Focus on: Magic Rock

Magic Rock

In the first of a series of posts focusing on some of the best craft breweries in the UK, I asked Richard Burhouse, co-founder and director of Huddersfield's Magic Rock a few questions.

In the short time that they've been operating, Magic Rock have become hugely popular on the craft beer scene. I thought it would be good to find out a little more about the inspiration behind their beers and what they have planned for the future. Here's how Richard replied...

When was Magic Rock started and what was the inspiration for its founding?
We started planning the brewery in 2010 and the first brews were May 2011. The inspiration was the US craft beer scene and progressive UK brewers such as BrewDog and Thornbridge.

What are the beers in Magic Rock's core range?
Curious 3.9% 'Original Pale Ale'
Rapture 4.6% 'Red Hop Ale'
High Wire 5.5% 'West Coast Pale Ale'
Dark Arts 6.0% 'Surreal Stout'
Clown Juice 7.0% 'India Wit Ale'
Magic 8 Ball 7.0% 'Black IPA'
Cannonball 7.4% 'India Pale Ale'
Bearded Lady 10.5% 'Imperial Stout'

Magic Rock co-founder and director: Richard Burhouse

What limited edition beers are you producing at the moment?
Simpleton 'Session IPA', Dancing Bear 'Bavarian Pils.'


Which beer or beer style do you feel most defines what Magic Rock is about?
US style Pale Ale/IPA

How long does it take you to get from an idea for a new beer to it being in production?

Anything from a couple of days to a few months.

Much has been made of the quality of brewing in the UK currently, what does it feel like to be involved in the resurgence of British brewing?
AWESOME #craft

At the moment everyone wants to produce super hoppy IPAs - is there a style of beer that you feel defines the craft beer scene?
US style IPA's are the driver of the craft beer scene worldwide, but it depends which market breweries are in. The US has moved on to Belgian styles including sour beers in a big way, while in the UK there is still a big appetite for super hoppy IPA's.

What are your plans for growing Magic Rock and getting your beers into more bars and shops?
I haven't got ambitions for us to grow particularly big, I'm much more bothered about the consistency and quality of our beer. We are expanding slowly but I don't really see a point where we'll ever be available in national pub chains or the biggest supermarkets. We do hope to move to bigger premises in the next couple of years but I'm very happy as long as the brewery can make enough money to support the staff, we can make the beers we want to and we're all enjoying our work.

Tell us about a new or exciting development at Magic Rock and what it might mean for the brewery throughout 2013...
We are in the process of setting up a lab for microbiological analysis, so we can have more quality control in place. I hope this will lead to more consistency in the beers and the ability to be more technically correct with the beers that we make. We are also building a barrel store which will allow us to expand our barrel ageing programme.

You've brewed a take on a wit beer and so have Camden Town, whilst Thornbridge have brewed a Kolsch and a Vienna style lager. Are there any other European beer styles that you think UK breweries will start to produce this year?
I can't speak for other breweries but we're looking to brew a few traditional German beers in the coming months. We're brewing a Bavarian Pilsner this week, a German Gose in February and we also plan to brew a Berliner Weisse at some point.

Head brewer: Stuart Ross

Are Magic Rock intending to be at many beer festivals this year and if so, which ones?
Yes we'll definitely be at the following this year, and hopefully one or two more:
Barcelona Beer Festival (Spain) 8th – 10th March
Haand Olfestival Drammen (Norway)
24th – 25th May
Edinburgh Independent Beer Fest 11th – 13th July
Villaggio Della Birra (Italy) 6th - 8th September
IMBC Manchester 10th - 13th October

What does the growth in specialist beer bars such Craft Beer Co, The Holborn Whippet, Sheffield Tap etc mean for you guys as a brewery?
The growth of these type of bars has been instrumental in us being able to establish the brewery quickly. It's great being able to sell beer to people who are as passionate about serving it as we are making it.

What do you think American and new world hops have brought to British brewing and more specifically to Magic Rock?
No new world hops, no Magic Rock.

English hops are on a bit of a downer at the moment. Do you feel that there is space in the market for a super hoppy pale ale or IPA using only English varieties?
There's definitely room for more creativity with UK hops. We do use some, but it tends to be confined to styles in which pronounced hop character isn't necessary.

A number of breweries are making collaborative offerings. Do you have any plans to collaborate with other breweries?
There seems to be a trend at the moment to just collaborate for the sake of it, its definitely fun to have other brewers brew here and we did a number of collaborations last year, but at the moment we're busy making the core beers and trying to fit in our own specials. We are always interested to collaborate with brewers we can learn from, or breweries which have been an inspiring influence to us and we have one or two things in the pipeline at the moment.

A big thank you to Richard for taking the time to answer my questions. It was great to get this strand of blog-posts kicked off with Magic Rock. Next up: Tiny Rebel!