

Rating: 7/10

The Curious Case of Beer Flavoured Foods

It is well known that there are hundreds of dishes out there that use beer in their recipes, including stews, soups, battered fish, chilli-con carne, cake, bread, marinated meats and roasts. What is less known however is the small number of breweries who have engaged in producing food items infused with their own beers. This practise is albeit uncommon as its often difficult for breweries to find the extra space to produce food items, and where this does occur, the production is normally outsourced to another company. Such as the case when Everards collaborated with Leicester based company Drivers Pickles where they produced Tiger Ale Chutney infused with their flagship product Tiger Ale (4.2%), moreover Tring Brewery worked with Grim Reaper Foods to develop a hot sauce permeated with their powerful IPA Raven King (5.5%). Or more recently in February last year when Powys based brewery Monty’s teamed up with Get Jerky of Welshpool to develop Real Ale Beef Jerky, flavoured with their stout Dark Secret (5.5%). Although using beer in food can be seen as innovative, truthfully many of these products are hard to come by and often sold at brewery shops or on a limited strictly local basis; however, if you dig deeper, you’ll find a marvellous menagerie of beer flavoured food products situated throughout the land.

 

Quite often, you’ll find beer used in condiments such as Chutneys, Sauces and Mustard as its far easier to produce and implement that other food products; Hook Norton notably has a varied range with the likes of, Old Hooky Mustard Double Stout Chilli Mustard, Old Hooky Beer Chutney, Flagship Smooth Mustard and Haymaker Smooth Mustard for instance; whilst St Austell boasts the likes of Korev Sweet Chilli Sauce, Tribute Ale Chutney and Mena Dhu BBQ Sauce for instance; Chiltern features the likes of Dark Old Ale Chutney, Chiltern Ale Mustard and Chiltern Porter BBQ Sauce; and furthermore Andwell’s once featured a range of condiments in their range using their Resolute Bitter (3.8%) in the likes of Resolute Chilli Jam and Rich Resolutely Chutney, whilst King John (4.6%) was used in the regally named Royal Red Onion Marmalade. Sometimes specific beers may be used such as Theakston’s Old Peculier (5.6%) in products like Peculier English Country Mustard, Peculier Red Tomato & Chilli Jam and Peculier Apple, Peach & Apricot Chutney for instance; whilst Tring utilize Death or Glory (7.2%) in their Chutney and Wholegrain Mustard products respectively. Meanwhile, Thornbridge’s range of sauces are based around their iconic beer Jaipur (5.9%) and include the likes of Jaipur BBQ Sauce, Jaipur Mango & Pineapple Table Sauce and Jaipur Birthday Hot Sauce for instance.

 

Crisps always go well with beer, so it quite an occasion when the two are combined together. A notable case occurred in 2015, when Adnams teamed up with Fairfields Farm whom specialise in producing gourmet hand-cooked crisps, when they came up with Ghost Ship Crisps which were flavoured with the brewery’s iconic pale ale Ghost Ship (4.5%). It is quite rare to see breweries collaborate with crisp manufacturers, although through the years we have seen the likes of Roast Beef & Spitfire Ale (Kent Crisps), Hobgoblin Spitroast Steak (Burts) and more recently Steak & Butcombe Ale Pie Crisps (The British Snack Co.). Other types of pub snacks have also been tried, such as Adnams’ Ghost Ship Peanuts (Mr. Filberts), Tring’s Death or Glory Charcuterie Sticks (Chiltern Charcuterie), Monty’s Real Ale Beef Jerky (Get Jerky) or the humble Pickled Onion, which includes the likes of Peculier Pickled Onions (Theakston), Found Hope Beer Pickled Onions (Macintosh) and Fuggles Hop Pickled Onions (Chiltern) for instance. Notably in 2020, Grainstore Brewery released a range of flavoured pork scratchings that included a variety of flavours dervied from various beers in their extensive range including Rutland Panther (3.4%), Rutland Osprey (4%) and Ten Fifty (5%). Moreover, beer has often been noted as a reliable ingredient in pies, and in 2018 Pukka Pies released a Steak & Ale pie flavoured with St Peter’s Best Bitter (3.7%), whilst Burford based Cotswold Pie Co. created a Steak & Wadworth Ale Pie utilizing Wadworth’s flagship bitter 6X (4.3%) in the mix, this promising pie has gone onto win multiple awards including winning Silver at the British Pie Awards in 2021 and 2022, a 1 star at the Great Taste Awards the same year. Cheese has often been described as an appropriate accompaniment to beer since the number of beer and cheese pairings are infinite, which in turn has inspired some producers to produce cheeses infused with beer in the mix, cheddar is quite often seen as the cheese of choice due to its relatively mild qualities that marry well with the comparatively stronger flavours of beer. For instance, Chiltern recently released Chiltern Beer Cheese fortified with their Beechwood Best Bitter (4.3%), whilst the Cheshire Cheese Co. developed Old Hag which features the intriguing combination of cheddar, wholegrain mustard and Old Hag Stout (5.2%) by Macclesfield based brewer Wincle Beer, and Wensleydale Creamery once utilizd noted strong ale Riggwelter (5.7%) from Black Sheep Brewery, for their Fountains Gold Cheddar.

 

For the sweet tooth, marmalades and conserves are a popular option. Hook Norton notably developed Off the Hook Marmalade that utilized their Off the Hook (4.3%) with Seville oranges to create an unusual beer flavoured marmalade, meanwhile, Timothy Taylor has taken the innovative approach of mixing marmalade with their Poulter’s Porter (4.8%) to create a Porter Marmalade. They also teamed up with Botham’s of Whitby to create a fruit cake flavoured with Landlord (4.1%), other Yorkshire based breweries have also created their own Fruit Cakes including Theakston whom created a cake using Old Peculier (5.6%) and their close relations at Black Sheep Brewery who created a cake infused with Riggwelter (5.7%). Meanwhile at the tail end of the year, an increasing number of breweries have been releasing Christmas Pudding infused with their own tipples, quite often using ales from the stronger end of their range such Chiltern’s take on the festive classic which is flavoured with their Lord Lieutenant’s Cream Porter (6%), whilst Harvey’s of Lewes utilize their Christmas Ale (7.5%) in their concoction, and Adnams use Broadside (6.3%) with theirs. In 2015, Chelmsford based business Lillypuds established by Alison Lilly created a Christmas Pudding that utilized Chockwork Orange (6.5%) from Brentwood Brewery, in the first year alone she sold 600 puddings to shops around Essex and a further 500 mini-puds to local restaurants and pubs, this remarkable pudding continues to be sold on a yearly basis.  

 

The business of breweries infusing their beers with food products is still a cottage industry at present, but in recent years a growing number of breweries have joined the bandwagon, working with local and national food producers to create their own innovative creations; over the years, we have seen a whole manner of beers innovated with food, from marmalades infused with IPA to cheddar cheeses flavoured with bitter and fruit cakes macerated with strong ale. There’s even a growing selection of snacks to choose from beef jerky, pork scratchings and crisps, that are flavoured with all manner of beers. The possibilities are endless, and in the ensuing years as more breweries release their own beer flavoured food products, perhaps we’ll see a surge in productivity and availability as these products become available on a wider and potentially national basis.