One of the key challenges facing any Brewer is maintaining the quality and consistency of the product in the face of natural variations in raw materials. Never is this more so than at this time of year, when the change is made to the new season's crop.
We use only the finest Maris Otter barley malt in all our beers. This variety was introduced in 1966 and although more modern varieties are cheaper and give better yields through the brewhouse, there is something magical about Maris Otter. It is like a lucky rabbits foot to Brewers, it performs well through the brewery and gives beers a distinct flavour. We have tried other varieties, but always come back to Maris Otter and probably always will.
As with most crops, the strange weather this year has had an impact on malting barley. April and May were hot and dry and were followed by a cool wet June and July. This has meant that yields are low this year. Malt prices usually mirror other commodity food crops such as wheat. The current wheat prices are at record highs, mainly due to climactic influence, be it drought in Canada or flooding and storms in central Europe. As a result, our malt prices are up by nearly 30%.
www.fawcett-maltsters.co.uk
www.crispmalt.com
Hops are to brewers what grapes are to wine makers. They are added to beer for two purposes. The first is to give the beer its bitterness, the second is the aroma derived from the hop.
We routinely use six hop varieties:
Goldings
This is the traditional old English aroma hop dating from as early as 1790. It has a lovely, sweet aroma with just a hint of golden syrup.
Fuggles
This is another classic English variety which was derived from a chance seedling around 1900. It remains a great variety for brewing hoppy ales.
Northdown
A crisp, robust hop which imparts a rounded bitterness and a rich, fruity aroma.
This is the only foreign hop we use routinely and it is the key component of our Hereford Pale Ale. Grown in Slovenia, it delivers a lovely delicate perfumed citrus aroma to the beer.
Target
The classic English bittering hop with very distinct small 'bullet' cones which really pack a punch.
Bramling Cross
This hop was bred in 1927 from a cross between a Golding and a wild Manitoban male hop. It has an instantly recognisable spicey/blackcurrant aroma and good bittering qualities.
Around October comes one of the highlights of the brewing year, the visit to our local the hop merchant, Charles Faram. Each year we carefully select samples from the harvest and rub them between the palms of the hands in order to release their magical aroma. We choose not only which farm the hops come from, but which yard and even which bale. Once the best are selected, the merchant packs the hops into vacuum packs to retain the quality of the hops throughout the year.
This year has been an incredibly turbulent one in the hop markets. Floods in the UK hit Herefordshire and Worcestershire - one of the two key hop growing regions in the Country. Many hop yards were entirely submerged. Furthermore, storms hit one of the American growing areas and also Slovenia, devastating the crop just before harvest. This has lead to a worldwide shortage of hops and as a result, prices have rocketed. We are paying on average 140% more for our hops this year than last!
On the plus side, the quality of the hops we have been able to procure is excellent.
www.wellhopped.co.uk