Quick Poll

Hi all,

Just popping back in with a bit of an update!

We did the tasting of the pale ale and… well, no sugar-coating it, It was a drain pour. Not one of my finest moments! On the plus side, we’ve got a keg of porter and a keg of best bitter ready to go. The Cailleach Porter and The Farriers Reward. Both are really coming into their own now they’re being served at the right temperatures. I might bottle a couple up and send them out before they fade, feels like a good excuse for a bit of beermail.

Speaking of bottling, I’ve been wanting to up my label game. Every time I try printing at home, something goes wrong, paper jams, no ink, you name it. So I’ve found a small company online that’ll print custom labels from my own designs. I’ve come up with something a bit more practical this time, still got the wolf, but now with space to write on with a Sharpie so I can note what’s actually in the bottle. Hoping to test those out this week.

I’ve also put a few posts up on YouTube and Instagram to see what people fancy me brewing next. I’ve got three all-grain kits from Crossmyloof to choose from:

• Atlantis Ale – a clone of Atlantic by Sharp’s Brewery. It’s an American IPA, around 5%, loaded with Mosaic throughout.
• Murgy Straight clone – a lovely, easy-drinking golden ale at about 4%. I’ve had this on cask, keg, and straight from the fermenter at Andy’s—so it’ll be interesting to see how the kit compares.
• Neon Tropics NEIPA – sitting around 6%, packed with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Solero.

Just waiting on the poll results now so I can get the next brew underway, maybe even tomorrow.

Over on YouTube, I watched my mate Mark from IronWorks Brewing doing a brew day with his friend Craig. He was walking him through the whole process, explaining everything step by step. Looks like Craig might be heading into all-grain brewing soon too, which is great to see.

There’s a lot of talk about the hobby (and even the wider beer scene) slowing down, but I’ve picked up a few new subscribers this week, so maybe more people are getting into it, especially with pint prices creeping up. I get that pubs are trying to survive, but when two pints can cost over £10, and you can get 10 cans (over 8 pints) from the supermarket for the same money, it’s a tough choice for a lot of people.

I was reading something from a brewer recently who said he makes more money selling beer in his own taproom than distributing kegs to pubs. When you factor in delivery, collection, duty, and all the overheads pubs have, staff, heating, electricity. It’s no surprise things are getting difficult. Then there’s tax on top of it all.

A lot of pubs are trying new ideas to keep going, food, events, themed nights and fair play to them. If we can, it’s worth getting out and supporting them, because once they’re gone, they’re gone. Bit of a cliché, but it’s true: you don’t realise what you’ve got until it’s no longer there.

Anyway, that’s all for now, back soon!

Mark