I beat my 4:15am alarm by fifteen minutes and can hardly contain the excitement of my first trip to Northern Ireland, let alone getting back behind the paddle to brew our next collab. Making my way through the sleepy old world of Shrewsbury, I reflect on how the next collab idea came about.

Chris Morris, of Modest Beer, had dropped me an email at the end of January to see what plans we had for St. Patrick’s Day (at that point, we didn’t have many…). I was stoked to hear from Chris, as Ash had kindly shared the Modest box he had for photography and, well, If you haven’t tried Modest Beer before, you’re in for a treat.

Chris is a one-man-band operation, brewing some of the finest hazy beers around. What I like about their box (which features 9 cans and tasting notes), is that ABV tends to stay around 4-6%. You do get some that will sneak over or below, but that sessionable range is my sweet-spot at the moment, and the flavours Chris is able to pack in to his beer is outstanding.

We jumped on a call together and what started as being a box featuring a couple of NI breweries soon turned into a bigger collaboration, featuring 6 breweries from the Island of Ireland, 11 cans, including an exclusive collab DIPA chucked in for good measure. We reached out to all the breweries who were happy to be involved and a date was set for the collab brew.

Having now made it safely across the water, I’m stood outside Belfast airport waiting for my ride from the Bullhouse team. It was my first-time meeting both Mark and Gary and I was particularly excited to meet Mark as I know he’s been a subscriber of ours for some time.

We drove about an hour Northwest and got to where Modest Beer is located, high above Randalstown in Country Antrim, with beautiful views overlooking Lough Neagh. Sam from Lacada, and Michael from Our Brewery were awaiting our arrival with Chris. It was bloody cold, but we were fortunate for a clear day to be able to see the views.

One of the best views of the day though was of Chris’s brew kit. It is a small set up, but unlike any other kit I’ve seen before. It’s manufactured by Brewiks and all tanks are sat on casters so he can move them around as he pleases. It’s pretty-state-of-the-art but also has fair amount of getting your hands dirty (I left the digging of the mash out to Gary and Sam).

The Beer
This one-off Brewser exclusive collab beer is a creamy and soft DIPA packed full of Motueka and Citra, bringing punchy tropical fruit flavours, sweet lime and orange.
ABV: 7.6%
Hot Side Hops: Idaho 7, Mosaic
Dry Hop: Citra, Citra Cryo, Motueka

With the hard work done (by everyone else), we made a beeline for Belfast to visit the Bullhouse East taproom. We were honoured to also be joined by the one and only Neil Delargy (REFTSC5EFKMWY – IYKYK). If you’re heading to Belfast, this taproom is a must-visit. Everything from your craft bar heaven: the three-piece foldable beer tables, 20 taps of draught to choose from, a beer fridge stocked with all sorts of delicious beery goodness and of course, pizza! We were well looked after by our hosts and would like to thank all the staff for a great night.

You’ll hear it a lot from everyone in the industry, ‘one of the best things about craft beer is the community and the people that work in this industry.’ Northern Ireland is no exception, in fact it’s hard to find a stronger community of craft beer lovers anywhere.

The restrictions and licensing laws of NI make it extremely difficult for these independent breweries to get their beers out and therefore promote craft beer to a wider audience. Outside of the 2-3 taprooms in Belfast, I understand that a mere 20 keg lines are free for local breweries, out of 1,100 pubs. Big beer and drinks companies own all of the lines and therefore only their products are allowed to pour, that’s what keeps this craft beer community so tight and passionate about their beer, you have to work hard to make it, and drink it.

We’ve brought together the best breweries from the Island of Ireland for this special box. This is your chance to sample some of their most-loved beers, try something new and support these fantastic teams – all in celebration of St Patricks Day.

So put down that pint of Guinness and pick up Lacada’s Shamrock Pinnacle whilst you thank the brew gods for independent brewing and the joy of discovering something new.

Sláinte! 

Something different for me this month and a box of cider!

I’ve gone for the Intro to Little Pomona box, and as a bonus for all of February, if you lock in any Little Pomona box you’ll get a voucher for a free tour, tasting and cheese matching at their cidery, which you can use between April and September. 

These four 750ml bottles are all really different and fascinating for a flavour nerd like me. I had a quick sip in my opening video, but I needed much more time to really taste my way through them, and I was rewarded by some of the most complex and wonderful drinks I’ve tasted in a long time. 

Hard Rain Hot Pink 2022 is only 3.4% but you’d never guess that from the taste. It’s an impressive, impactful ciderkin (that’s a weak cider) blended with blackcurrant cordial made local to the cidery, and matured with Simcoe hops. There’s all the tangy apples, tart blackcurrant, the pungent hops, a nice refreshing fizz and a light acidity. This is nothing like a cider and black you may have drunk growing up!

The Table Perry (7% ABV) is the first drink I’ve ever been told to use a sieve when pouring it out, and that’s because of the ‘perry diamonds.’ This is just natural tannins which clump after bottling, and while they’re fine to drink, you can just use a little sieve or tea strainer to remove them. And that’s a good idea because it leaves you with a much crisper perry. This has a lovely pear flavour, juicy fruit but also light tannins and dryness, with some tropical fruitiness, all of which reminded me of a beautiful pet nat sparking wine. This is one of the best drinks I’ve had recently. 

Balls Bittersweet 2021 (7.9%ABV ) is named after an unusual Herefordshire apple, and this cider is aged in third-use oak barrels. It’s really dry, tannic, has some light smokiness, even a creaminess, and a really nice fizz. Every sip gave me something different to think about and enjoy, and let me taste an apple I’d never even heard of before. Lovely!

Still Life with Quince 2020 (7.1%) is an apple and quince wine and it’s really aromatic with the apple and the quince, plus a really tropical quality and something creamy, like funky papaya or even some blue cheesiness (in a good way!). It’s a still cider and another one that’s remarkably complex. It’s reminiscent of old lambic.

This is a brilliant box for anyone interested in cider and perry, and for drinkers who love sour beers, sparkling wines and natural wines. I think you’ll be really impressed with this box.

Nanna is the Creative Director at Pretty Decent Beer Co. She is behind the brand’s look and feel, and most importantly, the beer labels – no mean feat given the ‘interesting’ beer names she is tasked with bringing to life. We had a few questions for Nanna…

The beer names at PDBC can be quite tenuous. How do you go about bringing them to life?
I’ll start with a little solo brainstorm session in my sketchbook. I jot down references that come to mind and I’ll make a couple of doodles in the hope that something will emerge that will make sort of sense. If all fails, stick eyes on it!!

Where do you find your inspiration?
Definitely not from the briefs I get! It’s funny how anything can spark an idea. Like something I saw on the back of a bus, while stuck behind it on my bike. An elderly couple on a tandem that I pass every morning on my way to the brewery, will feature on an upcoming release. I’m also an avid collector – I’ve got more ceramic statues of cats and dogs than my other half is happy with. It all feeds into my work.

What beer label did you enjoy creating the most and why?
Ooh, difficult one!! I really enjoyed working on ‘Have You Heard The Live Version’. I got to draw some icons of the LA glam rock/hair metal scene: big hair, leopard prints, flying V guitars, Axl Rose in white cycling shorts. And it’s always a joy to work on two of our returning characters, an arsey penguin and a polar bear that holiday together and bicker.

We’ve heard a rumour that James (Co-founder) often tries to shoehorn faecal references into the beer names – do you ever struggle to create imagery?
Haha no I don’t! In recent months we’ve had a shiny turd, a Stonehenge made from portaloos and – in dedication of our pink toilet block – a toilet brush, a bottle of Duck and e-coli taking selfies. So, from a creative perspective I’d never say no to a faecal reference, but we do have to keep in mind that we are trying to sell a tasty beverage!

How would you describe Pretty Decent’s personality?
Fun, friendly, self-deprecating, ill thought out! Walking to the beat of their own drum.

Other than Pretty Decent, what’s a beer brand that you love for its design?
Ooh so many to choose from, there is lots of amazing stuff around! Baron uses great illustrations. I love how they vary in style but their cans still have a very coherent and recognisable look. Gotta love a bit of white space!

If you’d like to see Nanna’s work in the flesh, and try the epic beers that Pretty Decent produce – head over to their profile and explore their huge 12-can showcase!

Like many good ventures, Modest Beer was born in a parent’s garage in Holywood (with one L) when Chris Morris, a tax accountant by day, brewed a small experimental batch of Kölsch for a friend’s restaurant. The beer was a quick success, pleasing man and spreadsheet alike, inspiring both parties to collaborate long term and for Chris to build a proper brewery.

Whilst the brewery started out at the end of 2019 as a side project for Chris while he continued to work full-time, it quickly outgrew the original premises and is now a full-time operation in a commercial unit located 30 miles up the road in Randalstown, County Antrim. 

Whilst the name of the brewery does a lot of the heavy lifting, one of the core values behind Modest Beer is ‘appreciating life’s smaller joys’. This is exemplified through the simplicity of the design and language that we like to use, and also by our approach to brewing. Simplicity not to be mistaken for basic or budget, because there is an emphasis on high quality, considered details, and refined finishes. We love to take time to ‘stop and smell the roses’ here and we want the taste of a Modest Beer to be something that reminds you to pause and appreciate it for what it is. 

One of our recent releases – a Fresh Hopped Harvest Beer brewed exclusively with Northern Irish grown Fuggles hops – is a shining example of this approach. With deep notes of caramel, toffee and digestive biscuit from the Crisp heritage and speciality malt base, and a herbaceous and spicy finish from the fresh hops, it’s the perfect Autumnal sup (now available in the Modest Beer showcase boxes for December and January).

Do you know what Fresh/Green hops are and why you should care? To help answer that question, we’ve linked a thought-provoking article written my Matthew Curtis (award winner writer, photographer and broadcaster) written for the for the Get ‘Er Brewed Blog, entitled “Lose the Lederhosen — On Green Hopped Beers and The UK’s Appropriation of Oktoberfest” for your morning coffee break.

Oktoberfest UK – Get Er Brewed Blog

Don’t misunderstand us, we like donning lederhosen as much as the next person, but while we have a glut of fresh hops down the road and the stunning beauty of Autumn closing in, you’ll forgive us for not giving two hoots of a tuba.

www.brewser.beer/brewery/modest-beer

Six collaboration brew days across the UK in the space of a couple of weeks was a daunting prospect at the start of 2023’s Xmas ProjectX. Thankfully, craft breweries are known for their hospitality, and we relished the opportunity to catch-up with many of our partners in person. There are fewer hospitable breweries than the father-and-son run Pastore Brewing in Waterbeach near Cambridge. I headed there on a crisp October morning to help brew Cosmic Snowball – the Pastore x Vault City collaboration imperial sour based on a Snowball Cocktail.

After a short walk through the beautiful Waterbeach village, I was greeted by the ever-smiling Chris and Ben Shepherd – the father and son behind Pastore. By the way, if you’re wondering how it should be pronounced, it’s “Pas-tor-ray” – Italian for ‘Shepherd’. Both being big Wolves fans, it was only right that we discussed the start of the season over a coffee before meeting the rest of the team and the wonderful brew kit that they work on. With the brew underway, Chris and I went to pick up lunch, and I got to learn more about two of the friendliest people in the business. As well as developing his brewing skills on a 50L kit focussing on Belgian Dubbel, Chris has worked most of his career as a software engineer. He taught Ben how to brew at home, and Ben went on to study brewing at Heriot Watt, travel the US, and come up with the idea for a mixed-ferm brewery. This combined love of old and new-world mixed-ferm beers gives Pastore’s beers their characteristic style to this day.

I asked the team about their process for coming up with new recipes, and here’s what they said:

“When devising beer ideas at Pastore, we usually start by identifying a theme (e.g. cocktails! fruit crumbles!), and then bombarding each other with ideas that fit, however loosely, said theme. We seek to design beers that fit not just the theme but that also take other factors into account – so the choice of cocktail we’re seeking to mimic, or the fruit selection, will be influenced by many factors including seasonality. From that point, we work backwards from the idea to a recipe and brew process. We are super flexible on fruits and other adjuncts, including natural flavourings and / or extracts where these will add value to the flavour profile we are seeking. We never add lactose, though, and all our sours contain living yeast and lactobacillus cultures (not kettle-soured, not pasteurised). Over the years we’ve gotten better at understanding what will make a great-tasting beer and have grown more confident with our use of ingredients and the ways in which we combine them. And when collaborating with skilled beer designers from other breweries, the fusion of experience and ideas can lift things to a whole new level!”

Pastore’s mission is to help make the UK a centre of modern, innovative sour and mixed-fermentation brewing. With their attention to detail, charismatic style and wonderful taproom, Pastore are doing all they can to raise the profile of sour and mixed-ferm beers in Waterbeach and beyond. I loved spending the day with the team and learning about their past and present, almost as much as I loved trying Cosmic Snowball at our Birthday party – it’s a triumph!

Turning Point Brew Co. is run by a small team of beer lovers with a clear mission: brew their favourite beers and have a good time. Their site recently located to Knaresborough, after two (and a bit) years at the original site in Kirkbymoorside.

The brewery launched into orbit in 2017, with Aron & Cameron calling time on the day jobs and never looking back. Since then, Turning Point have been busy brewing as many unique beers as possible. Whilst modestly honing their craft, they are learning everything they can about the mysterious liquid, and trying their damnedest to cram as much fun into every minute of it as possible.

Alongside the brewery is the incredible taproom Turning Point Taproom in Knaresborough, but you can also get the full Turning Point experience at The Outpost (Spark) and The Falcon, both in York. They invite you into their little world filled with hops, good music, and space travel.

Turning Point’s showcase delivers everything you’d expect from this amazing team. Keep those eyes peeled for a super special Dark Box being released for Winter 2023…

www.brewser.beer/brewery/turning-point-brew-co

Rivington Brew Co is home to one of the greatest craft beer locations in the country. A spot that showcases the beauty of the local area, and the beer that comes from it. We were lucky enough to visit Rivington Brew Co not too long ago for High Hills Fest and to brew our latest collab (At Least You Landed It), where we met 17-yr old brewer – Hattie.

Having worked in Rivington’s taproom, Hattie wanted to learn more about brewing, but wasn’t sure how to get the ball rolling… The stars aligned when she found out she could enrol in Nottingham’s Brewing Apprenticeship program and gain hands-on experience in Rivington’s brewery. Hattie says the apprenticeship attracted her because she could leverage practical learning whilst developing her technical skills in science and maths.

But she had to forge her own path, with very little information available at school about how to get into brewing. After a conversation with Rivington’s Ben, a day spent in the brewery and confirming she was eligible for Nottingham’s program, she didn’t look back. Unfortunately, young women in brewing are a rarity, and Hattie recognises more can be done to make brewing a more accessible career path for young people. She suggests that more talks in schools from brewers, more women in brewing events, and more conversation with female brewers would help make the industry less intimidating.

Hattie’s open to any young prospective brewers reaching out to her to ask questions about her journey so far – so if you, or anyone you know, is looking to start a career as a brewer, don’t pass up that opportunity! @hattielily8166 on Instagram. And a huge thanks to Hattie and the Rivington team for hosting us and letting us share this story!

To celebrate the release of Duration’s limited edition Lager and Mixed Ferm box, we’re diving a little deeper into the story of this special, rural brewery. In 2019 founders Bates and Miranda opened Duration Brewing in a converted 10th century stone barn in West Norfolk to make beautifully balanced beers that reflect Norfolk’s agricultural heritage.

They produce a fresh range of session strength IPAs, Pales and Lagers made to drink fresh alongside some mixed fermentation and barrel-aged wild ales that evolve slowly over time.Duration has scooped 18 awards since opening 3.5 years ago including Best New Beer of 2021 for Turtles their flagship IPA and ranked in the Top Ten New Breweries Worldwide on Ratebeer in 2020 while quietly trebling their team and production capacity.

Nestled in ancient woodland on a working farm by an idyllic chalk river the brewery is on the Rebellion Way bike route and close to the Peddars Way walking trail. This means you enjoy a farm-to-glass pint at Duration’s taproom as part of your own Norfolk adventure. Founder-led tours let you learn more about their farmhouse ethos of making ‘Beers That Belong’. Head Brewer Bates who hails from South Carolina says “Norfolk reminds me of his beloved south. Big skies and a whole lot of nothing going on. People living in the seasons and connected to the land. I try to convey that sense of belonging to a place in my beers”.

Co-founder Miranda says “We’ve added local honey, apples, flowers and even oysters into our beers. Our location also plays a big part in naming our beers: Bet The Farm from watching the barley harvest come in and Sweeping Coast from sunny family days out on beaches”.When you crack your next can of Duration take a beat, slow it down remember life can be fleeting. It’s sometimes good to think of your place in it all with a good beer in hand. Cheers!

www.brewser.beer/brewery/duration

Discovering the best new beers shouldn’t be rocket science. But with our background in the world of brewing, we know how hard it is for independent brands to get their beers in the hands of people who would appreciate them most. That’s why we launched Brewser: the beer club that backs the nation’s most exciting breweries by connecting them with curious craft explorers in search of the freshest drops.

We – Olly and Lewis – designed and founded Brewser in collaboration with some of our favourite breweries, and the rest of the Brewser team. In Olly, Brewser has over a decade of experience in brewing behind it, and the knowledge required to design a service that works for brewers, drinkers and our planet. Lewis’s varied background which includes managing his family’s pub, to working in the tech space, completes the duo at Brewser’s helm.

Through exclusive brand-curated showcase boxes, we give suppliers of every size the opportunity to intro their finest flavours to a growing community of conscious beer lovers. (The kind who actually care about producers and their impact on the planet.) Shuttling the buzz of new beer direct from brewery to door, we deliver big taste, support small and bring people together on our voyage of discovery where everyone wins.

Two years since our launch, and we now have the pleasure of working with over 100 of the best independent breweries and cideries in the UK and beyond. We also have a growing community of people who are accessing and discovering beer like never before. We’ve even had the privilege of brewing a number of collaboration beers with our partners, which have culminated in the Ultimate Collab and ProjectX Collabs in 2023.

Brewser HQ can be found at Olly’s self-built eco-home in the hills of Mid-Wales, but you’ll find us at many of the UK’s festivals and breweries throughout the year – make sure you come and say hello!

Left Handed Giant exists to inspire connection, raise themselves and those around them, and to work constantly to have a positive impact on their community and environment.

LHG is owned by its Founders, Employees and Community and puts its people before its profit, always. They are out to create deep, long-lasting connections with their customers and community, as well as reduce the distance between tank and tap.

From selling the majority of their beer through their own taps at Small Bar and Brewpub, to solar panels on the St Philips brewery roof, to scrutinising every corner of the business to see where they can reduce their negative impact – LHG take sustainability incredibly seriously. It’s at the core of everything they do.

The business has already achieved carbon neutrality, but won’t stop there. They are a pending B-Corp, and will always work to their mission and values to ensure they have a net positive effect of their community and environment.

A true pioneer in brewing outstanding beer and in a responsible way, Left Handed Giant deserve all the accolades they get. Access their outstanding brewser showcase to get to know the brewery even more, and feel good about cracking those cans open!