A Brew to be Proud of
There's more to making a decent cask ale than most pub-goers realise.
A lot more - and doesn't The Publican team know it!
We travelled to Leicester to take a crash course in the theory of brewing and then try our hand at the ancient art itself to make a batch of our very own Proud of Pubs Ale to coincide with Proud of Pubs Week.
Local brewer Everards supplied the guidance and training we needed, including a condensed version of its brewing Gold course, run at the on-site training academy.
We began by learning the basics - what the different malts do to the colour and flavour of the beer, how the hops give it the floral notes so distinctive to cask ales, and what the addition of oats, or wheat, can do to the body and head of the beer.
We moved on to creating our own unique recipe, which included what can only really be described as a bit of everything.
The next morning was brew time - and brew time starts early.
Up with the lark, we mashed and poured and cleaned and finally added the all important Everards yeast. And then we waited. For a week, while the yeast worked its magic and turned all those lovely sugars to alcohol.
Brewing really is an art form. The amount of effort that goes into even a small batch like the one we made is astonishing when you consider the beer-consuming public pays less for a pint of real ale than they do for a mass-produced lager.
And the huge variety of natural ingredients that go into the mix means there are endless possibilities for the brewer, and for the consumer.
To find out what consumers think of The Publican's Proud of Pubs Ale next week.
For more pictures of our experience see www.thepublican.com/beergallery
Proud of Pubs Ale
Proud of Pubs Ale is going on sale at The Publican's local, the Mad Hatter in Southwark, London, and in pubs across the Everards estate to celebrate Proud of Pubs Week.
Running from July 8 to 15, the week will offer pubs a chance to capitalise on a national campaign, as well as giving a reminder to licensees to look at different aspects of their business.
MPs from across the UK, ranging from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell to Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative party, have agreed to pop into pubs to help licensees celebrate the week.
For further information visit www.thepublican.com/proudofpubs, call 020 7955 3710 or check out our Proud of Pubs Week special in next week's Publican.
So, how did we do?
Everards' marketing director David Bremner who was the first to sample the ale when it came out of the tanks, was impressed!
He said: "It is exceptional. The oats give it a very smooth texture, it has got a nice hoppy and fruity aroma and it's a lot better than most of the small batch ales I am used to tasting!"
