Beer of the Month

My wife and I (Connor) were re-watching Brooklyn 99 and in one of the final scenes in season 2, episode 22 (it’s on Netflix!) Holt became my favourite character. He tells Jake. Call me…. VELVET THUNDER in his perfect, Shakespearian voice. Right then, I knew we needed to name a beer after that. But, what kind of beer is worthy of the name VELVET THUNDER?

This is the SIBLING to our Pink October Red IPA. The story behind this beer is that when making the Pink October recipe, we were trying to decide between two different RED IPA recipes we had made. We really enjoyed both, and we could not pick – so we decided to do both – just on different months!

All in all, this beer will share many similarities with Pink October, but is different enough to stand on its own. It will have a brilliant red colour, which will be enhanced by not adding dry hops. Instead of big fruit forward notes, it will have a great malt/pine/citrus balance that will be super crushable.

This month’s beer is all about easing the bitter taste left after a bad season. It’s a classic English Best Bitter. Like most English beers, it has a low ABV which means you can enjoy a couple more of them during the game. It has a spicy, earthy taste from the East Kent Golding hops, along with a nice caramel finish to balance the sharp bitterness. We chose a classic ale yeast for this recipe: Nottingham Ale.

This month’s beer is brought to you by Jeremy, he wanted to make a bayou themed beer named after his favourite fictional Bluegrass band: The Soggy Bottom Boys. This recipe is his take on “Mississippi Mud”, a Black and Tan slow brewed beer from you guessed it, Mississippi. Black and Tans are a traditional blend of pale and dark beers that lend to some very unique brews.

While this is a porter, the Pilsner base keeps it light. The addition of a multitude of darker malts add complexity and depth. The end result is a beer that is light enough to be drank on a hot summers day, but complex enough to be enjoyed by the campfire. Close out the rest of the summer with this delicious enigma of a brew!

This time, we’re taking the idea of a wheat beer and colliding it at high speed with the delicious, aromatic, Strata hops. Strata has quickly become a KJ favourite for its explosive notes of mango, passion fruit, and strawberry. The resulting beer has the classic fruity, banana like notes of a wheat beer with the Michael Bay esque boom boom flavour of a super hopped beer. Like wheat beers, the bitterness is low – but the hops add a distinct dimension to it.

Made exclusively with CRYO hops, this beer is bursting with huge hop flavour. It has the classic Mosaic hop flavour dialled to 11. Click to watch Mr. Freeze puns, stay for the beer!

The weather is about to warm up, and that means it is officially lager season! But alas, despite being the ideal time to drink lagers, spring and summer are never good times to make lagers. It is too damn hot! Lagers traditionally need to be fermented at 10-14°C for weeks at a time. Slight deviations from that can have profound consequences on the taste of the beer.

Well, here comes Escarpment Labs to the rescue! They have developed a special strain of yeast that is designed to make clean, lager like beers that are meant to be fermented in warmer temperature. The KRISPY strain should be fermented between 20-30°C – which is perfect for the spring and summer!

Featuring a couple of exciting new hops that have recently arrived, this is one hell of an IPA. The Strata and Sabro hops add a distinct orange, citrus, and tropical fruit flavour. This beer is bursting with flavour but is well balanced by the IBUs and light malt profile. We’re using a special yeast from Norway to really enhance the hop flavours and aroma. We tested this recipe with a few different yeast strains and Arset Kveik was far away the winner.

Knocking down walls, building desks, laying floor, and building new rooms is hot and sweaty work. For the last couple of months behind the scenes, we (Adrian) have been knee deep in renovations. One thing that quenches your thirst after some hard manual labour is a cold glass of beer. This month’s beer is the epitome of that philosophy.

Named after our brand-new mill room, which is made from beautiful re-claimed hemlock beams – Hemlock Mill Kölsch is an extremely easy drinking Kölsch. It is well balanced, with a light honey sweetness that makes it super crushable. It is hopped just enough for balance and a bit of fruit character.

It’s the dead of winter and we’ve been drowning our malaise in thick porters and stouts. There is still lots of winter left, and yet, we are also embarking on the last leg of this winter journey. This beer is a homage to both heavy winter beers, and lighter spring brews. It features a malt heavy profile that is bolstered by a sweet bitterness imparted by the Sabro hops and the Escarpment Labs produced Voss Kveik yeast.