Dronfieldbrewer
Landlord.
Eh up...
Just had one of the best and most informative days in my fledgling brewing career. I drove a round trip of 260 miles to go to Brewlab in Sunderland for a bit of 1 to 1 tuition with Alison the Labmaster....
In the day I have been playing with yeast slopes, Microscopes etc. Had a tour of the training 4 Bbl brewery, the lab and have a notebook full of scribbled instructions of how to keep my favourite yeasts for ever....
I also came away with a very very deeply precious cargo....a yeast strain....Shhhh! cannot tell you which brewery, past or present, it has come from but to those that know me well will know that I hold this one dear to my heart. I still to this day go misty eyed when someone mentions this lost brewery. The beer that this yeast produced was, in my opinion, the finest beer of its time. Loads of brewers have tried in vain to copy it but never quite got it right.
Many a tear was shed when this one closed, bought by and asset stripped by a huge brewing company, the remains of the brewery still there for all to see, the brass door furniture tarnished beyond recognition, the windows smashed, roof all caved in. The once highly polished name plates now covered in pigeon ****..BUT...I now have a slope of the original strain.....I feel like I have won the lottery...However I still need the recipe....or do I???? :whistle:
Just had one of the best and most informative days in my fledgling brewing career. I drove a round trip of 260 miles to go to Brewlab in Sunderland for a bit of 1 to 1 tuition with Alison the Labmaster....
In the day I have been playing with yeast slopes, Microscopes etc. Had a tour of the training 4 Bbl brewery, the lab and have a notebook full of scribbled instructions of how to keep my favourite yeasts for ever....
I also came away with a very very deeply precious cargo....a yeast strain....Shhhh! cannot tell you which brewery, past or present, it has come from but to those that know me well will know that I hold this one dear to my heart. I still to this day go misty eyed when someone mentions this lost brewery. The beer that this yeast produced was, in my opinion, the finest beer of its time. Loads of brewers have tried in vain to copy it but never quite got it right.
Many a tear was shed when this one closed, bought by and asset stripped by a huge brewing company, the remains of the brewery still there for all to see, the brass door furniture tarnished beyond recognition, the windows smashed, roof all caved in. The once highly polished name plates now covered in pigeon ****..BUT...I now have a slope of the original strain.....I feel like I have won the lottery...However I still need the recipe....or do I???? :whistle:
