The past 18 months have been incredibly difficult for all of us within the beer industry.
It’s been easily the most challenging period in Cloudwater’s existence. At times, we’ve wondered whether we’d make it through and honestly, we still have those moments now. At the same time, the beer industry feels like it’s become more fragmented. The imposition of physical distance and a shortage of human interactions have opened fractures within our community and we certainly regret some of the situations we've been part of, brought about in no small part by the pressure all of us have felt to survive and do the right thing by the teams who rely upon us. For much of the 18 months, we really missed working and relaxing with industry friends and we missed sharing drinks, laughs and lively chat in welcoming venues. So, our Together Again initiative is intended to rebuild bridges, bring people together and celebrate the connections made through beer. It’s a celebration of the friends we love working with, the independent venues that share our beer with enthusiastic drinkers and the bonds formed through deep conversation and easy laughter in those venues. These are some of the first in-person collaborations we’ve been able to brew this year and we’ve worked with seven different breweries on six beers that will be sold exclusively through independent pubs, bars and retailers. The breweries involved are all smaller breweries who we believe deserve your time and attention. All of them are creating excellent beer with a strong sense of identity and personality, working hard to forge their own paths and create sustainable futures in challenging circumstances. We’ve worked with them to create the following beers, which we’re really proud of: All the beers will be launched nationwide on Friday November 12th.
0 Comments
National American Beer Day is observed by beer drinkers across the nation every year on October 27. Though Americans love a good impoerted beer, they’ll set those aside on National American Beer Day to instead celebrate distinctly domestic lagers and ales brewed across the country.
Celebrate the day by sampling some American beers. Remember, you don't have to be in the United States to celebrate this unofficial holiday. Check out more American Beer History Here We will be launching 4 new Verdant collab DIPA's made with their fellow Cornish breweries. The beers are all single hop DIPA's using each breweries preferred yeast strain, compare and contrast the results:
Verdant x Black Flag: Doubling Down, 8% DIPA - Simcoe, Lalbrew Conan NE Yeast Verdant x Padstow: Doubling Down, 8% DIPA - Azacca, Lalbrew Voss Yeast Verdant x Pipeline: Doubling Down 8% DIPA - Nelson Sauvin, S-04 Yeast Verdant: Doubling Down, 8% DIPA - Idaho 7, Lalbrew Verdant IPA Yeast
Recently we met up with Deya in Cheltenham and toured the amazing state of the art brewery and new tap room. They also have a mixed fermentation and barrel ageing area within their old brewery, some exciting things brewing up for the future. Deya a renowned for their New England style beers and produce some of the UK's best, but they really want to excite people in all areas, hence our tap takeover has a wide range of different styles. They're still a young brewery and are experimenting in other areas, there's a lot more to come.
Our collab with them is a big Export Stout 11.3% - a recipe by Gareth the head brewer. It's made with all UK ingredients - mainly Maris Otter with Admiral, Bramling Cross and Phoenix Hops. The yeast is Deya's own House Blend. Can't wait to try this one, right in time for those dark nights around the bonfire. Caffeine is a stimulant to the central nervous system, and regular use of caffeine does cause mild physical dependence. But caffeine doesn't threaten your physical, social, or economic health the way addictive drugs do. Which is great to know, caffeine withdrawal can make for just a few bad days, like your hangover!
Pinta x Maltgarden Vanilla More Cocoa More Coffee Impy Stout // 9.6% Abv // 500ml Cooperation of PINTA and Maltgarden breweries, step two. Two imperial stouts with various additives - brewed according to a common recipe, and then combined and seasoned with coffee and maple syrup to enhance the experience. De Moersleutel Motorolie Coffee Imperial Stout // 12.0% Abv // 440ml Motorolie' is Dutch for engine oil: "without lubrication everything goes to devastation". This powerful Imperial Stout does indeed look like oil. Roasted malt aromas of coffee, chocolate and caramel are the most dominant. Siren Project Barista: Mucha Mocha Stout // 10% Abv // 440ml This series takes the relationship between coffee and beer in different directions, with four unique brews, four kinds of coffee used in different ways, in collaboration with four incredible independent roasters. Mucha Mocha is the big one - all the barrel aged coffee, chocolate and roasty goodness you could ask for. Seven Island FOVOS Imperial Coffee Stout // 12.0% Abv // 440ml Imperial stout brewed with Honduras coffee beans roasted by cafetierra roasters,tahitian vanilla and Canadian maple syrup. In technical terms, a stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a plethora of variations. The word ‘stout’ goes back to the Egerton Manuscripts of 1677, where it was documented that the first known use of the word stout was to describe ‘a strong beer’, and not a ‘dark beer’.
Before stout was actually a thing, most people were very much obsessed with the Porter style beer. Stout originally emerged as a stronger version of the porter - and was originally called ‘Stout Porter’. It eventually took off as its own style of beer, but with more depth because of the use of roasted barley. Most people who dive into the world of stout beer usually end up surprised to find out that a stout isn’t as heavy or strong as they thought it would be. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Most great stouts are complex with a low ABV and a touch of roastiness. Drier versions of stout are more appetizing and satisfying, while the sweeter styles of stout are silky and well rounded - and said to be perfect for an evening with a barbeque and drinks.
Hommage to myths, legends and folklore Brewed Fresh from Horsforth.A new nano brewery that specialises in strong and European styles of beer. The brewery and all of the beers are named after myths, legends and folklore. A passion and love of mythology and beer.
rn. Achilles Red Grape Imperial Saison // 12.3% Abv Achilles a Greek hero of the Trojan War Patroclus White Grape Imperial Saison // 12.3% Abv Patroclus a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed lover of Achilles. Kasogonagá Milkshake IPA // 6.5% Abv Argentina lighning takes the form of a small, hairy creature, the Owner of Storms. It is an anteater, or perhaps an elephant, with a long snout, long rainbow-colored hair, and four tiny feet. Piasa Breakfast Stout // 8.2% Abv Piasa Bird is a Native American mythical creature depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on cliffsides above the Mississippi River.
.Here's some of the beers you can expect to be available for purchase this week:
Pomona Island, an award winning craft brewery based in Salford, have entertained us with some of the best and most appropriate beer names we've seen to date. Bringing back that warm nostalgic feeling with each reference they come out with, whether it's an old quote from a movie or an album/song title long forgotten.
The Moon is a Hollow Spacecraft
Several science fiction books of the early 20th century, including H.G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon, take place within a hollow moon inhabited by aliens. In 1970 two Soviet scientists took this seemingly whimsical premise a step further, proposing that the moon is actually a shell-like alien spacecraft built by extraterrestrials with superior technology and intelligence. According to astronomers, the moon—though admittedly enigmatic as far as celestial bodies go—couldn’t maintain its mass and gravitational field if it lacked a dense core. (Read Hollow Moon) Our first tap takeover since pre-covid - we are lucky to have the team from Nova Runda in Croatia in house at Lendal on Saturday 4th September. Come down and meet them, they are the number one craft brewery in Croatia. Here's the tap line up for the day, some fantastic beers to try! Fruit Expo // NE IPA with Passion fruit and Guava // 7.5% Abv // Untappd 8.6% Fruity Collab with Croatian breweries Varionica and Zmajska Pivovara Apricot Biscuit // Pastry Sour with Apricots // 5.4% Abv // Untappd 3.88 Beer Cake series has only one goal - to experiment with different ingredients which power up basic beer ingredients. Apricot biscuit is a beer brewed with vanilla, lactose, and a lot of apricots! Blueberry Pancake // Pastry Sour with Blueberries // 5.9% Abv // Untappd 4.01 Pastry sour brewed with lactose, vanilla, and large quantities of blueberries. Strataspheric Discharge // NE IPA // 6.1% Abv // Untappd 4.09 All those hops concentrated in the atmosphere needed one powerful discharge. Strata is falling from the sky!!! DA-IPA // NE IPA // 5.7% Abv // Untappd 3.88 Hazy? Hoppy? Hell yeah! Columbus, Citra and Simcoe are band members in this ho(i)ppy van full of fruity instruments! Top Manager // NE PA // 5.3% Abv // Untappd 3.87 Mosaic, Citra and Styrian Wolf are fruity ingredients in this New England pale ale. Modern twist to classic American pale ale, Top Manager is your Summer Go-To beer! C4 // American IPA // 6.1% Abv // Untappd 3.91 IPA made with 4 hops. Chinook, Citra, Centennial and Cascade. Back to Mars // NE IPA // 7.2% Abv // Untappd 3.8 When you're smuggling booze to Mars, you have to be sure it's worth the trouble. NEIPA brewed with Vic Secret, Citra and Chinook. For more info on Nova Runa visit their website here.
Here's one of Nova Runda's favourite Croatian bands to get you into that beer drinking mood.
Nova Runda have also collabed with Croatian band ThroaTTwisteR - Check them out here
After 40 years apart will they get back together - wait and see here - https://abbavoyage.com/ Kutná Hora is an old medieval town whose importance, prosperity and size nearly comparable to Prague at the time and this was mainly due to the local silver mines. No wonder then that it had established its brewery as early as 15th century which in turn that soon became notorious for high-quality beer. This has remained the case up until modern ages when Heineken bought the brewery only to close it within the brief period of time.
The closure brought about a major frustration among beer drinkers as the brand was being loved by locals and doing very well on the market. Luckily, this was not to last for long as a local entrepreneur restarted brewing at the same historical premises and the brewery is at high demand again. There is a reason: The Kutná Hora 12 is now considered one of the best pilsener type Real Bohemian Lager on the market. Original ingredients, double mashing, open fermentation and traditional cellars are all parts of the fantastic heritage, therefore this beer is now enjoyed not only locally, but also in Prague and many other European markets. Švankmajer’s film Otesánek (Little Otik, or Greedy Guts, 2000), an adaptation of a Czech fairy tale [by Karel Jaromír Erben] about a tree stump, a piece of wood that looks like a baby and comes to life and gobbles everything up. It’s got Švankmajer’s distinctive stop-motion animation in it, and is this dark and satirical fairy tale film, a bit like Tim Burton but much more sophisticated and intelligent – it will really blow you away. You won't have seen anything like Little Otik before.
Hotpath is a hot series of mammoth Imperial Oatmeal Stouts that have been allowed to lie and ripen together with various chili fruits. A warming 13.4% Abv!
Hotpath Imperial Chili Stout - 001 Chipotle Morita - The ragged and slightly smoky Chipotle Morita that gives tones of tobacco and a clear heat at the end Hotpath Imperial Chili Stout - 002 Pasilla - The mild variety Pasilla that gives tones of raisins, chocolate and leather. Hotpath Imperial Chili Stout - 003 De Arbol - The relatively hot and somewhat unknown variety De Arbol that gives tones of herbs, berries, a little smoke and ends with clear heat.
At Trembling Madness we will be doing our upmost to keep the businesses open whilst infections are high. In order to do that we must protect the staff as much as possible. We've managed to stay open with 35% of staff isolating, but we could not stay open beyond that. Our plan is to not go back to full capacity immediately but to sustain the comfortable enviroment we have already, common sense goes out the window with the introduction of alcohol so we must take some responsibilty. Our Lendal site has basement and attic rooms that have been shut due to us not being able to maintain table service. From the 19th we are now allowing them to open with bar service, on the current floors we will do our upmost to maintain table service with the option that you can go to the bar.
We recommend wearing masks, and use the Japanese social distancing method known as “the three Cs,” referring to closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with many people nearby and close-contact settings such as close-range conversations. With 1 in 3 Covid cases being classed as asymptomatic our staff will continue to wear masks. Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands surged eightfold this week to their highest levels in a year after restrictions in nightclubs were lifted. Their Prime Minister apologised after conceding that the restrictions were lifted too soon, some curbs are now reimposed on bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Will Baffoon* Boris do the same? Who knows but it's quite likely. (*a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior // a person who lacks good judgment) We are continuing our superb sameday York deliveries 7 days a week plus our growler fill service on the bars. So whatever happens we will make sure you can have some quality drinks. Our national 24 hour service has been a tremendous success and we have draughted in more staff to maintain our standards and offer you the best prices and products we can find. And finally, a massive thank you for all your support and custom. We will be back offering more food, more seating and more events very very soon. Love and light, a completely knackered Ian & Madness team x |
blog spotWe'll try to update everyone with anything that's exciting or new. Give us some feedback! archives
February 2024
|