29/10/2017
Ashtead Beer Club - Mission for 2018
As I am six months into the Ashtead Beer adventure, I have been giving some thought to how the club has progressed, and importantly for me, how it should continue after April/May 2018, when the year subscriptions end.
Running the club has been fun, but I feel it has been a bit scattergun, with some hit and miss results. There have been some great beers, but others that I haven’t been that keen on. I need to get back to beers I love and get some focus.
The way I have planned the beers so far has not really given me a chance to work on any particular style and has resulted is some months being over, or under, represented by a particular style of beer. I think that the types of beers produced has been a little too wide and in 2018 I would like to be able to revisit beer types, I really love, on a monthly basis.
There were also issues during the summer months caused by the excessive heat in the brewery, which I cannot change without a major investment.
I have some thoughts about how to resolve some of these problems.
To move away from the scattergun approach, the first step is to stop making sub 5.5% beers. I don’t think that the weaker beers have gone down that well and, selfishly, I don’t want to drink them. I can get plenty of good weaker beer at any pub, I need to get back to the club mission of “Big Beers”.
The second step is to stop making technically challenging, or experimental beers, which I have been dabbling with, such as some of those using lots of fruit, salt, chilli, or tea infusions. Although this has been interesting, it hasn’t produce the beer that I really want to drink.
The third step is to better plan by concentrating on 6 core beers types each month and how to get the best from them - during a 12 months period I will brew at least 72 beers, and the mix needs to be right. Each month I want to start delivering one each of the following beers, all will be at least 5.5% ABV, with at least one being over 7.5% ABV.
1. English IPA – Raipur, Shellback, London Bridge, Historical IPAs
2. American IPA – Citra IPA, Juice Bomb, Sledgehammer IPA, Historical IPAs
3. Turbo British Ale – Good British ale on steroids: Lightning Bolt, Victory Ale, Irish Red, 90/-
4. Strong International Beer – Californian Common, Belgian Ale, Altbier, Strong Lager
5. Super Strong Beer – Double IPA, Barley Wine, Wee Heavy, Imperial Stout, Belgian Strong Ale
6. Saison/Farmhouse – varying the hop month to month
There will be dark beers, but not every month.
To solve the issue I had during the summer, I think it is best to skip delivery during August and September, so I don’t have to brew, or especially bottle, during the warmer summer months.
To compensate for skipping months I will introduce double batches in June and December. The June batch will all be Strong Golden Beers for summer and the December batch will all be Super Strong Beers (+7.5%).
