Pete Brissenden from Hop Daemon Brewery

What is your brewery capacity?
12barrel

What is different about your brewery?
We brew traditional English style beers with a New World twist.

How long have you been brewing for?
About 7 months professionally.

How did you get into brewing?
Having left Uni is struggled to find a job. After much soul searching I sat down in front of the computer, pulled up a list on Google of all the breweries in Kent and begged to go and work for any of them for free. Hopdaemon happened to be looking fora brewer and the rest is history

What beers do you brew regularly?
Golden Braid is a 3.7% straw coloured hoppy session beer with a marmeladey hop character

Incubus is a 4% bronze coloured beer with a toffee malt body with hints of roast and smoke. It has a rich, ripe fruit hop character

Skrimshander IPA a 4.5% copper coloured pale ale with a crisp, clean, lingeringly bitter pithy hop character.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?Dominator is a 5.1% Bronze beer, that takes the Incubus flavours and turns them up to 11. Roast, smoke, sweet, fruity. Our Autumn/winter special. Cask only

Green Daemon is a 5% Helles Bier brewed with an interesting mix of hops from round the world to create a light bodied refreshing beer that smacks of tropical fruits like mango and papaya. Our summer cask special, available all year in bottles.

Leviathan is a 6% Rich, dark, roasty ruby red beer. With a complex peppery hop character and smooth malty finish. Only a few casks a year of this, usually for winter beer festivals. Available all year in bottles.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?

I think the rate of growth of microbreweries in this country is great but ultimately unsustainable. Although growing, the cask ale market is still a small one. I feel that the new microbrewers need to have some sort of unique selling point, be it a pub attached or that they make massively exclusive off the wall esoteric bottled beers, whatever. I think we are in danger of lots of small breweries making samey, brown, boring session bitter.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?

Sorry Pete, this picture just had to be used ;o)

Winning the Kent beer festival with Golden Braid last summer is probably up there.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
About a month after I started brewing, when I was still learning my way round the plant I accidentally flicked the 30kw element on the copper on rather than the hot liquor tank. The copper was empty and the element burnt out. Cost about £1000 to replace and a week’s brewing time lost. I was terrified I was going to get sacked.

What was last beer you drank?
Whitstable Oyster Stout with a lump of Dorset Blue Vinny cheese

What is your favourite hop?
Hard to say, possibly Challenger. Brilliantly versatile for both bittering and aroma.

What is your brewing ambition?
My own brewery, with a bar and restaurant selling beers and decent simple food.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?

A couple, my grandfather initially, when I was a kid got me interested in beer and winemaking and since then, probably my boss Tonie Prins. His beer recipes are works of genius.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
That is really tough, just one…

Marble Pint is up there as is Darkstar Hophead. Ask me next week and my answer will have changed!

Favourite hobby outside of brewing?

I’m a keen powerkiter and landboarder, but I also enjoy playing guitar and trawling secondhand record shops for vinyl.

Anything else you want to tell us?
Andy, it is your round! Mine is a Skrimshander please mate.

Thanks to Pete for taking the time out to fill this in, you can read my thoughts on his beers here, visit the Hopdaemon website here or follow Pete on twitter here.

You will no doubt read many reports of what did and didn’t happen between 11:00 on Saturday 23rd and 17:30 on Sunday 24th January 2010, these will more than likely differ from blogger to blogger, but one thing I think know they will all have in common is that everyone had a fantastic time (well, apart from Mark at Real-Real-Ale-Reviews – who was maybe feeling a little guilty over “keygate” – you can read his version of events here).

What a bunch of twissers

The epic began just after 11:00 when I arrived, after a rather crappy train journey, at The Sheffield Tap, a rather fancy new pub based at Sheffield station, which over the weekend was to almost become our second home.  While I waited for other bloggers to turn up I quietly sat in the corner of the bar, slowly supping a rather delicious glass of Thornbridge Kipling, this was the start of  what, will one day surely become a pub crawl that is etched into blogging legends or as someone mentioned on twitter, become the face of a new alcohol awareness campaign.

Just as I supped the last fruity and hoppy mouthful of my Kipling, Steve  aka Aletalk wandered across and asked if I was Chilli Up North, perfect timing – it was now his round.

Before either of us had finished our beers (I had a Thornbridge White Swan and I think Steve went for their Lord Marples) Dave and Ann appeared, they’d been in Sheffield since Friday as they had a long way to come from the Woolpack, as the beers went down, more and more bloggers were appearing as their trains pulled into the station, before we knew it the place was packed, people had really pulled out all the stops, coming from far and wide to meet their fellow twissheads!

After a few more beers were sank, travel stories shared and gifts exchanged (beers/chilli seeds/some rather lovely glasses from Alex at All Beer) we were shepherded outside for a quick photo, before heading off to the next stop on the Twissup Map.

In truth a certain person who shall remain nameless took us on a slightly longer route that detoured by the Harlequin pub, after a couple of swift halves in there we moved on to the Kelham Island Brewery where we had the rather delicious Marble Brew 14 and a whistle stop tour of the brewery before heading to the Kelham Island Tavern for some Thornbridge Samhain, Milton Marcus Aurelius and one of my beers of the day Brew Co Pete‘s Ginger Stout.

Ruination in the Devonshire Cat

Next on the agenda was a tour of the Sheffield Brewery, a couple of beers in there and a chat with them guys before onto the Hillsborough Hotel, where we were subjected, sorry treated to a brewery tour by Crown Brewer Stu, here we supped more beer, had a hastily arranged beer swap and I got to watch Ring of Fire 2009 being tapped, this is the beer I helped Stu brew and used my home grown chillis in. It seemed to go down really well, Mark Dredge has even given it his beer of the day (WHOOP).

The atmosphere in the Hillsborough was possibly the best of the day, great banter, great beers (including Thornbridge Equinox and Crown Samuel Berry’s Pale Ale)

From here we split into two groups, some went to watch 22 fellas kicking a ball around a pitch and the rest of us headed via various modes of public transport to The Rising sun for a couple of beers and some much needed sarnies, Kelly from Thornbridge‘s competitive side came out here when he scoffed the majority of the tray of sarnies that myself and Pete B found on our table.

Our stomach’s thinly lined with sarnies we headed down the the Devonshire Cat, here we found the awesome Stone Ruination IPA on, it wasn’t cheap at £2.80 for half a pint but it really was worth the money, here I also tried my first non beer drink since breakfast, a rather tasty rum that was packed full of vanilla and nougat flavours (thanks to Brew Co Pete for letting me try that)

It was now getting to the time were some unfortunate people had to get the train home so we headed back to the The Sheffield Tap where yet more ale was consumed from both cask and bottle, This included Hop-it, Tokyo*, Jaipur and various other beers and beer styles.

Twissup on the tram

Once we had waved those unlucky few off we went in search of food, somehow we ended up in a kebab shop that resembled a fancy dress shop, which sold a strange array of battered products which were mainly thrown in the bin.

Those of us that were staying at the Hillsborough headed back there, where a certain person broke someone else’s key in the door, leading to a few room changes and a lot of ribbing for Mark at Real-Real-Ale-Reviews and a rather funny (if inconvenient) end to day one.

Day two started with most of us feeling a little worse for wear, this being helped by the brilliant breakfast served up at the Hillsborough before packing our bags and heading off to see Zak Avery in Leeds.

Zak had very kindly arranged for a pin of experimental beer from local brewer Roosters to be waiting for us at his shop, It was delicious and just what we needed to get the day’s drinking started, although I think it may have sent Pete B over the edge. I think everyone bought a few beers from Zak which is almost impossible not to do.

Next off we headed off in the Wooliemobile to North Bar in Leeds, for yet more ale and some great cheese made by the bloke from blur who used to drink rather a lot of booze in his wilder years…quite fitting and bloody delicious, this was quickly followed by a couple more rounds of cheese and bread and meat and bread, all pubs should do this, it’s a fantastic way to soak up the booze.

Up next was some Sam Smith’s OBB in a rather unfriendly pub hidden down a back alley, promptly followed by an Ilkley Brewery Mary Jane before myself, Pete B and Mark D headed for our train back to Sheffield, luckily on arrival back in Sheffield we had time for one last pint in the The Sheffield Tap, I went for Kipling again, It seemed fitting that the beer I had first should also be my last.

Picking up my rather heavy bag and my rather horrible burger I headed for the most depressing and disgusting train I have ever been on and headed home…

Thanks to all that turned up, chatted, drank, swapped beer, gave gifts and organised treats and tours along the way, I will be sure to raise my next glass of beer to you, although that might not be for some time..

Thanks to steelrazor for taking some awesome pics, You can view my photos of the event here and some other pics in the Twissup flickr group

Ps for those of you interested the beers that I remembered to log as I drank were: Thornbridge Kipling, Thornbridge White Swan, Thornbridge Lord Marples, Brewdog Black Dog, Tiger Tops Ginger, Abbeydale Genesis, Marble Brew 14,Thornbridge Samhain, Milton Marcus Aurelius, Brew Co Ginger Stout, Kelham Island Pale Rider, Sheffield Five Rivers, Sheffield Paradise Pale, Thornbridge Equinox, Crown Ring of Fire 2009, Crown Samuel Berry’s Pale Ale, Burton Tweetie Pie, Thornbridge Jaipur, Brewdog Tokyo*, Brewdog Punk IPA, Brewdog 5Am Saint, Brewdog Equity For Punks, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Anniversary, Stone Ruination IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale ale, Urthel Hop It, Roosters Experimental, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Ilkley Mary Jane, Sam Smith’s OBB and various sips of other peoples beers of all sorts of styles.

A strong ruby ale with spicy hop aromas and a rich malty finish.

Brewed from the finest malted barley and Kentish hops this ‘BEAST’ of a beer is deceptively easy-drinking for its strength and is conditioned naturally in the bottle to produce a sparkle and sediment characteristic of all great living beers.

Leviathan poured a lovely dark malty brown colour, with a lovely frothy white head (once again dispelling the myth that all beers from daan saaf don’t have a head on)

Hopdaemon Leviathan

Leviathan had a lovely hoppy malty smell that was laced with spice and fruit, almost like Christmas cake, it really did smell great, in fact I would go so far as to say it’s one of the nicest smelling beers of the year, this lovely smell only raised expectations, when a beer smells this good you really want it to taste as good as it smells.

I was in luck, it did, it tasted great, the first flavours you get are of malt and caramel, there are hints of spice and smoke and a lovely hop bitterness that make it lovely and deep without being too heavy, mainly because it’s quite thin bodied, but unlike the Green Daemon, it doesn’t detract from an excellent beer, it just makes it really easy to drink, this is also helped by the bitterness and dryness in the finish that just lingers in your mouth for ages and makes you want to drink more.

So that was all of my Hopdaemon beers that came in my Beer Swap parcel finished, If I had to choose a favourite it would be Leviathan, which is strange as I really did expect to find my self preferring the Skrimshander, having said that Skrimshander was a very close second followed by Green Daemon Hellas, which was nice but not as good as the other too.

If you like your Kentish hops, tasty IPA’s or lovely dark malty ales then be sure to track down some of Hopdaemons beers.

It started off quite promising when it poured a lovely amber colour with a thin white head and quite a few bubbles. The aromas  were light and summery, they were grassy and citrusy with a hint of hops and some floral notes.

Hop Daemon Green Daemon Hellas

The first sip was great, the flavours were lovely and it was well balanced, there were lovely citrus hints and a little bit of malty sweetness combined with a mild hop bitterness which gave the lovely crisp and clean taste you would expect with a pilsner .

Now for the not so good bits, to be honest I found the beer a little flat and lacking a little bit of body, this for me turned what could have been a great beer into a good beer, don’t get me wrong the flavours are brilliant and I would buy it but it could just do with a little more fizz, maybe on hand pull it would give it that little bit extra…I guess I will have to pop down and visit Pete sometime to find out.

Still a big thumbs up to to Pete and Hopdaemon as the flavours are bang on for a summer beer and I could see my self drinking this while sat out in the sun.

Oh I almost forgot Emily said she preferred this one over the Skrimshander as it was lighter,less bitter and easier to drink, which is way more info than she has ever given me about a beer before, I think I may have created a monster similar to that on the label.

The first one I decided to sample was Skirmshander, the reason being is that Pete recommended it was drank with curry, it so happened it was National Curry Week, so I thought it would be rude not to give it a go.

According to the Hopdaemon website Skrimshander is:

An aromatic copper-coloured pale ale brewed with Kentish Fuggles and Goldings hops for a refreshing taste and a fruity finish.

Deliciously fruity with a dry hoppy finish SKRIMSHANDER is conditioned naturally in the bottle to produce a sparkle and sediment characteristic of all great living beers.

It certainly poured just as it says, a lovely copper colour beer with a pale off white head, the aromas are citrusy, hoppy and grassy with a hint of fruit.

The taste was well balanced, sweet and malty with a hint of toffee, there is a lovely dryness and bitter hop taste combined with the fruit that came thought in the smell, making it a rather tasty beer.

As for Pete’s suggestion of it working well with curry, he was spot on, it went with my slow cooked lamb curry an absolute treat, it certainly complemented the spice and heat in the curry, also at under 5% it  is lighter yet more full of flavour than the the usual lagers that you would choose to pair with a curry.