NEXT GENERATIONS
Today on Movies and Booze we will be reviewing Venus and Mars and Monty Python’s Flying Circus IPA – both from Black Sheep Brewery. We’ll be looking at the next generation of ‘old world craft’ beers – reflected in both the passing of the baton from brewery founder Paul Theakston (fifth generation of his family) to his sons Rob and Jo Theakston. With six generations of brewing in Masham, Yorkshire under their belt, exciting things are happening at Black Sheep, and these beers reflect this in a delicious way.
We will also look at the next generation of hops that are coming through. The burgeoning craft beer industry has breathed new vitality into the sister industry of hop growing. Hop growers are developing new strains of hops to allow brewers to extend their ‘spice cabinet’ and brew beers with an ever-expanding array of flavours.
The Next Generation of Brewers –
Craft Beer – much like wine – can be divided into ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’. Many traditional breweries have been brewing styles of beers for (in some cases) hundreds of years. Given that many new craft breweries have used these traditional styles for their inspiration, it does not make sense to keep these beers completely apart from eachother. Craft beer should be about quality and flavour, diversity and choice – and if traditional ‘old world’ breweries are delivering quality, flavour, diversity and choice in their beers, they qualify as ‘craft beers’ just as much as a beer brewed by a brewery that has only opened in the last few years.
Black Sheep Brewery reflects a fusion of old world and new world on a number of dimensions. While the brewery is only about 25 years old, it was set up by fifth generation family brewer Paul Theakston when the rest of his family opted to ‘sell out’ their brewery in Masham (Theakston’s) to Heineken many moons ago. Not willing to let his family brewing history be consigned to the scraphead of multinational brewing, he purchased the other brewery that operated in the town of Masham and set up the Black Sheep Brewery to keep his family brewing tradition alive. He has established the Black Sheep Brewery as a leading regional brewery in the U.K., initially brewing beers that reflected the traditions of his family’s brewing history.
In the last number of years, the baton at the Black Sheep Brewery has been passed from Paul Theakston to his sons Rob and Jo. The changing of the guard has resulted in a vigorous review of new beer development in the brewery. While still maintaining the beers such as Black Sheep Ale that have allowed this brewery to develop its reputation, they have added to this range a number of new beer styles built on modern craft styles, and craft interpretations of traditional English styles. The results are delicious, innovative, and fuse the traditions of an English brewery built on quality brewing with the innovation and creativity of a new generation of brewers.
The Next Generation of Hops –
Hops have always been core to a number of styles of craft beer. With the growth in craft breweries, many hop growers have worked closely with brewers to develop new strains of hops to add to the ‘spice cabinet’ that breweries can use.
There are three dimensions to hops that are of interest to the brewer. Alpha Acids in hops are the constituent that contributes the characteristic bitterness that many associate with beers. When hops are added early in the boil, these alpha acids change – they ‘isomerize’ to become iso-alpha-acids. Iso alpha acids are both soluble in beer, and contribute a distinct bitter balancing character to beer. Beta-acids are also present in hops – while they are not generally the focus of brewers, and while they don’t isomerize, they can oxidize and develop bitter flavour over time. Essential oils are the part of hops that contribute the smorgasboard of hop flavours that one associates with the variety of IPA’s being brewed by so many breweries. These essential oils are delicate – if hops are added early to the boil, they can vaporise and leave (not survive into) the final beer. For this reason, brewers seeking to achieve flavour from essential oils in hops add the hops late in the kettle (towards the end of the boil) or even after the boil (in the whirlpool) or during or after fermentation (dry hopping).
Hops used for brewing are the female plant of the Humulus Lupulus species. As a female plant, hops reproduce asexually, with the result that the ‘daughter’ plant retains the characteristic of the ‘mother’ plant. In this way, brewers can come to understand the flavours that they will achieve by using a particular variety of hops.
Brewers seeking to extend their creativity have worked with hop growers to develop new strains of hops. Hop growers bring two strains of hops together, and get these two female plants to produce a hybrid plant that combines the characteristics of the mother plant. This breeding cycle can take some time – the plants need to be introduced, and the genetic characteristics of the new daughter plant need to be established over a number of generations. However, once established, a new species of hops can be grown, and this new species retains its characteristics once they are established. Some of the wonderful tropical fruit flavours possible through the use of American hops have been a result of these hop breeding programmes, and the work continues!
In this way, the next generation of brewers is working with the next generation of hop growers to grow and brew with a new generation of hops!
Venus and Mars –
Beer Style - Pale Ale (Hop Forward)
Alcohol by Volume - 4.5% a.b.v.
Brewed by - Black Sheep Brewery
Brewed in - Masham, Yorkshire, England.
Venus and Mars presents with a distinct burnished amber gold colour. This colour tinges the substantial head with a pale amber hue. The aromas in the beer come through as citrus – lemon and grapefruit – which is notable, but not overpoweringly strong. Balanced!
At 4.5% a.b.v, this beer falls into the ‘sessionable’ range, but this should not lead one astray in terms of the depth of complexity of the beer. First of all, the colour of the beer betrays the blend of malts used – pale malt (which usually, if used by itself, would give a pale gold colour) is substantially supplemented with caramalt (which develops the colour into the beautiful, deep burnished gold this beer displays). This blend of pale malt and caramalt translates into a beer with luscious body and a distinct honey malt foundation that supports and sustains the layers of complexity in the beer.
The honey and body of the beer counters the bitterness – distinct at around 35 IBU’s – but maintains superb balance in the beer. The hop citrus hop aromas that come through in the aroma develops into the flavour. First Gold, Summit and Chinook combine to provide flavours of grapefruit (fusing the citrus hop character and the bitterness in the beer) and lemon – that comes through as slightly sweet roasted lemon. Stone fruit and other fruit character further develops in the hop character – peach and soft cantaloupe melon flavours that are both delicious and mouth watering. The mouthfeel is complemented by a soft carbonation.
The English hops in the blend (First Gold) provide a mildly earthy and slightly spicy backdrop to the hop fruit character. This blend provides a throwback to the original generation of the Black Sheep Brewery (traditional English hops – First Gold) that fuses with the new generation of the brewery that is reflected in the modern American hops (Summit and Chinook). The contrast of this U.K. / fruit American hop blend is an extremely pleasant alternative to the citrus-pine character so often associated with U.S. West Coast pale ales and IPAs.
Venus and Marz chooses, blends and fuses the best of old and new traditions in brewing. Black Sheep Brewery’s commitment to the best quality ingredients is reflected in the superb malt backbone to the beer and in the counterbalancing hop flavour. The hop blend fuses traditional U.K. hops with more modern U.S. hops. The interpretation of the pale ale style offers a nod both to modern U.S. pale ale styles with a background undercurrent that betrays the beers English heritage. This is a beer that has grown from a sophisticated and artistic vision that is also beautiful in its simplicity and drinkability.
Look out for this one!!
Monty Python’s Flying Circus –
Beer Style - IPA (a very silly one!! J)
Alcohol by Volume - 4.5% a.b.v.
Brewed by - Black Sheep Brewery
Brewed in - Masham, Yorkshire, England.
Deep burnished gold with a full, fluffy, tight off white head. Monty Python’s IPA falls into the ‘Session IPA’ style – 4.5% is distinctly drinkable and sessionable, but again this is a superbly complex beer. Described as a ‘very silly’ IPA, Black Sheep has great fun with the Monty Python dimension to the beer (the suggested food pairing is ‘Bereft of life Norwegian Blue parrot with a wafer-thin mint to finish’, and the beer is brewed by the ‘Ministry of Silly Hops’! J) while still taking the quality of the beer very seriously!
A blend of Marris Otter malted barley and wheat, with pale and Caramalt included in the blend provides the grain backbone to this beer. Satisfying and velvety in its body, and with a well-formed head, soft caramel and biscuit malt acts as the foundation for this beer. Stone fruit (nectarine) comes through in both the aroma and the flavour and gives a slightly zingy edge to the fruit character of the beer. Mouth watering tropical fruits (lychee, guava) allow the malt caramel, biscuit malt flavour to develop into juicy fruit character in the finish. Subtle spice (white pepper) is in evidence in the beer, and adds another layer of complexity to this delicious beer.
The IPA style has stretched in many directions – in some ways overlapping with pale ale, and then extending in many directions with the abundance of sub-styles of IPA that are now being brewed. One could argue that the distinction between Session IPA and Pale Ale is subtle, if not sometimes indeterminable. Both have the promise of distinct hop character on a foundation of pale to deep gold malt, but IPA suggests a potential greater depth of character. The complexity of this beer delivers on the expectation of depth of character, and the hop fruit flavour delivers on the need for a drinkable and sessionable dimension to the beer.
This beer is the next in a range of beers brewed in cooperation with the ‘Pythons’. Monty Python’s Holy GrAle has been brewed by Black Sheep from the days of the brewery’s founder. With the next generation of the family taking the helm, it makes sense that the next beer in the range would be an IPA. It also makes sense that they have some fun with these beers – it would be criminal not to develop these beers further!!
The fun and playful labelling and name of this beer should not, however, make one feel that this is in any way a novelty beer. The quality of this beer, as always, is up to the excellent standards that has established Black Sheep Brewery as one of the best regarded regional breweries in the U.K.
