Focus on: Tiny Rebel

Tiny Rebel's bear. Photo - Beer Lens

Since launching, Tiny Rebel has been hard for many beer fans to ignore. They produce a core range of beers with quirky names, eye catching packaging and above all else; great taste. I asked Gazz and Brad, the guys beyond the brewery a few questions. Here's how they replied...

When was Tiny Rebel started and what was the inspiration for founding the brewery?
Me (Gazz) and Brad began our brewing career as keen home brewers, who started taking our beer a lot more seriously.We then started creating beer that was better than what we were currently drinking in pubs around South Wales. We became so passionate about our hobby that we then, back in 2010, decided that in 2012 we were going to launch our own microbrewery. We spent the 2 years continuously research and development brewing on a 50 litre system, creating our branding and doing all the bits in-between.

What are the beers in Tiny Rebel's core range?
Our Core range consists off FUBAR 4.4% , Urban IPA 5.5%  (both being our flagship beers) Cwtch 4.6%, Billabong 4.6%, The Full Nelson 4.8%, Dirty Stop Out 5%  and Hadouken 7.4%

What beers style do feel sums up what Tiny Rebel is about most?
Anything tasty! We don’t really concentrate on any particular styles or fashion beers.  This year we'll be releasing a few continental classic styles as well some barrel ageing.

Tiny Rebel's branding and marketing is very distinctive, what inspired the look of the pump clips and labels etc?
Tiny Rebels branding for us is just as important as the beer! With me and Brad being 31 & 25, we wanted an image that portrayed us and our interests.

A lot of breweries are exploring European styles like hefeweizen, wit beers and kolsch to name just three. Are there any European styles of beer that you would like to produce at Tiny Rebel?

Tiny Rebel's brewery bar. Photo - Beer Lens

We do have a soft spot for European styles, especially Belgian, so there are plans for a Belgian Golden Strong Ale in the coming weeks. We just love the authentic malts & specialist yeast strains that are used in these styles of beer.

How does it feel to be a part of the brewing resurgence in the UK?
The UK brewing scene is very exciting at the moment with all the new microbreweries around. The never ending choice for the consumer is fantastic, its what beer is all about…Choice! It also pushes breweries to different levels in order to stay at the top of their game, which again is great for everyone!

What do you feel is the style that defines the craft beer scene?
Craft? What's Craft? We find the most popular beer styles at the moment are IPA's and US Pale Ales. Saisons do seem to be becoming ever more popular along with a small but strong following for the lambic styles. Oh and anything that can go into an oak barrels!

You guys have recently opened a bar at the brewery. How's the bar doing and what does it mean for you to have the punters come to you?
Making our brewery as accessible and as welcoming as possible has always been important to us. We feel that we can use it to help educate people and help them appreciate the hard work that goes into producing beer on a small scale. We love holding tours & open days, but with small breweries like ours there isn’t much to show after the brew area. So we thought that there was no better way to fully experience a microbrewery than to be able to chill out on a mezzanine bar area overlooking the whole brewery while drinking brewery fresh beer.

What has the growth in specialist beer bars like The Craft Beer Co and other meant for Tiny Rebel?

The brewery's set-up. Photo - Beer Lens

Huge! Consumer demand has driven these newer style bars, where people can enjoy the varied beers on offer. These new style bars also offer something different from the traditional style pubs, which is great for beer drinkers! Without these new bars, I guess there wouldn't be as many new microbreweries opening.

Tell us about a an exciting new development at Tiny Rebel
Expansion, new beers & an Ice Cream Van!!!

What are your plans for growing the brewery and getting Tiny Rebel's beers into more bars and shops?
Back in April 2012 we set up the brewery with 2 FVs (fermentation vats) and 2 CTs (conditioning tanks) and now 10 months down the line we have 3 FVs 4 CTs with 2 more FVs on order that will bee arriving in the about 6 weeks time. We currently have a great customer base that we unfortunately struggle to supply week in week out due to demand so the 2 additional FV's will help our stock levels massively by allowing us to not sacrifice our cask production as we continue to develop our bottle and keg products.

Which beer festivals will you be attending this year?
We will have a bar as usual at the Great Welsh Beer festival this June, with a few more surprises than last years!

What do you think the use of American and new world hops has meant for the UK beer scene and more specifically for Tiny Rebel?
Massive effect! Again it comes down to the more choice the better. All 4 types of hops: English, Noble, US & Aus/NZ have their place to make certain styles of beer. All as good as each other in their own unique way.

English hop production hasn't been going so well in recent years. Do you feel there is space for a super hoppy pale ale or IPA using only English hops?
Like any hop, they can be overused if not careful. If you're looking for a huge citrus floral hop slap in the face, then its US hops and this style of hoppy beers seem to be the most popular at the moment. Great beers are being made with English hops but they are much more subtle & refined compared to the US. New styles of British hops are being introduced, so hopefully this can pick their market up.

There seem to be a lot of collaborations happening between breweries at the moment. Do you have any plans to make collaborative beers with other breweries or is it something that you would consider doing?
We have not yet collaborated with any breweries at the moment due to being so busy. There are a few out of the ball park collaborations in the pipeline but it's all tight lips at the moment.

And Finally... I recently tried your Smoked India Ale 'Hot Box' and thought it was great - might this be brewed again in the future?
Our 'Tiny Batch Editions' are specifically created as one offs but we'll never say never.

A massive thank you to Gazz and Brad for taking the time to answer my questions. Next up, I'll be speaking to Justin from Moor brewery.

Pint vs Schooner

A pint and a schooner

A couple of years ago Brewdog helped get an old measures law changed, meaning that beer can be served in 2/3 of a pint 'schooners.' Anyone whose been to one of Brewdog's bars will be familiar with schooners as a number of their mid-strength beers are served in them, but few other bars have taken to serving a schooner of your favourite brew. 

Personally, I quite like having a schooner of beer and I own a Brewdog one. It's a little more than a half and it has a nice weight to it. I think in bars, it does make sense to serve beers of 6-8% ABV in schooners and I'd love to see it offered in more establishments.

When Brewdog Shoreditch recently had one of The Kernel's IPAs as a guest, a schooner was just the right volume to drink it in, particularly after the first two pints of Dead Pony Club that I'd consumed.

Of course nothing beats ordering a nice pint in a pub at the end of a hard day, but I do think that the way we view beer is changing and it makes sense to sell particular beers in appropriate quantities. Some of the really strong beers that are available such as Brewdog's Tokyo (18% ABV) make sense to be served in 1/3 of a pint.

The beers that brought you the post

I have a small range of glassware, certainly not a huge collection, but a few options for drinking beer from. Now, I'm not one to obsess about matching a specific beer to a certain glass but several options can only be a good thing.

I first encountered schooners when I visited Australia a few years ago. It's certainly not a replacement for the humble pint but just a different way to consume beer. The more that the range of beers being produced and consumed in the UK increases, the more people will continue to consider the way that they are consumed.

It can only be a good thing, if we can get away from the view held by a lot of people that beer is just a drink with a 4% ABV, designed to be thrown back by the pint as quickly as humanly possible.

Brüpond Ain'cho Mum's Porter

Brüpond Ain'cho Mum's Porter

When Brüpond opened for business, they were joining an increasing crowded London brewing scene alongside some hugely inventive breweries. Their aim from the off has been to stand out, not for gimmicky brews but for genuinely unusual and interesting beers.

With that in mind, they've created Ain'cho Mum's Porter which is infused with chilli. The colour is what you'd expect, a brownish black with a hint of deep cherry red if you hold it up to the light. It pours with minimal head and immediately releases a bitter dark chocolate aroma.

The taste does follow the nose, with the chocolate ever present. Alongside this, there is a hint of cherry sweetness and caramel that gives way to wood smoke and spice. The chilli comes in on the finish. It's definitely there but not overwhelmingly so. It provides an excellent counterbalance to the sweetness from the malt and the chocolate character.

It has a decent, rounded body and mouthfeel and a character that develops on the palate. This is certainly an interesting beer with a character that changes and develops as you drink it, but its probably not one I'll come back too particularly often.

It's an interesting take on a familiar style and I definitely think it does what it sets out to achieve which is matching up the complex bitter chocolate and smokiness of the porter with the chili finish. But for me personally, I would would more readily pick up The Kernel's Export India Porter or Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil. That's not to say I don't like it, just that I can't see if becoming on of the dark beers I drink regularly. However, it has left me intrigued. It's the first of their beers that I've tried and I'm sure I will give it another go.

Alongside Ain'cho Mum's Porter, they also produce Tip Top Hop which is a continually hopped IPA and Sweet Bee which is a honeyed wheat beer. On the strength of Ain'cho Mum's Porter I'd definitely be up for trying these two and any new beers that they may produce.

Its great to see more breweries joining the craft beer scene and producing interesting brews, even if like Ain'cho Mums they're beers I wouldn't choose to drink the whole time.

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!

On Session Beers

The Kernel's Table Beer

For a long time I favoured beers with an ABV of between 6 and 8%. Beers of all strengths have their place, but there's something I've been looking for more and more recently, which is  highly flavoursome beers on the lower end of the spectrum.

There are a number of great session beers available, but what I'm talking about are brews that are high impact, well balanced and sub 4% in strength. To my mind, there are two beers beers that have absolutely nailed this, Brewdog's Dead Pony Club and The Kernel's Table Beer.

The Kernel's offering is one of the beers I keep going back to at the moment. It's a light, fresh and fruity 3.2% ABV pale golden ale that retains character and balance without a big hit of alcohol. It's perfect as a first drink of the night or as an accompaniment to a wide range of food, or if you just fancy something tasty without too much booze in it.

Dead Pony Club, is a California pale ale hopped with simcoe, citra and HBC hops, that has an ABV of just 3.8%. It's lively, citric and fruity on the palate and much like the Table Beer, has a decent balance despite its low alcohol content.

Brewdog's Dead Pony Club

Both these beers will of course be very familiar to a lot of people, but the question you have to ask is why there aren't more sub 4% beers being made by craft breweries? The simple answer is that it's pretty hard to get right. Dead Pony Club and the Table Beer both have real body and mouthfeel, much beyond many lower strength brews.

It's worth mentioning here that Redemption make Trinity, which is also a great lower strength beer with real character, but there aren't many others. It would be brilliant to see a few more emerge in 2013.

There are quite a few best bitters which come in below 4%, but personally although I do like bitters from time to time, they're far from my favourite style of beer. They also usually lack the complexity of flavour that you get with beers such as those mentioned above.

Does anyone else know of any superb session beers that are below 4% ABV? Or do you know of a great little brewery that has one on the way? This year, I want to search out more brilliant session beers to have alongside my favourite stronger brews.

Bar of the Month January: The Holborn Whippet

The Holborn Whippet is a relatively new bar, having only existed on Sicilian Avenue near Holborn tube station since mid 2012. I'd been wanting to visit the Whippet for while, having heard good things about the selection of cask and keg beers and I've got to say, it doesn't disappoint.

The selection is constantly rotating and consists of up to eighteen cask and keg beers and a couple of decent ciders too. I opted for a London Fields Shoreditch Triangle IPA, before going dark and having a Kernel Export Porter and a Magic Rock Dark Arts stout. 

When I popped in, their selection included Harbour, Moor and many other great breweries alongside those mentioned above. It also featured a number of other interesting brews such as Camden Town's Rye Mild and Magic Rock's collaboration with Brodies, a mango pale ale called The Great Alphonso.

Slightly blurry Iphone pic of the bar!

The bar has a stripped back and beautifully retro feel. You could almost believe that it has been there forever. In an area with lots of pretty ordinary bars, The Holborn Whippet stands out for the breadth of its selection and its knowledgeable staff. 

It clearly attracts people that care about their beer. As I waited at the bar, I heard the staff field a number of questions about the brewing processes used for particular beers and the hops contained within them. 

London has become a top place for craft beer. Alongside The Rake, the three Craft Beer Co Venues, the Brewdog Bars and many others, the Whippet is becoming a real go to bar for good beer. It is also my first bar of the month. 

Whilst some of our craft beer bars in places like London are thriving, a lot of traditional pubs are going to the wall. I thought it would be a nice idea to pick a bar of the month throughout this year on the blog. I want you guys to send me your ideas. Please either comment on this post or contact me on Twitter (@thehoptimist1) and use the hashtag '#barofthemonth.'

So that it's not too London-centric, it would be great to have suggestions from all over the UK - what's the best bar in Leeds or Bristol or Edinburgh? What makes a particular bar great? Is it the beer selection alone? The general atmosphere? The friendly and knowledgeable staff? Please get in contact with suggestions for my February bar of the month.

We have great beer bars throughout the UK, so lets celebrate them. It would also be nice for me to know of a few great bars in places I'm not so familiar with, in case I'm ever in your neck of the woods! The Holborn Whippet has kicked things of nicely, where next?... 

A Love of Dark Beer

A pint of stout

I must admit, my appreciation of dark beers is a relatively new thing. For a long time, I favoured paler hoppy beers, particularly IPAs, but I would also choose other pale ales and also pilsners over darker beers.

Many people are a bit obsessed with great big hop bombs and in a sense I can see why. They deliver huge hits of flavour and can have great tropical fruit and citrus tastes.

Fans of craft beer have been particularly seduced by beers with massive amounts of American hops and you could go as far as saying that IPAs and American pale ales are the defining beers of UK craft brewing at the moment. In many ways though, that is a view that is a bit too easy. 

British breweries produce a huge range of styles, with great diversity occurring within sometimes seemingly small brackets. Thornbridge, who are to my mind one of the top breweries at the moment, brew dazzling array of beers, taking in everything from a Vienna style lager to a red ale and a black IPA and much more besides. 

Camden Ink's pump clip

For me though, some of the most exciting beers being produced in the UK are stouts and porters. Camden Town's brilliantly named Ink is a seductive and highly drinkable stout with a delightful roasty bitterness, notes of red fruits and a big hit of coffee.

The other day, on a trip to Craft Beer Co Brixton, I had a half of Dark Star's full bodied and powerful Imperial Russian Stout. With an ABV of 10% and a huge boozy dark chocolate flavour, its certainly not a beer to drink in large quantities but this complex, balanced and highly enjoyable stout is an excellent addition to their already fine selection of beers. 

To list all the fine dark beers being produced by the most interesting breweries in the UK, would be a laborious and essentially pointless task, but there are many of note which deserve the attention of the discerning drinker. Redemption's awesome Fellowship Porter and Thornbridge's killer St Petersberg stout are two beers that really can't be ignored.

I recently wrote about Harviestoun's dynamic and beautifully crafted porter Old Engine Oil and I was also very happy to learn that Brewdog are to produce their imperial Russian stout Cocoa Psycho throughout this year. 

Kernel Export Stout

Right now, I couldn't write a piece about dark beers without mentioning The Kernel's Export Stout. It has a smoky, roasty quality coupled hints of dark fruitiness, a sweetness from the malts and bags espresso and dark chocolate bitterness. Every beer I have tasted from The Kernel has been brilliant, but in many ways this is my favourite. Like with many craft breweries, when people write about them, they focus mainly on their pale beers and big hop bombs. In many ways, their Export Stout defines their creativity and their commitment to producing flavoursome, interesting beers that make you want to come back for more.

The more I drink dark beers, the more I grow to love them. They can be comforting, particularly in the winter, as well as being complex, bold and having flavour profiles that seem to change with each gulp. 

Our dark beers are one of the (many) things that make the UK beer scene interesting, so lets celebrate them. In some ways, getting into pale ales and appreciating a decent hoppy IPA is easy but dark beers do require a bit more consideration. Personally, I feel like I've only scratched the surface of the brilliant range of stouts and porters that are available and I can't wait to expand my knowledge!   

Beers in Berlin, Vienna and Bratislava

I've been away for the last week, so the blog has been a little quiet. Whilst the aim of going to Berlin, Vienna and Bratislava wasn't primarily to drink beer, it did of course mean that I could drink some familiar brews and sample some new delights too.

The beers I had in Berlin were too numerous to list here, but included the excellent Gaffel Kolsch and the delicious Weihenstephaner Heffeweissbier. This is a perfect wheat beer, unfiltered and extremely tasty. Alongside a number of brews from different parts of Germany, we went for a stein Hofbrauhaus' Pilsner, which was light and a refreshing - great! I did have a couple of beers I was not so keen on but I won't dwell on them here.

One of the real finds of my time in Berlin was however, stumbling upon an unassuming looking brew-pub called Hops and Barley. The interior was basic but comfortable, the staff friendly and the beer excellent. They produce a light, lively and flavoursome pilsner, a lovely dunkel lager with nice malty edge and real balance to it, as well as a wheat beer and their special brew at the time, their winter bock. The latter was my personal favourite, a deep comforting flavour with a spicy complex edge to it.

My friend who we were visiting in Berlin was also pleased that they produce proper cider because he has a bit of a love of the stuff and it is extremely hard to find in Berlin! Whilst not up to quite the same standard as their beer, its good enough to quench his desire for the stuff.

After a beautiful journey across the Czech Republic, we arrived in Vienna. Now, this is a fantastic city to drink in. There are some great bars and some great beers. When back home, I must admit I don't drink a huge amount of lager but it is something that Austria does very well.

Ottakringer Helles

Ottakringer Helles, was a refreshing, light and really enjoyable lager, whilst unfiltered Stiegl was far better than filtered version and kicked off my new years eve nicely. The one I will really remember from Austria however is Hirter, which is a pilsner with depth, crispness and balance - a truly refreshing beer. It was also my first beer of 2013.

Moving on to Slovakia, there is one beer here that can't be ignored and that is Zlaty Bazant (translating as golden pheasant). Its one of the main Slovak beers and it is everywhere. They do a lower ABV beer but the version that is most widely available is 12% ABV. I can just see bone headed English tourists coming to Bratislava and trying to knock it back as they would a piss-weak lager back in the UK before falling in a gutter!

Dark Zlaty Bazant

Zlaty Bazant is a decent strong lager, with a crisp, fresh taste, a citric edge and a slight presence from the malts.This is the main Slovak beer served throughout the city and I would happily drink it again.  In a few places, you can find the dark Zlaty Bazant which is a great malty and comforting alternative to the pilsner. Alongside it, much of the beer on offer is Czech, which is of course a good thing!

I drank some fantastic beers whilst away, including some that I will definitely search out again but it did make me consider how much I appreciate the sheer diversity of British beer. Funademntally, though there was some range in the beers I consumed, they were all effectively lagers or wheat beers. Most of them were really enjoyable, but I did enjoy getting back and having a stout and a seriously hoppy IPA!

Brewdog Cocoa Psycho to be brewed throughout 2013

The three prototype beers

So, the results are in from the Brewdog prototype challenge and the winner is Cocoa Psycho, their sublime 10% ABV imperial Russian stout that was my favourite of the three brews.

Call it a promotional stunt if you like, but personally I did like being able to get my box of nine bottles of the prototype beers and then vote for my favourite. 

Of the three, Cocoa Psycho was by far and away my favourite, followed by Jack Hammer IPA, with the slightly disappointing pilsner Nuns with Guns languishing in third. 

To be honest, even Nuns with Guns was drinkable but just not up to the standards of many of their other brews. As I've stated before, I've not had a Brewdog beer that I have actively disliked. Of course some have been more my cup of tea or have particularly caught my attention, but overall, I do think they are are pretty consistent. 

I'm happy that Cocoa Psycho will be brewed throughout the year, as it is complex, powerful and brilliantly balanced beer. It's all boozy dark chocolate and coffee. Part of me would love to be able to keep a bottle of it open under my desk at work and just take the odd swig instead of consuming caffeine. Why have an espresso when you can have this?!

The work in progress logo for Cocoa Psycho

Say what you like about Brewdog's marketing techniques, the thing is that they brew some fantastic beers. Cocoa Psycho is an excellent addition to their core range and definitely a beer that I will be ordering from their site and drinking at their bars during the year!

Over the recent months, I have become increasingly fond of stouts and porters. I've enjoyed Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil, the Kernel's Export Stout and many others. I can see Cocoa Psycho becoming a dark beer that I return to time and again this year!