The twitching dismay on the faces of regular Brewster’s drinkers as they eyed up the dark beer before them, has been reported into us from bars about the area. We can imagine the scenario, they ordered the Brewster’s Wicked Woman complacent in the knowledge that the brewers would deliver up to them another pale and hoppy epic. This time, a dark beer was  pulled and presented. Resignation to one pint of the darkness may have followed, after all Brewster’s are adequate brewers, it couldn’t be that bad.

But one sniff was all it would take to separate out Cruella from the other malty  stouts and porters, this mother wants to be a Black IPA. When those hoppy aromas hit their olfactory organs they’ll have known the hop taste was going to be big to work against the malt. The dominating hop flavours were fruity, juicy, citrus limes and they melded deep into the rich roast body. Momentarily across the drinkers mind it may have occurred to them that they had just drunk a beer that had challenged their visual and oral perceptions. And then regathering their composure, it is highly likely they asked “how can you have such a beer as a black IPA?”

Terry Kay has reviewed Brewster’s Porter

Hope you enjoy this video review by Terry Kay aka The Beer Goggles Review. It’s good fun and Terry is a real character. Who else could slip the words “a naughty orgy” into a review of beer. Cheers

We think its a great name but the beer has very little to do with winter when you think this fantastic beer has been liberally hopped with gorgeous sun soaked New Zealand aroma lupulins.

We pimped the malt grist this year, pale pilsner malt  accented with a splash of Carafa and Carared malts from the German malting specialists, Weyerman located in Bamgerg. There is a real depth and dimension to the malt side.

For hop grist, Motueka and Nelson Sauvin were added through the boil to capture some of the different elements of the precious hop oil fractions. The lemoney lime citrus from the Motueka melds with the sweet malt to hint of grapefruit bitterness. The Nelson overlays with a winey passionfruit and fresh mango. Mmmmm Deeeelish.

The aroma is really rich tropical fruits and it carries through into the flavour which balances really nicely as the subtle touch of  roast malts play on the citrus hops to give the beers its fruity characteristic…

We have added a new beer this Christmas, it is called Ho Ho Ho, (how could we resist the Junior Brewster’s first foray into marketing). At 4.8% it is in  Wicked Woman territory and it encapsulates a certain independent attitude that only British hops can bring. Golden but with great aroma and substance from Bramling Cross (spicy berries), First Gold (orange) and Pioneer (lemony grapefruit).    Wicked \m/

We are also bringing back that Christmas party favourite,  Yule Do, watch out for the mistletoe everyone! At 4.3% pale, crystal and chocolate malts give  a rich red colour and depth of malt flavour. English hops meld with the malt to give a full depth of flavours. We have chosen Fuggles and its best mate, Goldings for that traditional smooth lightly spiced aroma.  Then we went a bit mad and loaded in Bramling Cross for its spicy berries and First Gold for its citrus orange character.  Merry Christmas every one.

Babylonian Brewster Second Millenium BC

Did you know that women were the original brewers of beer? For the majority of beer’s thousands years of history, women were the primary beer brewers because beer was food and women were in charge of food production. All the deities of beer are female, including the Sumerian goddess Ninkasi.

Nowadays there is a dearth of female brewers so Jane Peyton, Principal of the School of Booze and Sara Barton Owner and founder of Brewster’s Brewery are on a mission to inspire more women to brew and drink beer.

Beer is full of nutrition, and in moderation, has proven health benefits. The connection with beer and bellies is a myth!

If you’re a women and fancy having a go at brewing beer then why not enter a competition to invent your very own beer. Whoever wins will brew their beer alongside Sara Barton. And it may even go on sale through Brewster’s outlets! To make this competition even tastier, entrants will take inspiration from Britain’s leading producer of Fairtrade chocolate, Divine and devise a beer recipe inspired by one of their brands. If the brand is Divine Dark Chocolate with Orange and Ginger then the beer recipe might be a pale ale containing lemongrass and citrus hops.

So why not become a 21st century goddess of beer and enter the competition to
brew Ninkasi’s Nectar. We want to hear from you!

N.B. Competition ends on December 31st 2011.

For more details about the competition please see:
http://www.school-of-booze.com/ninkasis-nectar-brewing-competition

Or contact: Ninkasi@school-of-booze.com

Beer & Divine Chocolate Tasting Matches
http://www.divinechocolate.com/getinvolved/tasting.aspx

Press Contact:  Jane Peyton, Principal of the School of Booze
Tel: 07729 601 590 Email: jane@school-of-booze.com

How does this work with our new beer. Well it all started with Hophead, a pure sweet vivacious little 3.6% cask ale. It gets the “pimp treatment” the ABV is vamped up to 4.8% and cold fermented with a Pilsner style yeast. American West Coast Hops meet Eastern European fermentation. The result a Wicked Woman Pilsner style beer with a hoppy sensual bite. A New World Pilsner.  Now it’s your chance to be vampire slayer.

Until circa 1600 the majority of brewers in England were women.  Brewing was low status, low paid work largely performed primarily by women in the home as part of their household duties. At the time Ale was a staple of the diet providing valuable nutrition, a safe source of drinking water, and fun! Surplus ale was sold by middle-women called ale-wives, hucksters, or tipplers.

So how are the classic witch motifs connected with female brewers?

The famous Witches of Belvoir Castle are local to us. The cat allegedly used to curse the family was called Rutterkin and we named of one of our beers after it.

Cats, malted cereal is an essential ingredient in brewing.  Cats keep hungry vermin at bay and prevent mice and rats from eating the malts.

The Broom, an everyday household implement that also resembles an ale-stake.   An ale-stake was a pole to which twigs or greenery were attached at one end. By law, purveyors of ale had to display an ale-stake above their door as a sign to customers, and the authorities that ale was sold at those premises.

Mother Bunch, a famous Alchemist of ale and good time girl

Boiling Wort ?

The bubbling cauldron,  ale is made by mashing water and malt together then boiling the resultant wort. Before electricity was used for heat, cooking was done over a fire in a metal container. When the wort cooled, the yeast went to work creating a bubbling froth as it fermented sugars in the brew. In the medieval period people did not understand what yeast was.  To them something supernatural happened as water and cereal was transformed into alcohol.  In other words, it was magic.

So Why Were Women Edged Out of Brewing?

In medieval England there was a revolution in brewing when hops were introduced from Europe.  Hops give aroma, flavour, bitterness, and are a natural preservative. In the medieval period ale contained no hops, but beer did. Ale went sour very quickly but the hops in beer gave it a longer shelf life which meant brewing became a lucrative trade as beer could be transported to new markets without losing its quality as quickly as ale did.

With increased profits men started to enter the brewing profession. Trade guilds were formed as England became progressively urbanized. Society needed a regular source of ale and beer and so the authorities restricted its production to a small group of reliable brewers who were members of the brewing guild.  Women were not permitted to join guilds and were edged out of brewing. Rumours were often spread about the local Brewster – questioning the quality of her ale; suggesting that she cheated customers; that she was dirty; or that she kept a disorderly ale-house. Witch hunting in Medieval England was rife so it was simple to ostracise a woman from society by accusing her of witchcraft. Brewsters were likely to be strong intelligent business women who would have a mind of their own.  How easy would it be to accuse a female brewer of being a witch and conveniently remove the local brewing rival? Does this explain the connection between the brewer’s tools of trade and the popular image of a witch?

If you have any more thoughts or information please do add them on in the comments.

]]> http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/does-sara-deserve-a-good-ducking/feed/ 0 brewstersbrewery Duckingstool Bot_witches_s The Alewife Mother Bunch Witches Cauldron http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/the-first-of-the-brewsters-sessions-at-the-malt-cross/ http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/the-first-of-the-brewsters-sessions-at-the-malt-cross/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:29:28 +0000 Brewsters Brewing Company http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/?p=519 Continue reading →]]> Some days you just fancy live music in a chilled out intimate venue while relaxing with a tasty pint of session cask ale. The Malt Cross in Nottingham does this perfectly. After a quick conversation about how to launch their new house beer, Music Hall, the guys at the Malt Cross knew just what to do and put the wheels in motion. Out sprung plans for the first of the Brewster’s Sessions. It takes place at the Malt Cross with Cecille Grey on Thursday 27th October at 8pm.

It’s a bit of a play on words, the Brewster’s Sessions used to be the old Public House licensing sessions held at the Magistrates Court. The Malt Cross are adding a new session beer, Music Hall, brewed by us and we are having a bit of a music session to boot.

This is how the Cecille Gray are described

Imagine Regina Spektor meets Laura Veirs at a Rooibos tea party hosted by Françoise Hardy. Captivating performances, beautifully mournful and filled with melodic anti-oxidants.  Cecille Grey are not jazz or French pop. You can come and catch their beautifully crafted and chilled out set from 8pm

See you on the 27th  Cheers

]]> http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/the-first-of-the-brewsters-sessions-at-the-malt-cross/feed/ 0 brewstersbrewery brewsters-sessions clip http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/special-beer-for-the-malt-cross/ http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/special-beer-for-the-malt-cross/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:15:00 +0000 Brewsters Brewing Company http://brewstersbrewery.wordpress.com/?p=512 Continue reading →]]> We have brewed a special beer for the Malt Cross in Nottingham. They were looking for a malty beer but with a pronounced hop note. We think we have delivered on the spec. On top of a rich malt grist of pilsner, crystal and chocolate malt we have overlayed Cascade, Centennial,  Citra and Galaxy hops to produce a stunning session beer; even if we say so ourselves.

The Malt Cross is an old Victorian music hall in Nottingham. It is now a wonderful Café Bar and music venue.