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Last week we released our latest collaborative brew, Fly P.A., which brings together two Sheffield stalwarts in a cross-industry amalgam. Brewed to celebrate the 20^th anniversary, re-release and subsequent tour of ‘Neveroddoreven’, we’re delighted to have welcomed Jarrod and Dean, otherwise known as I Monster, to our humble brewery – to create a beer that’s perfect for dreaming amid the flowers, for a couple of hours, on a beautiful day.  

The electronic music duo, who hail from Sheffield and are best known for their worldwide smash hit ‘Daydream In Blue’, are keen beer enthusiasts and jumped at the opportunity for us to work together to help celebrate the milestone of their early ‘00s creativity – they said, “We’re buzzing to collaborate with Abbeydale Brewery for this high flying, high flavour pale ale!”

The beer itself is a 4.7% dry hopped hazy pale, oozing with Galaxy & Sabro hops for a tropical fruit explosion. Expect notes of tangerine, peach and passionfruit with a delicate hint of coconut. The combination of malts and oats provide a soft, pillowy mouthfeel for the hops to shine through. It’s also vegan friendly and gluten free!

…And it has to be said, we don’t normally allow any flies in our canning room (in fact it was specifically designed to ensure they aren’t able to get in!), but in this instance we decided to make an exception!

The artwork for the beer, created by our in house designer James Murphy, is inspired by the golden age of aviation and gives a nod to the jetsetting antics that the beer was in part brewed to commemorate. You will find the band out on tour in Europe this Spring, with homecoming gigs in London as well as the Leadmill in Sheffield on June 21st, where you will no doubt find the beer on sale at the bar! If you can’t wait that long, you can buy the beer directly from our online shop, as well as finding it on the shelves of independent retailers. Casks and kegs are now available to trade customers, please give our sales team a call on 0114 2812712 or drop your account manager an email for more details!

Cheers!

Introducing Aquanaut! The first in a new series focused around new and exciting experimental hop products, we’re diving in with a full-flavoured and thirst quenching 4.6% pale ale.

Expect intense tropical aroma notes from Spectrum Galaxy and Lupomax Azacca hops, with cutting edge Incognito Centennial added to the whirlpool for a piney, resinous finish.

Chances are you’ve read the above and might be thinking – “what on earth are they are on about now?!” So what are Lupomax, Spectrum, and Incognito, and why are we so excited about them?!

Well, you’ll hopefully be aware that we’re pretty fond of hops round here, with our hop-forward pale ales forming our key house style. Hops contribute enormously to the flavour of beer, and in certain styles such as IPAs they’re the key driver behind all those delicious nuances that entice you in on the aroma and that you taste as you drink.

Hops are beautiful little plants with bags of character, but they’re also expensive, fragile, and those flavours and aromas that we love can be lost over time. On top of that, the more hops you add to beer in leaf or pellet form, the more the beer soaks into them – so for our hoppiest beers, we can lose up to a third of the brew length to those thirsty green little nuggets, which is one of the reasons why big, bold IPAs can be on the pricey side.

This has led to constant experimentation by hop producers as they try and give the freshest hop hit whilst maximising the bang for buck. One thing you may have seen us use before is Cryo hops, which we’ve been using for years now – these are cryogenically frozen hops, turned into essentially hop dust.  They’re more costly than “regular” hops, but they really deliver in flavour.

Hop oils are another option – again, they’re nothing new in the beer world, having been used for decades by large scale commercial brewers because they reduce waste and increase consistency. But until recently they couldn’t really deliver that fresh hop character that we’re after, so they’ve never been of much interest to craft and independent brewers such as ourselves. And it has to be said, it’s hard to get a beer drinker excited by phrases such as “improved maximization of raw materials”!

If only there was something that could do all that AND keep all that fresh, hoppy goodness, then we’d be talking!

The very latest hop products, those we’re showcasing in our new series, are focusing on taking out the vegetal matter in hops that the beer soaks into, and creating a super fresh yet stable flavour that does not decay over time. They’re more environmentally friendly too – with reduced storage and transportation requirements, as well as making cleaning up a little easier which means we use less water. Hop products including Spectrum, Lupomax and Incognito are currently being tried by many breweries around the world and we first used them in Incognito Heathen back in November – which you can learn more about here.

Just for a few more details on the brewing process used in our Aquanaut – the Incognito liquid version of Centennial (one of our favourite hops) is added at the whirlpool stage, as a substitute for hop pellets which means less losses and more impact. The temperature they’re added at means we don’t get too much isomerisation – which means less bitterness, more aroma and more bombastic flavour in the beer. On the brewday we were struck by the intense, piney, resinous aroma – and as an aside, it was also very sticky! The Lupomax and Spectrum hops (Azacca and Galaxy respectively) are used at the dry-hopping stage, added directly to packaging tank for extra pizazz and a final boost of flavour and aroma.

Hop suppliers are describing these products as “revolutionary”! So do they work? We’ve been impressed so far, but would definitely encourage you to drink it for yourself and find out! We’re really excited to keep trialling these products and seeing how they work for us, so Aquanaut is the first of a new “exploration” experimental series designed to do just that, with more to follow. Aquanaut is available now in cask, keg and can (including on our online shop!).

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

Note: We’ve definitely gone with the short and snappy version here, but if you’re interested in more details relating to the biochemistry behind these new products, feel free to properly geek out on the Baath Haas (our suppliers of Lupomax, Spectrum and Incognito hops) website here.

It’s almost time for the 10^th anniversary of Sheffield Beer Week! Taking place from March 4^th to 10^th 2024, expect beery events galore across our wonderful city.

Collaboration is one of the key elements of this citywide festival, so to celebrate, we’ve brought back our collaboration with Sheffield Beer Week itself – Cloud Peak, a 4.8% Cryo Session IPA.

First brewed in 2023, Cloud Peak is not quite a West Coast and not quite a NEIPA, but a mountain-style pale ale merging the two somewhere in the middle. Flavour-wise, expect a hop forward beer that’s packed with ripe mango and juicy pineapple character. Soft, smooth and fluffy, with a crisp, bitter finish making it perfectly well-balanced. It’s also vegan friendly and gluten free.

We’ll also have limited edition A4 art prints available, showcasing the wonderful artwork of this special release.

The beer is available now in cask, keg and can, so look out for it on bars and the shelves of independent retailers for the perfect way to warm up for Sheffield Beer Week! You can also find it on our online shop. We’ll be sure to save a keg for Indie Beer Feast too, which takes place on Friday 1^st and Saturday 2^nd March – tickets are available here.

Keep your eyes peeled for more news on our plans for Sheffield Beer Week, including more special beers on the way inspired by our heritage, our location and the history of the city we call home.

Hop Smash is BACK! First brewed in 2016 in collaboration with our friends from Michigan’s Kuhnhenn Brew Co. and one of our highly regarded and most requested beers, this big, bold, bitter and beautiful IPA has had Citra, Centennial and Amarillo hops added at each stage of the brewing process. A generous malt bill provides balance to the beer, giving a full body and a robust 7.4% ABV.  To boost the hefty hop character still further, we’ve added plenty of fresh grapefruit including hot side in our hopback grapefruit-back, for a pithy, citrus bite that builds to a dry, fruity finish. All enhanced by a clean fermentation, co-pitching our house ale yeast with lager yeast. Plus, it’s also vegan friendly and gluten free.

Hop Smash is a showcase of our magnificent hop store, and also exemplifies the style of beer for which Kuhnhenn Brew Co. have won numerous awards at both the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival (amongst the world’s most prestigious brewing competitions) – notably for their DRIPA (a double rice IPA) which was awarded the Best IPA in the WORLD(!!) accolade in 2012. So a big American style IPA seemed like the perfect beer style to combine our skills, push the boundaries and have some fun!

The original brew involved us attempting a step mash in an isothermal mashtun, which is not quite how our kit is intended to be used (square peg, round hole comes to mind!). The team distinctly remember our brewer Jim coming into the office at the end of a particularly long and challenging (but very fun and educational) day, and declaring “well, I’m glad I never have to brew like that again!” only to receive a letter from the Great British Beer Festival inviting us to send a cask of it there, just far enough in the future that meant a repeat brew was essential. And here we are, 8 years later and on our 4^th release! We’ve refined our processes and made the best use of our shiny new(ish) whirlpool this time, streamlining the brew but maintaining the flavour profile and character of the beer.

Crisp, juicy, and dangerously quaffable – definitely not breakfast juice (although we’re not going to judge you if you fancy using it to make yourself a mimosa…)!

Same refreshing beer, refreshed new look!  

Having taken a break from our brewing schedule since 2020, we felt the time was right to update the aesthetics of the pumpclips and cans, reflecting how our approach to design has progressed in the intervening years and bringing it in line with the rest of our Brewers Emporium range, but retaining the iconic grapefruit motif which has become synonymous with this very special beer. 

Hop Smash will be available in cask, keg and 440ml cans, and we’re now taking pre-orders across all formats. Trade customers can give us a call on 0114 2812712, and head here to bag yourself a 6-pack (or case!) on our online shop.

You can also be amongst the first to try it at our launch event! Join the team at The Old Shoe, Orchard Square (S1 2FB) on Thursday 1^st February. Get it at its freshest… it’s the American way!

Cheers!

Continuing our series where you get to know the people who make up Team Abbeydale, our Marketing Manager Laura has erm… interviewed herself. Bit weird. Enjoy!

First up, the basics! What’s your name and where do you come from?

I’m Laura, and I’m Sheffield born and bred… I moved away for a few years for uni and work, but I’ve never left Yorkshire and I’ve always come back to the steel city!

What is your role at Abbeydale Brewery?

My job title is Marketing & Communications Manager, so mainly I’m the “voice” of the brewery and the person behind our website, social media and newsletters. I work closely with our designer James to organise and plan our artwork and design-based output, and I head up our Quality Control and sensory panel. I also get the opportunity to represent the business at events, which is always very fun!

What’s your favourite beer/beer style and why?

Since pubs re-opened after the pandemic, I’ve gained an ever-deeper love for a pint of well-kept cask, and now seek out a sessionable pale ale in the pub before looking for anything more unusual. Which is especially handy considering our brewers are really good at making them. I also bloody love a shandy, which I’m absolutely counting as a beer style.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Abbeydale Brewery?

My role is incredibly varied – I’ve worked here for almost nine years now and there’s still a surprise around many a corner! Plus, we’re a real team.

Best place to enjoy a pint?

Going to be cheesy and say it’s more about the people you’re with than the place you’re in! Having said that though, Jabbarwocky on London Road is one of my locals and I love going there for a few beers, followed by some dumplings and a White Russian. And The Old Shoe in Sheffield city centre is my favourite new bar – as well as a fantastic beer selection, they position all drinks alongside each other in a way I haven’t seen before and I’m always tempted to try something new, whether that’s a cider, a wine or one of their homemade non-alcoholic shrubs.

Where did you have your first (legal!) pint?

The Fat Cat in Kelham Island. It was my dad’s favourite pub when I was growing up, so it was the obvious place for him to buy me a beer as soon as I turned 18! I worked there for a while as well, I loved chatting to the customers but struggled to reach the pint glasses…

Fries: Bacon or Scampi?

Scampi fries save lives.

On the topic of snacks, my favourite crisps are Spicy Tomato Snaps, and I’m very partial to a pickle.

When you’re not chatting about beer, what do you get up to?

I mean I do do a LOT of chatting about beer… as well as my work here, I’m one of the panellists on local podcast the Sheffield Hopcast, and a fledgling YouTuber where myself and my pal Michael ask “Does it Shandy?” about any and all beer styles! I’m also a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. Other than that, I’m a keen (if not particularly fast) runner, and love going on outdoor adventures – you’ll often find me at Parkrun on a Saturday morning, and recently I’ve been doing more longer distance trail stuff too. I’ve even signed up to my first ultra marathon for later in the year! It’s something that really helps me find balance and headspace, as well as being a brilliant way of making friends.

And finally… If you were a cartoon character, who would it be?

I’m going to go with the personality of Lisa Simpson combined with the aesthetic of Velma from Scooby Doo.

Doing Dry January and on the lookout for a zesty, refreshing, soft drink?! Our Sparkling Hop Water is the perfect non-alcoholic alternative to a beer, harnessing all that humulus lupulus goodness but with no artificial flavourings, sugar, caffeine or carbs and of course no booze! Vegan friendly and gluten free too.

Simply the finest Yorkshire water (the exact same that we use for our award-winning beers!), infused with some of our favourite hops and lightly carbonated. That’s it! Very much not an alcohol free beer, we like to think of our Sparkling Hop water as a beer adjacent soft drink, and a way for us to show off our ingredients in a whole new way.

The benefits of hops and their biochemical compounds when used and infused in this way (i.e without fermentation, and alcohol free) can be numerous. Studies have shown that the polyphenols and flavonoids found in hops work with other vitamins such as vitamin C to have antioxidant properties, which helps your body to ward off every day toxins. Hops also have mild sedative effects which can help improve your sleep quality, as well as helping to enhance the natural levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (a clever little chemical messenger) found in the brain, which can lower anxiety and help you to feel calmer.

We have two variations of our mindful, delicious and thirst-quenching Sparkling Hop Water to choose from – try clean and crisp grape-esque Nelson Sauvin, or go gently tropical with the Mosaic hopped variety. Or as the perfect pick-me-up for yourself or a great gift, try our new Dry January Survival Pack, containing 3 cans of each plus our always relevant “I’d rather be drinking Moonshine” mug!

Finally, whether you’re choosing to limit your alcohol intake this month or not – as always, a huge thank you for your support, and please do pop into your local pub when you’re able. They’re likely to have a fantastic array of AF options for you to choose from alongside their selection of beers (and will probably have the heating on!), so please do show them some love this month.

Cheers,

Team Abbeydale

The final brew of 2023 is now underway, so we thought it was high time to take a look at our year in beer! We’ve brewed a total of 382 times, creating 88 individual beers, adding up to over 2.5 MILLION pints – more than 1 million of which were our flagship, Moonshine! We’ve continued to cover a huge range of styles across all those beers, from the sweet and sour Unbeliever – Tropical Radler (2.8%) to our malty and robust classic Old Ale, weighing in at 8.0% ABV.

A major highlight of the year just has to be Black Mass winning the Overall Champion beer in can at the National SIBA Awards, and excitingly it’s got the opportunity to defend the title this year too, having recently scooped a regional Gold Medal in the Speciality IPA category for the second year in a row. It’s a beer that’s been with us since our very beginnings, so to see it named the best beer in the country and continue to be enjoyed by those who’ve been drinking it since 1996 as well as those new to their beery journeys really does warm our cockles (as does a can of Black Mass itself, it has to be said!).

Another big achievement for us has been taking our first steps into the no-and-low market, with the launch of our tasty and oh-so-refreshing alcohol free Sparkling Hop Water. There are two varieties available at the moment, a great choice if you’re considering Dry January. Find out more about our spritzy, mindful AF option here.

The spirit of community and collaboration which is one of the cornerstones of our identity has once again thrived this year. We were honoured to be part of Collabageddon, a fantastic celebration of collaboration organised by the excellent team at Elusive Brewing, which saw us paired up with Good Chemistry and Utopian – new friends we’re delighted to have. And we’ve launched a new series celebrating cask ale, working with fellow renowned cask-led breweries Ossett, Anthology and Loxley Brewery so far, with more to come in 2024. Our work with local charities has continued too – we’ve loved partnering with the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust this year, with our special beer “Swifty” raising £720 in support of their Sheffield Swift City campaign (and please do check out their exciting recent Ughill Farm news too), and we also took part in this year’s Half Pint Marathon along with True North Brewery which raised much needed funds for Sheffield Mind.

Cask beer still reigns supreme for us, amounting to over 75% of our total output – although it’s worth pointing out that we also filled a whopping 275,000 cans this year too! Moonshine is still far and away our biggest seller, but it has dropped slightly as a proportion of our total in recent years, now sitting at just over 40%, as our other beers gain popularity. Deception is our second most popular beer, with Heathen hot on its heels at almost 10% of overall total volumes.

The amount we’ve brewed, packaged and sold overall is actually remarkably similar to last year – we’d hoped for a little more growth following our production beginning to return close to pre-Covid levels, but can’t complain at consistency in the midst of continuing industry upheaval, which affects all of us within the beer world every day. Duty reforms, the cost of living crisis, and the ever-developing impact of Brexit are all things we’re continually working extremely hard to navigate. We know that these challenges may continue for more time to come, but we promise our commitment to beer quality, customer service, and love of experimentation will never change!

Export continues to be an exciting area of growth, despite the aforementioned Brexit challenges. It’s edged over 1% of our overall volumes this year, which although still a small number is an increase of 65% from 2022. Our beer has been seen in the Czech Republic, Denmark and France for the first time in 2023, with Italy being our biggest overseas market. Saluti!

Finally, thank you to everyone who’s supported us this year – whether that’s as one of our amazing trade customers, by buying a pint in a pub, some cans from one of the fantastic independent retailers we supply or from us directly (including our first ever pop up shop in the run up to Christmas!), or simply sharing a post on social media or sending us a message to let us know you’ve enjoyed one of our beers. It genuinely does mean a lot to us.

We’ll be taking on 2024 in our usual fashion – by continuing to make the best beer we can! We’re a team who are genuinely passionate about what we do, and we hope that shines through in what we produce. Our beer plan for next year already contains some very exciting new and returning recipes (did someone say Hop Smash?!) – but do let us know if there’s something in particular you’d like to see, we’d love to hear your ideas!

Cheers!

Team Abbeydale

We’ve got a double celebration going on this week, after two of our permanently available beers scooped medals at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Regional Bottle & Can Awards!

Our Heresy Lager received a brilliant Bronze medal, and Black Mass received a top class Gold award in the Speciality IPA category, meaning it scored over 90/100 and will go forward to the National Finals, due to be held in March next year.

Excitingly for Black Mass, this is the second year in the row it’s come out on top in the Speciality IPA category, following us strengthening its identity as one of the world’s very first and longest standing Black IPAs. Last year, it went on to win National Gold before being declared Overall Champion beer in can in the whole of the UK – so we’ll be eagerly waiting to see if it can defend its title!

Brewer Jim Rangeley says of the award, “Black Mass has always been one of my favourite beers both to make and to drink, and it’s great to see that the judges agree! I’m looking forward to celebrating with a can of it.”

The SIBA Bottle & Can Independent Beer Awards 2023 see beers marked against internationally recognised style guides for the different beer award categories – looking at appearance, aroma, flavour, aftertaste and saleability. The awards are judged by beer sommeliers, experienced beer judges and fellow brewers too.  Just three of the highest level Gold awards were given out across the whole region, and we’re in excellent company, with the fantastic Brew York receiving one for their hazy pale ale Coney, and our friends at Turning Point Brew Co completing the trio with Astral Voyage, a 3.4% sessionable pale.

Cans of both Heresy and Black Mass are available now, via our online shop and from independent retailers nationwide.

Cheers!

Next up in our series introducing you to the people behind the beer, it’s the turn of Jim, lead brewer of the Funk Dungeon mixed fermentation project. We’ve recently released two delicious new beers from the project (more details on those here), so we thought getting to know a little more about their maker seemed timely. Over to Jim!

First up, the basics! What’s your name and where do you come from?

I’m Jim Rangeley, and I’m from right here in the Abbeydale area of Sheffield. Other than an errant few years in dirty Leeds for a degree I don’t use anymore, I haven’t strayed too far from the river Sheaf.

What is your role at Abbeydale Brewery?

I’m the Lead Brewer of the Funk Dungeon project, which means I care for the barrel stock, the yeast blend and the packaging of all the sour beers we’ve released through the years. 

On a more day to day basis, I’m a production brewer of all the regulars!

What’s your favourite beer and why?

My favourite Abbeydale beer is Black Mass on cask, it’s a rare beast but whenever I see it it’s pints for Jim.

I’m at the point in my drinking where good reliable consistency is the most important factor in my choices, so I drink a lot of good quality lagers – whether they’re imported and bought from Archer Road Beer Stop or from a British brewery like Braybrooke or Utopian. But also I do like to treat myself to a 750ml of mixed fermentation beer from a producer like Burning Sky.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Abbeydale Brewery?

As brewers, we have quite a bit of freedom of creativity as we’ve always got a special release on the go, and having the trust in me to embark on the mixed fermentation project and ability to experiment with foraged ingredients or fruits. The brewery is putting us through further learning through the IBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling) to continue learning to improve our consistently good quality and dependable beer.

Also, 4 o’clock hometime is nice.

Where’s your favourite place to enjoy a pint?

After a run in the Peak District, with a pint of well kept cask, in front of a fire to warm up.

Further afield, the (now unfortunately closed) Foeders bar in Amsterdam is the best place I’ve ever spent an afternoon. Incredible lambic selection, complimentary peanuts, in a fantastic setting and a wonderfully convivial atmosphere. I’m really excited to see what their original founder Yuri has in store for us in the future.

Where did you have your first (legal!) pint?

I think it will have been Moonshine, in the sadly no longer East House, before a curry across the road – where you could carry a pitcher over to enjoy alongside your meal. I’ve been eating at the (now also long gone) Kashmir since I was old enough to eat solid food, so jugs of Moony were ever present on the sticky cafe like tables on a Friday night for me. It was either there or the Sheaf View, which has become my local since. 

Fries: Bacon or Scampi?

Scampi fries, every time. From a wider snack perspective, the packets of Poppadoms that come with a pot of mango chutney in them are an absolute revelation. They stock both at The Bear just down the road from the brewery, which is where you’ll tend to find me after work on a Friday.

When you’re not making beer, what do you get up to?

I can usually be found trail running in the Peaks. I’m into long distance, big hills, and generally getting cold, wet and muddy in the great outdoors.

And finally… If you were a fictional character, who would it be?

Gimli son of Gloin from the Lord of the Rings. The resemblance has diminished somewhat since I had a haircut, but the holy triumvirate of meat, ale and axes still stands.

We’ve got a delectable duo of special new releases emerging from our Funk Dungeon small batch mixed fermentation project this week! Here’s our Funk Dungeon brewer and blender (and bottler, and labeller!) Jim to tell you all about them…

Olicana Dry Hopped Heritage Saison

First up is a 5.0% barrel aged, bretted saison, dry hopped with UK grown Olicana. The base beer for this release was brewed in late March 2022, and features a complex mix of malt. It was predominantly created using Plumage Archer heritage grain, one of our favourite base malts for mixed fermentation brewing because of its complex biscuit maltiness. Alongside this was plenty of rye malt for a pleasant spice, and a good helping of torrified wheat to add to the wort complexity, giving the brettanomyces (brett to its friends) and other microorganisms plenty of food during the aging process. Finally, a little touch of crystal rye, to add a residual sweetness and body that balances out the end product. 

Late boil additions of Olicana in the kettle bittered the wort to around 60 IBUs. UK grown Opus hops (previously known as CF182) from the Charles Faram development programme were added on the brew day – 6.25g/l in the hop back, and we primary fermented with a non-Diastatic farmhouse yeast strain. Many saison strains contain a gene which is responsible for diastatic action (additional enzymatic action that breaks down malt sugars and can cause excessive fermentation) – we chose to use one where this gene has been removed, thus making it much safer for use in our brewery, as there is a lower chance of cross contamination of yeast that could wreak havoc with our clean beers!

After a good Olicana dry hop during fermentation, the beer was racked into barrel and pitched with our house brett blend which brings a gentle tartness to the party. After sitting in French oak for about a year, another dry hop of whole cone Olicana was added directly to the barrel for extra hop vibrancy, before packaging into bottle and keg. The hops give flavours of ripe stone fruits, alongside a deep herbal character and gentle bitterness, which balances beautifully with the oak presence found in the beer.

The artwork for this one, created by our designer James Murphy, depicts a funky Roman legionary! Olicana was the name for the Roman fort situated where the town of Ilkley now stands (the hop itself was actually named by Ilkley Brewery, who worked with Charles Faram on its development), so this was a clear source of inspiration for our skellie friend’s next adventure.

BA Tea Saison with Cider Lees

Release number 2 is a 5.4% barrel aged saison aged on cider lees, a real experiment created with the help of our friends at Duckchicken Cider.

We knew we wanted to work with James and Colleen of Duckchicken after they joined us at Funk Fest 2019 and blew us away with a tasting of their unique small batch ciders (please do look out for them, every single one we’ve tried has been absolutely delicious), and finally in 2022 we were able to make it happen.

A lightly fruited base beer was selected from our barrel stock. The brew itself for this one was a complex wort enriched with caramalt and wheat, to keep some body and sweetness in the flavour of the beer through extended aging. In the hot side of the brew, we used whole peaches for a rich pithiness and a little nuttiness from the character of the stone. Accompanied was a sencha green tea with hibiscus and dried peach for a soft tannic balance. But the real interest in this release comes from the secondary fermentation, spent aging on cider lees from Duckchicken. 

Lees are the residue from the skins and wild yeast which are left behind after cider production. They contain a lot of complex microbes that aren’t present in our usual house yeasts. The lees were added straight to barrel and allowed to age for a number of months, giving a layer of interesting almost apple skin character to the beer and a beautiful distinctive freshness. Well rounded and with delicate tannins sitting in perfect balance with the light tartness of the finished beer.

The artwork shows, somewhat unsurprisingly, a duck and a chicken! We wanted to have a bit of a whimsical feel to this one, bringing the poultry into a scenario with our familiar skellie character (now there’s a phrase I don’t think anyone’s ever written before), and features a cheeky duck stealing away the apple!

There are just over 100 bottles of each, and they’re available now via our online shop (including as a pair in our snazzy new bottle gift boxes, if you’re looking for a Christmas present for a funk-loving friend!) and from independent retailers.