Friday 28 October 2011

The Friday Question

The Friday Question...
What happens to the malt once we've finished with it?

Well it makes a delicious sweet treat for Mike's cows.

Thursday 27 October 2011

The 12 Stouts of Christmas on Sale Now

Our year long project to produce 12 Stout's for Christmas is now complete. The first time & place to get the 12 Stouts is at our Open Day on November 26th (10am - 4pm), however you can pre-order yours at our online shop today.

You can pre-order your case of 12 Stout's now. The case costs £48 which includes delivery OR alternatively includes entry to our Special Stout Open Day on Saturday November 26th - where you can pick up your case, have a free brewery tour & taste some samples. You can meet the team, talk all things beer with us, there will be beery food, beers for sale & other brewery goodies.

*Please indicate in the "message" box when you place your order whether you want the beer delivered or if you would like to pick it up on our Open Day. Deliveries will be sent out on the week commencing November 29th.*

THERE ARE ONLY 150 CASES AVAILABLE ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS.



THE 12 STOUTS OF CHRISTMAS ARE....

BRISTOL STOUT
- DRY IRISH STYLE STOUT
Velvety smooth & packed full of flavour for a 4% stout. Black with a ruby red tint, well balanced and warming this rich & malty dry ‘Irish-style’ stout has a smooth full flavour with a long bitter finish.
In the 18th century the Irish (tired of importing porters & stouts from Bristol & London) started making their own Stouts. A few hundred years later the Bristol Beer Factory (tired of importing stout
from Ireland) created a tasty blend of 7 malts to rival the most flavoursome beers of this style.

MILK STOUT - EVER SO SMOOTH OLD-FASHIONED STOUT
A delicious, multi-award winning stout, that has a creamy chocolate sweetness & roasted coffee bitterness with a hint of dark fruits. A fantastic partner to blue cheese. 4.5%.

CHOCOLATE STOUT - SMOOTH DARK CHOCOLATE FLAVOURS
Gloriously chocolatey stout from a blend of 5 different malts, raw cacao nibs & an addition of lactose sugar giving a smooth chocolatey texture. 5%

ULTIMATE STOUT - STRONG, YET TART & DRINKABLE
This is our Ultimate Stout, strong, black, unctuous & delicious. Hints of coffee, chocolate & dark fruits, made using a Belgian yeast & roasted malts. Thick, engine-oil texture but tart drinkable flavour.
The Ultimate after-dinner treat, pair with blue cheese or chocolate desserts. Drink from a brandy snifter & savour the aromas & flavours. 7.7%

IMPERIAL STOUT - STRONG & FULL-FLAVOURED STOUT
Imperial Stouts were originally brewed in the early 19th century for export from Britain to the imperial court of Russia’s Catherine the Great. The high alcoholic content prevented the beer from freezing in transport in the Baltic Sea.
Our Imperial Stout has a rich, malty sweetness, notes of dried fruits & a robust full body. This brew will improve and develop complexity over time and has an intense flavour which is complex and distinctive. 8.5%

VANILLA MILK STOUT - VANILLA INFUSED MILK STOUT
The multi-awared winning Milk Stout has been gently infused with vanilla pods to create an ultra smooth stout with flavours reminiscent of a creme brulee. Best described as a dessert in a glass, gloriously rich and satisfying. 4.5%

HAZLENUT LATTE STOUT - COFFEE HOUSE FAVOURITE IN A BEER!
Roasted Hazlenuts & Java Coffee have been added to our creamy Milk Stout to produce a comforting coffee rich beer with a delicious hazlenut sweetness.
The favourite beer at our 2010 Factoberfest, this is the first time we have bottled it. A rare treat of a beer, enjoy, once it’s gone, it’s gone. 4.5%

CHILLI CHOC STOUT - CHILLI INFUSED CHOCOLATE STOUT
Local chilli’s from the Upton Cheney Chilli Farm have infused our rich chocolate stout with a subtle amount of chilli aroma & a pleasent warming aftertaste. The fruitburst habanero chilli gives a big hot kick, so we have been careful to use it respectfully.
The chilli adds something different to the stout working well with the bitter chocolate flavour without overpowering the other flavours in the beer. 5%

CHOC ORANGE STOUT - ORANGE INFUSED CHOCOLATE STOUT
Orange zest & juice have been added to our Chocolate Stout just prior to bottling to give a fresh orange aroma & flavour to the beer. The classic chocolate orange combination work incredibly well together in this rich, smooth stout.
The orange character adds a refreshing aspect to the beer. 5%

RASPBERRY STOUT - 25KG OF RASPBERRIES - AMAZING
This is our Raspberry Stout, strong and black, yet tart and fruity, a delicious treat of a beer. Surprisingly drinkable, there are flavours of raspberry, chocolate & dark fruits. Brewed using a Belgian yeast & roasted malts & 25kg of Raspberries!
A great after-dinner treat. Drink from a brandy snifter & savour the aromas & flavours. 7.7%

LAPHROAIG CASK STOUT - IMPERIAL STOUT AGED IN LAPHROAIG WHISKY CASKS
This Imperial Stout has spent the last 6 months ageing in oak taking on the famous characteristics of Laphroaig’s 10 year old whisky of peat, smoke & the sea.
The Stouts rich, smooth, roasty flavours combine with the whisky character to produce a complex beer, layered with big flavours.
Enjoy as an after-dinner treat or as an accompaniment to full-flavoured cheeses. 9.5%

GLENLIVET CASK STOUT - IMPERIAL STOUT AGED IN GLENLIVET WHISKY CASKS
This Imperial Stout has spent the last 6 months ageing in oak taking on the famous characteristics of Glenlivet whisky. The Stout's rich, smooth, roasty flavours combine with the whisky character to produce a complex beer, layered with big flavours.
Enjoy as an after-dinner treat or as an accompaniment to full-flavoured cheeses. 10.7%



In January 2011 after the dust had settled on Christmas we decided on a year long brewing challenge to produce 12 bottled Stouts for Christmas 2011. After a great deal of arguing, bickering & hair pulling we decided on our 12 favourites with a number of wierd and wonderful ideas not making the final 12 (next year??).

A year of trials, experiments and patience has nearly come to an end. Tasting, blending and arguing over different brews has lead to a point where we have a truly unique case of 12 different bottle-conditioned stouts.

Head Brewer Chris Kay said “I have enjoyed the challenges this project has thrown up and I’m particularly happy with how the Raspberry Stout has turned out, the 25kg of raspberries that were used in making this beer have given it an incredible aroma. I’ll definitely be having a bottle on Christmas Day.”
Managing Director Simon Bartlett added “We think the ‘12 Stouts’ case will make a fantastic Christmas present, what more could a beer lover want this year?”

There are only 150 cases of the 12 Stouts of Christmas available, they will be available from the brewery or online only.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Caption Competition


Our favourite caption wins a case of beer...

Monday 24 October 2011

Brewery Tour for a Tenner


Our next public brewery tour is on Tuesday 15th November. It starts at 7pm & lasts about 2 hours, the tour includes plenty of beers, a glass, bottle opener & bottle of beer to take home. There will be some new or unusual beers for you to try as well as learning a bit about the brewing process and the exciting new releases on the way.

All for only £10...

Please call us on 0117 902 6317 or email andrew@bristolbeerfactory.co.uk to book on to the tour.

Friday 21 October 2011

Friday Sing Song


"Let us sing our own treasures, Old England's good cheer, to the profits and pleasures of stout British beer.
Your wine tippling, dram sipping fellows retreat, but your beer drinking Britons can never be beat.
The French with their vineyards and meager pale ale, they drink from the squeezing of half ripe fruit.
But we, who have hop-yards to mellow our ale, are rosy and plump and have freedom to boot."

-- English drinking song, circa 1757

Thursday 20 October 2011

Bristletoe


As the days get colder and the nights draw in our thoughts turn to darker beers and we remember the mad rush to get all the Bristletoe we could bottled for last Christmas. This year we are a bit better prepared and already have a large amount bottled (& quite a bit sold!).

Bristletoe will go on sale on November 1st from the brewery and online shop, when it will also be available to retailers.

Bristletoe is a dark spiced beer with ginger, coriander and orange peel, with a long full aftertaste of coffee and chocolate. It is deliciously full-flavoured yet only 4.3%, so also very drinkable for a Christmas beer.


Bristletoe Christmas Gift Packs will go on sale for the festive period with mini casks of it available too.

More 12 Stouts News

The 12 Stouts of Christmas will go on pre-sale in the next couple of weeks.

There are only 150 cases available.


The Great Stout Open Day is on Saturday 26th November.

12 Stouts in a box, because we could, we did.

Independent Beers for Independent Drinkers.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Wednesday in the Brewery...


and we are...

Brewing Acer
Bottling more Bristletoe
Delivering in Bristol & Somerset
Sending a pallet of bottles to Norfolk
Taking photo's
Listening to Prodigy
& talking about how good last nights Beer Dinner was at Flinty Red

Monday 17 October 2011

BBC Food & Farming Awards Finalist!

BBC Food & Farming Awards 2011 Finalists announced

We are delighted to announce that we have made the Final 3 in the Best Drinks Producer category of Radio 4's prestigious Food & Farming Awards. Final judging happens very soon and we can't wait to see how we have got on against Bruichladdich Distillery & Chapel Down Vineyard. Managing Director Simon Bartlett said "Wow, we are blown away to have made the finals at this years Food & Farming Awards. It is fantastic that people have nominated us for such an award, and great justification in what we are trying to achieve at the Beer Factory."


These are just a few of the talented finalists in this year's BBC Food & Farming Awards. A cook who travels to remote villages with a wood burning pizza oven in a truck, a man who has helped changed the way Britain thinks about bread, a cook who serves food to young offenders in a Scottish institution and a supermarket that grows some of its fruit and veg on its high street roof.

The twenty seven finalists also include a gin distiller on the Hebridean island of Islay, a Kentish sparkling wine producer, one of Britain’s oldest food markets and a marketing executive who switched careers six years ago to become a low carbon farmer.
Each year The BBC Food & Farming Awards celebrate the people and organisations behind the best of British food.

The awards – nominated by BBC audiences – set out to find the best if British including Best Food Market, Best Drinks Producer, Best Food Producer, Best Local Food Retailer, Best Retail Initiative, Best Public Caterer, Best Takeaway and the BBC Farmer of The Year.
Winners will be announced at the Food and Farming Awards’ ceremony held on November 23rd at the NEC, Birmingh
am. They will include the 2011 BBC Food Champion, awarded in previous years to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver and baker Richard Bertinet.

Chef and restaurateur Richard Corrigan chairs this year’s panel of judges which includes farmer and Countryfile presenter Adam Henson, school dinners champion Jeanette Orrey, chef Jeremy Lee and food writer Charles Campion. Chair of judges Richard Corrigan said: "The finalists on this list are cooks, farmers and food producers who all, in their own way, reflect where Britain is today, and what it can be in the future. “We have young entrepreneurs using food to create exciting new businesses, farmers with radical ideas of how our food can be produced in a more sustainable way, we have school cooks who believe the meals they serve each day are helping to change the lives of young people and drinks producers working hard to save some of our greatest craft skills and artisinal traditions.


"I grew up in a farming family and always understood the power of being connected with the land, with livestock and with people who were proud to play a role in feeding their community. Few of us are lucky to have that connection today and for that reason these awards are invaluable for one simple reason; they help reconnect people with the story of the best of British food, where it comes from, how‘s it‘s made and who makes it.

We boast some of the world’s best farmers, food producers and food entrepreneurs and so I h
ope when people hear more about the stories on this shortlist they’ll und erstand why it gives me some optimism for our future”.

The awards will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 23rd November at the BBC Good Food Show, NEC, Birmingham, and will be hosted by Sheila Dillon, presenter of The Food Programme.
She will be joined by some of the biggest names in the food world including Rick Stein, James Martin and Angela Hartnett.

The finalists for this year's awards are as follows:


BEST FOOD MARKET
- Bolton Market, Ashburner Street, Bolton
- East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market, Cowley, Oxford
- Maltby Street, near Tower Bridge, London


BEST DRINKS PRODUCER
- The Bristol Beer Factory, Bristol
- Bruichladdich Distillery, Isle of Isla
y, Scotland
- The Chapel Down Winery, Tenterden, Kent

BEST FOOD PRODUCER
- Golspie Mill, Sutherland, Scotland.
- Loch Arthur Creamery, Camphill Community, Dumfries, Scotland
- Alder Tree Fruit Ices, Alder Carr farm, Needham, Suffolk.


BEST TAKEAWAY
- Jack and Linda Mills, The Brighton Smokehouse, under-the-arches, Brighton
- The Sea Tree, “alternative fish bar”, Cambridge
- Rico’s Pizza Shack, mobile wood burning oven, Oxfordshire


BEST LOCAL FOOD RETAILER
- The Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop, Chepstow
- Hawkshead R
elish Company, Hawkshead, Cumbria
- Pink Pig Farmshop, Holme, Scunthorpe, Lancashire

BEST PUBLIC CATERER
- Carol McMath, Kibble Education Centre, Paisley
- Libby Lewis, Farley Hill Scho
ol, Eat Smart Café, Berkshire
- Wayne Wright, Harper Adams College, Shropshire.

BEST RETAIL INITIATIVE
- The True Food Community Co-operative Limited, Berkshire
- The Ice Organisation, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
- Thorntons Budgens Stores, Crouch End, north London


BBC FARMER OF THE YEAR
- Andrew Hughes - Trinley Estate, Andover, Hampshire
- Paul Sousek - Cottage Farm, Jacobstow, Cornwall
- Adrian Dolby - Barrington Estate, Burford, Oxfordshire


DEREK COOPER AWARD
- Andrew Whitley, baker and “real bread” campaigner
- FareShare, food charity, fighting hunger & tackling food waste
- The Food for Life Partnership, Bristol


BBC FOOD CHAMPION 2011 (to announced at the awards’ ceremony).

Friday 14 October 2011

Independent Blog

Read about us on the Independent blog...

http://ind.pn/pEWASJ

What does Vintage taste like?

DSC_0372

A very dark beer with a slight red hue to it, there is a sweet aroma of raspberries. It is a rich, full-bodied beer, with berry fruits to the fore and with chocolate and toasted notes. The finish lingers with a nice hint of oak and moreish hop bitterness.

Bristol Vintage is delicious fresh, with the hop characters really prevalent, however it will age really well, developing flavour and complexity as the hop flavours diminish and the strong malt backbone of the beer takes over. Try it fresh, but also put a bottle away for months or years into the future.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Vintage & Pick & Mix


Bristol Vintage 2011 has now been bottled and is available from the online shop. Read all about this very special 1000th beer here. We are thrilled with how it's tasting, and hope you will be too. We've packed it full of 5 different malts to give a big sweet, fruity backbone & then thrown masses of our favourite hop varieties at it to balance out the sweetness & give a lovely fresh hop character to it, just to make it extra special & add a layer of complexity we aged it on fresh oak... we hope your as excited about our first Bristol Vintage as we are.

You can now Pick & Mix your bottles on our online shop, buy beer here. Pick what you want to drink in your case. We have listened to your feedback and you can now pick & mix your favourite beers to drink at home.

Monday 10 October 2011

Beeramisu

At the BBF we love to cook with beer.

This is one of our favourite dessert recipes, replacing the coffee in a tiramisu with our new Imperial Stout to make Beeramisu.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

* 250g mascarpone
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 180ml Imperial Stout
* 150ml single cream
* 4 tbsp icing sugar
* 16 sponge fingers
* Frozen bar of 70% of chocolate bar
* Cocoa powder, to dust

Method: How to make easy Beeramisu

1. Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla and 75ml of Stout, until everything is thoroughly mixed together. Whisk the cream with the icing sugar until smooth, then fold in the mascarpone mix

2. Pour the remaining beer into a bowl (sweeten with more icing sugar if you like). Take one sponge finger at a time and dip it in to the beer. Set it to one side and continue with the remaining biscuits

3. Line 4 serving glasses with 4 sponge fingers, breaking them in half if you need to. Spoon the mascarpone mix in until you reach the top of the glass. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

4. Remove the Beeramisu from the fridge. Take the frozen chocolate bar and grate a little chocolate over the top of each Beeramisu. Finally, dust with sifted cocoa powder to serve.

Monday at the brewery...


we are...

Brewing Sunrise
Bottling Hefe
Racking No.7
Sending a pallet of bottles to London (order through Pigs Ears Beers)
Cleaning CT's
Plotting & Planning...
Looking forward to Beer Dinner's
& having Bristol Vintage bottles for sale next week

Flinty Red Beer Dinner

We are very excited to be returning to Flinty Red to do another of our famous beer dinners. Matt has pushed the envelope even further this time, a menu with bells & whistles we think.

Join us on Tuesday 18th October for this delicious menu each course paired to a beer of our choosing...

Beer Tapas of Tortilla, Chorizo & Cecina de Leon paired with Independence

Smoked & beer pickled Pork Belly with our new Laphroaig Cask Stout

Tadka Dahl with malt & hops accompanied by Southville Hop

Scallops & Rarebit partnered with Milk Stout

Steak Tartare paired with Gold

Bratwurst & Sauerkraut cooked in beer & paired with Bristol Vintage 2011

Cheeses - 3 cheeses each paired with a beer that shows off its character

Sticky Toffee Pudding with wort cream & Exhibition

A little Surprise to finish with!


All of this for only £40, book now on 0117 973 1620.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Bristol Vintage 2011


BRISTOL VINTAGE 2011, is a beer we have created to celebrate the 1000th brew in our brewery. You can buy it here. It only seemed right to celebrate this milestone with an extra special beer. MD, Simon Bartlett, along with brewers Chris Kay and Brett Ellis have carefully selected 5 malts and 4 of our favourite hop varieties to make a full flavoured strong dark ale. After fermentation the beer was aged on some fresh English Oak to add another layer of complexity to it.


BRISTOL VINTAGE will be available in both casks and as a bottle-conditioned beer. Casks are available now... bottles to follow in a couple of weeks.


An extra special brew day was required to produce the amount of beer we wanted to get, Simon starting the brew day off at 1am, and Chris finishing the day at gone 9pm. 3 mashes were required to produce the 6000 pints we wanted. Hops were selected from England, Germany, New Zealand and the US that all bring something different to the beer, and lead to a distinctive hop presence that compliments the malts and balances the beer.


Tasting notes;
A very dark beer with a slight red hue to it, there is a sweet aroma of raspberries. It is a rich, full-bodied beer, with berry fruits to the fore and with chocolate and toasted notes. The finish lingers with a nice hint of oak and moreish hop bitterness.


Bristol Vintage is delicious fresh, with the hop characters really prevalent, however it will age really well, developing flavour and complexity as the hop flavours diminish and the strong malt backbone of the beer takes over. Try it fresh, but also put a bottle away for months or years into the future.


A unique, one and done beer, but hopefully the first of an annual release of a Bristol Vintage.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Beer Dinner at Hotel Du Vin

Our next Beer Dinner at Hotel Du Vin is coming soon. This is the menu, I hope it gets the mouth watering.

Bristol Beer Factory Dinner
Friday October 14th 2011

Canapes
BLACK VELVET
--
Escabeche of Mackerel
ACER
~
Roast Monkfish, Curried Mussels
SOUTHVILLE HOP
~
Braised Pork Cheeks, Butternut Squash Puree
EXHIBITION
~
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
RASPBERRY STOUT
~
Selection of Cheese
GOLD, HEFE, MILK STOUT
~
Chocolate Truffles
IMPERIAL STOUT

£45 per head

Tuesday in the Brewery


We are

Brewing Acer
Bottling Bristol Vintage 2011
Transferring Bristletoe (ready for bottling)
Racking No.7
Cleaning FV3
Listening to far too much rock!
Finalising Stout labels
Thinking about food...

Beer, Bread & Cheese

Many thanks to everyone who came to the Beer, Bread & Cheese Tasting last night, I hope you all had a great time, we certainly did.

A big thank you to Mark of Mark's Bread & Todd & Ned from Trethowan's Dairy for their vast knowledge and expertise it's a joy to listen to them evangelise about their products.

My favourite pairing of the evening was Ragstone Goats Cheese with Mark's Rye bread & our Hefe, all of the flavours worked incredibly harmoniously together and it was great to hear that Ned thought it was just about the best cheese & drink pairing he's ever had.

Independence was really good with GWR (Gorwydd Washed Rind) and baguette, the big hit of hop bitterness worked really well with the cheese.

We paired Gold with Gorwydd Caerphilly & 7 seed Sourdough, the citrus aspects work fantastically well & biscuit malt character of the beer was really brought out by the savoury, mushroomy rind of the cheese.

Finally our old favourite paorong, Milk Stout & Stichelton, a creamy blue that compliments the creamy stout perfectly, the intensity of the flavours of each is pitched perfectly with the other.


Our new beers were really well received, the Bristol Vintage, Raspberry Stout & Glenlivet cask Stout seem to have found lots of fans already. They will be ready for release as soon as labels arrive...

Cheers