Hop Forward: Getting You Ahead in the Brewing and Beer Business

On the Hop Forward Podcast this week, we’re joined by brewing veteran and former Brewing Director of Fullers, Smith & Turner John Keeling.

Although John entered retirement relatively recently, he is still very active in the brewing industry, visiting breweries across the United Kingdom and working with Asahi - recent purchases of the Fullers Brewery - in a consulting capacity.

John is as engaging and witty as he is extremely knowledge; in this episode we cover brewing of yesterday - how London Pride and ESB paved a way for itself internationally; today - which breweries John is the most impressed with here in the U.K; and tomorrow - what brewers should be focusing on to develop their long-standing careers.

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY CRISP MALT
Since 1870, Crisp Malt has been producing the finest malt at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk. With 5 maltings located in the best barley growing areas in the UK, they produce a wide range of malts and non-malted cereals in 25kg sacks for craft brewers and distillers all over the world.

They still work one of the last remaining floor maltings in England and use it to make their pioneering heritage malts. They also craft roasted and crystal malts of unprecedented consistency on their vertical, all electric tower roasting plant, the only one of its kind in the UK. Check out their website for more information about their range of malts and also their educational blogs and webinars too.

Visit crispmalt.com to find out more

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To celebrate Elusive Brewing's 5th birthday, Andy and the team joined forces with homebrewing store The Malt Miller to launch a national competition.  With a prize of £1000 at stake, a collaboration and mentorship from Elusive Brewing to help one lucky budding homebrewer go pro, the competition saw entries come in thick and fast from brewers reinterpreting Elusive's Belgium Witbier, Crisp Witty.

Taking first place, Sam Jones and his fellow homebrewer companion Fraser Withers - who came a respective fourth - as it happens, were in the process of turning their passion into a profession, setting up Middle Child Brewing.

In this episode, Nick catches up with Sam and Fraser to discuss the competition, how they intend to take their endeavour forward, all while we sample some of their excellent beers.

On Saturday 30th October, Middle Child Brewing and Elusive Brewing will be doing a tap take over at Brewery Market in Twickenham.  If you're UK based, we'd love to see you down there!

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY CRISP MALT
Since 1870, Crisp Malt has been producing the finest malt at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk. With 5 maltings located in the best barley growing areas in the UK, they produce a wide range of malts and non-malted cereals in 25kg sacks for craft brewers and distillers all over the world.

They still work one of the last remaining floor maltings in England and use it to make their pioneering heritage malts. They also craft roasted and crystal malts of unprecedented consistency on their vertical, all electric tower roasting plant, the only one of its kind in the UK. Check out their website for more information about their range of malts and also their educational blogs and webinars too.

Visit crispmalt.com to find out more

Follow Hop Forward on Social Media
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Find out what we can do for your brewery and business
Hop over to www.hopforward.beer to discover more.

This week, Nick takes a trip over the Pennines to Manchester to catch up with owner of Windsor based bottle shop and taproom and winner of the SIBA Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer, A Hoppy Place.

Recorded live on location at Alphabet Brewery, with a brief stop off at Track Brewing Co for a pint of Sonoma and to admire their floor, Nick and Dave discuss Inbetweenland, an article written by Dave to highlight why and how breweries need to support their local independent bottle shops due to the rise of breweries selling direct to consumers, how the pandemic is still affecting businesses like his and how breweries and bottle shops can work together more harmoniously.

Over a couple of fantastic beers from Alphabet Brewery, as in any conversation down the pub, our discussion turned to the hot topic of the day: social media and sharing opinions online about craft beer, life and everything in between.

This episode, recorded on location Saturday 9th October 2021, touches upon themes of respectfully considering others opinions and mediating conversations, even when we don't agree with what is being said.

It seems like a timely topic given some of the online chat and debate that has been taking place recently surrounding MBCC (though this was recorded prior to the activity taking place this week).

To find out more about A Hoppy Place and to read Dave's thoughts on all manner of things, check out their website https://ahoppyplace.co.uk/

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY CRISP MALT
Since 1870, Crisp Malt has been producing the finest malt at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk. With 5 maltings located in the best barley growing areas in the UK, they produce a wide range of malts and non-malted cereals in 25kg sacks for craft brewers and distillers all over the world.

They still work one of the last remaining floor maltings in England and use it to make their pioneering heritage malts. They also craft roasted and crystal malts of unprecedented consistency on their vertical, all electric tower roasting plant, the only one of its kind in the UK. Check out their website for more information about their range of malts and also their educational blogs and webinars too.

Visit crispmalt.com to find out more

Follow Hop Forward on Social Media
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Find out what we can do for your brewery and business
Hop over to www.hopforward.beer to discover more.

Ever since the invention of the light bulb, our perception of time has been significantly altered; we no longer live in a cyclical rhythm of the sun primarily governing when we work – but work can occur at any and every time of day.

Nor is our weekly shop dictated by what time of year it is or where in the world we live.  Want strawberries in winters? Perhaps avocado and poached egg on toast is more your bad (hipster!).

We live in a 24/7 globalised digital age meaning we can have what we want, when we want it… which is usually now!  But despite all this, our lives still revolve around seasonality, religious festivals, secular holidays, and the like.

Naturally, this translates into the beer we consume – spiced barley wines at Christmas, dry January after the December excess and – of course – everyone’s favourite annual festival, Oktoberfest.

But what about the ingredients native to our soil in this global age?  Why are British brewers in particular turning their attention to hops grown nearly 7300km away?  And, regardless of where in the world you are, how can we look what’s around us and use ingredients with less air miles?

These are some of the questions we explore with Craft Beer Channel co-host Jonny Garret as we discuss the content of his new book A Year In Beer (published by CAMRA Books – available here) from a brewing industry perspective.

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY CRISP MALT
Since 1870, Crisp Malt has been producing the finest malt at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk. With 5 maltings located in the best barley growing areas in the UK, they produce a wide range of malts and non-malted cereals in 25kg sacks for craft brewers and distillers all over the world.

They still work one of the last remaining floor maltings in England and use it to make their pioneering heritage malts. They also craft roasted and crystal malts of unprecedented consistency on their vertical, all electric tower roasting plant, the only one of its kind in the UK. Check out their website for more information about their range of malts and also their educational blogs and webinars too.

Visit crispmalt.com to find out more

Follow Hop Forward on Social Media
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Find out what we can do for your brewery and business
Hop over to www.hopforward.beer to discover more.

Working with agronomists, biologists, local farmers, Crisp Malting Group have been at the forefront of resurrecting heritage varieties of barley for craft brewers and distillers across the globe.

Varieties such as Chevallier, Plumage Archer, Hana and Maris Otter - the define the past 200 years of brewing history.  But what do they taste like?  And in today's world of hazy, hop-forward IPAs and fruited sours, can we really tell one malt variety from another underneath all those hop flowers and that tart acidity of lactobacillus?

In this episode of the Hop Forward Podcast, not only do we talk to Crisp Malting Group's Dave Griggs and Carl Heron about getting the best out of varieties such as Chevallier, but we hear from The Cheshire Brewhouse's Shane Swindells, the brewer behind the award winning Govinda making use of the aforementioned varieties.

Shane very kindly sent us a vintage bottle of Govinda from 2014 to crack open live and explore the taste live on the podcast.

For more info on Crisp's range of heritage malts visit https://crispmalt.com/news/the-heritage-malts-maintaining-150-years-of-tradition/ and to purchase Govinda or Gibraltar Porter from The Cheshire Brewhouse, head over to https://www.cheshirebrewhouse.co.uk/

Get ahead in the brewing and beer business...
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Visit our website hopforward.beer

This week sees the return of Cask Ale Week: an initiative set up by independent award body for pubs serving great quality cask beer: Cask Marque.

In this week's episode, guest Frances Brace and host Nick Law discuss why cask beer is important to the general community, why cask beer should be treated like a speciality product and why, in her opinion, landlords should be charging more for it.

Director of Red Flame Communications, Frances  specialises in pub, beer and food ingredient industries.

With over 20 years in beer and pub industry including head of comms for Greene King and the only woman on Cask Marque board in its 20 years, Frances Brace is a lover of beer; seeker of stories; connector of threads; advocate for manufacturing in general and brewing in particular; believer in weight of words and power of pictures; and a insightful PR strategist with ability to influence change and make things happen.

THIS WEEK'S SHOW IS SPONSORED BY...
BrewMan Version 7 - The brand new web-based version of the UK’s number one brewery management software, used by over 250 breweries.

BrewMan V7 has been completely rebuilt to combine the features and functions that have been developed alongside their brewery customers for twenty years with new modern interfaces and intuitive controls that can be accessed through your browser on any device.

To find out more, visit the website at premiersystems.com

Get ahead in the brewing and beer business...
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Visit our website hopforward.beer

Dissolved Oxygen (D.O): no two words strike fear into the heart of the brewers.  As you're probably aware, oxygen ingress into beer is bad news; the more D.O in a beer (counted in parts per billion, or ppb) the quicker it will develop stale, off-flavours that ruin a beer.

But how should brewers approach D.O?  Is it simply a number that gets talked about when ordering a packaging line?  What should brewers - many of whom simply can't afford expensive measuring equipment - do to keep their D.O under check?

These are some of the questions we ask Wild Goose Filling's Laurent Engel, on this week's episode of the Hop Forward Podcast.

Over a few beers, Nick and Laurent - Business Development Manager for Wild Goose, based in Denmark - chat all things packaging; getting down to the nitty-gritty of canning and how brewers can package beer that they’d be proud to pour fresh from the packaging line and by the BBE.

THIS WEEK'S SHOW IS SPONSORED BY...
BrewMan Version 7 - The brand new web-based version of the UK’s number one brewery management software, used by over 250 breweries.

BrewMan V7 has been completely rebuilt to combine the features and functions that have been developed alongside their brewery customers for twenty years with new modern interfaces and intuitive controls that can be accessed through your browser on any device.

To find out more, visit the website at premiersystems.com

Get ahead in the brewing and beer business...
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Visit our website hopforward.beer

Sheep in Wolf's Clothing (abbreviated as SiWC) started life in 2020 with an ambition  to become a leading brewery specialising in the production of low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beers and to open a series of accessible, inclusive pubs, which reflect the communities they serve.

Long term, they are committed to proactively employing people from disadvantaged groups and those underrepresented in the workforce today, wanting to run a successful company that ensures they give back to their customer communities - being a “local” pub in every sense of the word.

In this episode, we chat to founder, Matty Dixon, a former chemical engineer and rugby player turned entrepreneur.  Matty attended the London School of Business before taking part in AB InBev’s graduate scheme, after which, he and his scientific friend - John Chadwick - turned their hand to creating beers between 0.5% and 5% using a variety of initiative methods to bring massive flavours to little beers.

Not only is Matty engaging, witty and evidently has a the entrepreneurial spirit; he openly talks about his ongoing battle with depression - something which saw him take to the stage of London’s TedX conference in 2019 to share his personal experiences of living with depression and why he believes talking about it is crucial to management of the state. Matty believes that the condition is misunderstood and as such is not treated as well as it could be within society, something that flows over into his business and how he operates with his team.

THIS WEEK'S SHOW IS SPONSORED BY...
BrewMan Version 7 - The brand new web-based version of the UK’s number one brewery management software, used by over 250 breweries.

BrewMan V7 has been completely rebuilt to combine the features and functions that have been developed alongside their brewery customers for twenty years with new modern interfaces and intuitive controls that can be accessed through your browser on any device.

To find out more, visit the website at premiersystems.com

Get ahead in the brewing and beer business...
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Visit our website hopforward.beer

We kick Season 3 of the Hop Forward Podcast off with by catching up with Adam France and Dan Hunt: founders of Heist Brew Co.

Heist started brewing back in 2018 out of an old-school house in the ex-mining town of Clowne, Derbyshire, building a reputation for a wide variety of beers.

A move to Sheffield was always on the cards, to create an American style tap room in the thriving cultural quarter of the city in Neepsend.  Having explored several sites, their letting agent showed the aspiring owners around a derelict building with no roof, no cladding and an iron door that needed a good kick to gain entry to the site.

The boys threw themselves into the project and after a couple of months moving forwards at the start of 2020, found themselves quickly with a building project on their hands that had come to a complete standstill due to the lockdown.

Despite all the set backs, including their investors pulling out, Heist Brew Co recently opened their 30-draught line taproom and bar, alongside their brewery, and have been growing in popularity ever since.

To hear the full backstory, we suggest you tune into Episode 1 of the Hop Forward Podcast to get up to speed.

THIS WEEK'S SHOW IS SPONSORED BY...
BrewMan Version 7 - The brand new web-based version of the UK’s number one brewery management software, used by over 250 breweries.

BrewMan V7 has been completely rebuilt to combine the features and functions that have been developed alongside their brewery customers for twenty years with new modern interfaces and intuitive controls that can be accessed through your browser on any device.

To find out more, visit the website at premiersystems.com

Get ahead in the brewing and beer business...
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
Visit our website hopforward.beer

On the Hop Forward Podcast this week, Nick and founder of McColl's Brewery, Danny McColl, have an honest and open discussion about mental health.  We discuss some of the difficulties running a small business and the toll it can take on well-being, family life and look at some of the strategies you can implement to cope and last the course.

Danny chats about their work promoting mental health and conversation, especially amongst men, through their beer 'Let's Eat Pies and Talk About Men's Mental Health' and Nick shares a recording of a bad canning day where he lost his shit over an over-carbonated Kellerbier.

And, of course, Danny talks about the brewery and beers.

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY CRISP MALT
Since 1870, Crisp Malt has been producing the finest malt at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk. With 5 maltings located in the best barley growing areas in the UK, they produce a wide range of malts and non-malted cereals in 25kg sacks for craft brewers and distillers all over the world.

They still work one of the last remaining floor maltings in England and use it to make their pioneering heritage malts. They also craft roasted and crystal malts of unprecedented consistency on their vertical, all electric tower roasting plant, the only one of its kind in the UK. Check out their website for more information about their range of malts and also their educational blogs and webinars too.

Visit crispmalt.com to find out more

Follow Hop Forward on Social Media
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Find out what we can do for your brewery and business
Hop over to www.hopforward.beer to discover more.