The Year in Beer 08 - June

I promised to tell you more about Dr Sunshine's Special Friendly English Wheat Ale and I will:

It's refreshing. And not overly strong. It's also pretty different, so I expect the usual comments from the usual people.

When out and about drinking beer in the best independent free-houses in East Kent, this is the pumpclip to look out for:



'A little bit of sunshine in every glass'
[Lorrie-the-brick]

Where's the Sunshine?

For some it's the sight of the first swallow and for others it's the Solstice but for me, the first day of summer is signaled by the first day of the Lords Test. Today in fact. (Even though rain has inevitably delayed the start of play).

And it is by happy coincidence that today I have begun to brew the first of this year's triptych of summer ales, Dr Sunshine's Special Friendly English Wheat Ale. First created by me & Scooly back in 2004 it is a mongrel cross-style between a Dutch Wit, an American Wheat and a light English Mild.

But what's it like?

Like nothing else. A high proportion of wheat in the mash provides a mellow soft base, spicy Perle hops a lovely fruity spicy middle bit with fresh ground coriander seeds & organic Valencia orange zest for some lovely citrus overtones.

Refreshing, one might say. I'll tell you more nearer the time.

XX Bitter

Wonderful beer. Just right for this sunny weather. Keep a bottle in the fridge and when you get home from a hard day's graft pop the top and pour into a chilled glass. Sit in the garden, put your feet up on the kids and let the hops do the rest.


By the time you get to the bottom of the glass you're a new man. Or woman. Whatever.

It's brewed by Brouwerij de Ranke, a small Belgian outfit based in Wevelgem, and we ship it along with our empty casks from the Netherlands.

This is a deliciously hoppy (Brewers Gold variety) bitter beer fermented with a distinctively Belgian ale yeast. And at just £1.58 a go, it is pure value.

Woops!

Er, sorry, I forgot to mention to Andy the Landy that he must put Gadds' Dark Mild on tap last night. So I didn't get a pint, I got a soaking in the rain on the disappointed way home. Then he put the beer on.

Bugger.

Sunny Days.

OK, now brewing beer is an energy intensive activity and always has been - we're never content with leaving stuff at ambient temperature, always wanting it very hot or very cold. So as a collective industry we've had a few hundred years practice at keeping these costs as low as possible. For instance: as the brew is boiling we use the steam generated to heat cold water for cleaning or brewing. Cooling the wort (after boiling) with cold water generates more hot water for cleaning or brewing or heating.

Yet despite all this efficiency and energy recovery our usage is relatively high so I took a look at the feasibility of installing a solar-panel (pv) system on our roof in the hope of becoming a British Gas supplier, rather than customer (which, as we all know, is close to purgatory).

Here's what I found out:

• The south east is a good place to be for this kind of thing because it isn't the grim north, I suppose.
• Our south facing roof, pitched at 30 degrees above the horizontal is a pretty good orientation.
• Every 8 square meters of pv panels will generate around 800 units of electricity (based on our orientation & location).
• Every 8 square meters would cost £5K installed.
• 800 units, at current prices, saves me £73.44 on my British Gas bill.
• The government would contribute a further £28 totaling up my savings to £101.44

So, for every £5000 I spend I save £101.44 per year. A return on investment (interest ignored) of 49.29 years.

Not exactly enticing is it? Would any manufacturer give me a 50 year warranty? Would they 'eckers like! Energy is going up and technology is improving so there will come a time when the numbers add up. If there emerged a vibrant pv panel manufacturing industry, costs would fall rapidly and grants and/or increased subsidy would help that become a reality sooner.

Lobby your MP please.

In the meantime I'm thinking up ways of integrating solar-water-heating-panels to our system as they are considerably more economically justifiable. Problem is, I have more hot water from my existing recovery systems than I really need already. Any ideas?

The Year in Beer 08 - May

Oh lucky us, it's May soon and the month is designated 'Make mine a Mild in May' by those be-sandaled folk from St Albans. Quite why we listen to them I've no idea, but we do. Habit I suppose.

Wiki can bring you up to speed with what 'mild' is as a beer style and I see no point in repetition, suffice to say it's Mrs Gaddsbeershop favourite kind of beer. It can be light, dark, strong or weak but is generally lightly hopped.


Gadds' Dark Mild has won a few fans over the years, being adjudged the best in the South East by SIBA, (the small brewers society), back in 2005 and the following year making the finals of the Champion Winter Beer of Britain, a competition run by those wise and trendy young folks from, er, St Albans.

Basically, it's dark and it's 4%. It's also fairly rich and full bodied with a little sweetness. And, horror of horrors, there is a light hoppiness back there behind the malt. As you both know, I find temptation too much and often fiddle with my annuals and this one is no different: I couldn't help but fling some brown malt into the mix this year to create a little more interest amongst all those roasty choccy mocca flavours. It lends a certain smoky grainy aspect and I rather approve.

I was a bit late with it and it won't be ready for the monthly unveiling at the Monty until next friday, sorry about that. But do get yerself down there and neck a responsible amount on the 9th.

Once More...

......unto the Monty dear friends, once more.
And fill up your glasses with our English Ale.

Happy St George's Day, fellow yeomen of this great beer drinking nation.

There's a cask of Dragon's Blood ESB hiding in the Monty. See you there?