What is your brewery capacity?
10Bbl

What is different about your brewery?

• The plant consists of:
• Mash/lauter tun
• HLT
• Kettle/whirlpool
• Heat exchanger
• Wort aerator
• Mash hydrator
• Control panel
• Various pumps, platforms and pipework
• 4 x 10bbl Fermentation vessels
• 4 x 10bbl Conditioning tanks
• Glycol tank
• Chiller unit
• Bamford mill

We chose a mash lauter tun as it gives us alround flexibility with regards to process control and use of adjuncts. It’s more efficient than a traditional British set up. We chose sealed cyclindroconical fermentation vessels rather than traditional open vessels as it is more hygienic, allows faster fermentation, and easy of yeast harvesting.

How long have you been brewing for?
Rhys has been interested in Brewing as long as he can remember. Rhys graduated with Honors from Heriot Watt Universities Brewing and Distilling course. After completing a internship at St Austell, Rhys joined the brewing team at Sharps Brewery in Rock.

What beers do you brew regularly?

• Harbour IPA
• Harbour Amber Ale
• Harbour Light Ale
• Harbour Lager

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
We haven’t brewed any as yet but we have started to put together our first two. Nagasake – a chilli beer made with Naga chilli and Sake yeast.

Double IPA – this will be our first Keg product.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Craft beer is definately where it’s at for us. I think the market is moving that way too. People want beer that tastes great, and something you can’t buy in the supermarket.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
At the moment we only have cask products avaliable. But from the 1st March we will have bottles avaliable and intend to Keg some of our specials.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Opening our brewery.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Opening our brewery!

What is your brewing ambition?
Rhys -To brew great beer.

Eddie – We are a product-focused business and for us it’s not all about profit, we have set out to make great beers that people enjoy drinking

What was last beer you drank?
Other than our own:

Rhys – Mountain Goat High Tail Ale (Aus)
Eddie – Mikeller Double Shit Coffee Stout (Den)

What is your favourite hop and why?
Eddie – Simcoe; it’s a new hop for me and I’m blown away by incredible fruitness

Rhys – Nelson Sauvin; Distinctive grassy herbal aroma, just awesome!

What is your favourite beer/food combo?

Rhys – Sierra Nevada Double IPA with Naga Duck from our local curry house.

Eddie – Weihenstephan Vitus with Pan fried Scallops

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Eddie- Mikeller just a true craft brewer producing amazing beers

Rhys – Stuart Howe (Sharp’s), he’s a really a nice guy who produces great beers.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?

Kernel – a dark fruit beer.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Carlsberg, just think how rich we would be!

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Both: Surfing – Living by the beach it’s just what you have to do.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Rhys – To talk to yeast to find out what goes on in their little world.

Eddie – To fly, Cornish roads are S**t.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

www.harbourbrewing.com
twitter @harbourbrewing

Where did your brewery name come from?
Mordue Brewery came from an old brewery which brewed in Wallsend, closed in 1879 and funnily enough the last 4 digits of our telephone No

What is your brewery capacity?
140bbl/week

What is different about your brewery?
One of the old timers of the local scene we are modern and open minded yet with traditional foundations. Our beers are robust, flavourful and have depth of character.

Mordue Brewery

How long have you been brewing for?
Matt-16 years
Rob-3 years

How did you get into brewing?
Matt- Home brewing then found out we lived in the old Mordue Brewery and then as they say that was that

Rob-Through home brewing. A home brew kit for my birthday started things off. After this I steadily worked my way up from extract brewing to full mash. My interest combined with a past degree in Biochemistry eventually earned me a place at Heriot Watt University studying Brewing and Distilling. After that it was just a case of getting a job in the industry, and Daleside Brewery, Harrogate were the first to accept me.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?

Loads see our web site www.morduebrewery.com

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Matt- One word Quality. People will always pay for quality even now during one of the biggest recessions in history we are increasing sales and that has to do with the quality of our products (Special thanks to Rob on that front!)

Rob-No one can really tell but at the moment it seems like inventive beers and novel products are the way forward.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Yes Workie/Radgie/IPA in Bottles and have tried IPA in Keg which went very well and lots of cask

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Matt- Champion Beer of Britain Award 1997… God I’m old!!

Rob-There are plenty. Inventing new beers, winning awards or just hearing people have enjoyed something we’ve brewed, they are all proud moments.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Matt- Not appreciating CBOB award as much as I should when I was younger.

Rob-Plenty of mistakes, but no regrets.

What is your brewing ambition?
Matt- At the moment I am really enjoying working and developing things with Rob. Honestly he has to be the best brewer I have worked with and I have worked with and trained many over the years… again I’m getting old!

Rob-To keep learning and to be the best I can be. Awards are great

What was last beer you drank?
Matt- Our Northumbrian Blonde at Lady Grey Newcastle

Rob-Mordue IPA

Mordue IPA

What is your favourite hop and why?
Matt- Riwaka at the moment as it was pretty nuts in our RED RYE RIWAKA lovely Thai spice and lime

Rob-I have a few. Centennial, Progress, Northern Brewer and Motueka

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Matt- a bit biased but Workie Ticket braised beef in a good stew or pie makes the best gravy. Northern boy’s love gravy… coming from the man from the West Midlands

Rob-Barley wine with Stilton is hard to beat. But then again for something more everyday almost any American Pale or amber ale with pizza is another no brainer.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Matt- Tod Mott who is at Portsmouth Brewery New Hampshire, previously at Smuttynose and Back Bay in the States must be one of the best and nicest guys I’ve met and had the privilege to brew with. His “Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout” 12% was No1 beer in the USA and No2 in the World according to Beer Advocate, but hey what do those Alstrom Brothers know about beer!

Rob-The guys at Stone brewery brew great beers and have the brewing celebrity image. But on a different level my real inspiration at has always been from the discipline and integrity persevered by Craig Witty of Daleside Brewery, Harrogate.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
Teo Musso from Baladin. Im sure some kind of Belgian yeast influenced high gravity take on Geordie Pride would be in order.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Matt-Augustiner Dunkel or Oktoberfestbier… go to Munich and have angels dance on your tongue.

Rob-Fullers Chiswick, total classic.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Matt- I have 3 kids… I rest my case your honour

Rob-Blogging about beer and product quality control is always important, even if it’s not your own product. Other than that I like to follow international cricket

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Matt- Invisibility… surely that’s the best power by a mile!

Rob-To control the temperature of fluids with the power of my mind. Imagine the energy savings in brewing. I could also do cool stuff with the weather, or altering the serving temperature of my pint.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

www.morduebrewery.com and twitter @MORDUEBREWERY

www.robsbeerquest.blogspot.com

Pandazilla

Anything else you want to tell us?

Panda Frog!!

Next year there will be 4 brews from the twisted genius that is Rob Millichamp and a small amount of rationality from Matt Fawson

Panda Frog is Rob’s Home brew kit which we have in the past done trial brew’s on and then commercially brewed (Red Rye Riwaka is one) and we want to show that the now considered old dog that is Mordue can still have a few trick’s up it’s sleeve! It gives us and particularly Rob a chance to show off his very talented brewing skills

Pandazilla 7% Cascadian Dark Ale had a little trial at the Twissup last Month and the comments were very positive, even though the beer was a little rough around the edges it certainly delivered on taste and had the Mordue depth of flavour people expect.
Other beers are The Hoptrix, provisionally a new world Belgium blonde ale around 6%, Black (H)opps a new world black lager around 5.5% and Panda Claws an insane festive beer abv unknown!

If that does not wet your appetite I don’t know what will…Oh we might try a Radgie Reserve which will be brewed with Merlot wort and blackberries and raspberries again abv unknown.

www.morduebrewery.com

What is your brewery capacity?
We have a nano-brewery at ½ a barrel with bigger ambitions to scale up to something a little larger in the not too distant future.

What is different about your brewery?
We like to play about with ideas and experiment with old dusty relics of recipes we find and see how they turn out. We keep our own bees and use their honey in our spiced honey beer (despite my being allergic to their stings!!).

Mark hard at work

How long have you been brewing for?
We launched our brewery in Sptember of 2011

How did you get into brewing?
Quite by accident, I have always been interested in good food and drink, brewing came about after we played around with an old family ginger beer recipe that used toast and other odd things and it led to more experiments and to where we now find ourselves. Though it was spurred on by a radio interview we heard whilst sat in traffic on our way home from holiday.

What beers do you brew regularly?
We’ve been really happy with our ‘Big Red’, it’s a really easy going ruby red beer with a strong malt character with a subtle undertone of autumn berries and a little bit of an apple finish. It is always the first to go on farmers markets and has proven really popular with our customers. Our other beer include ‘Halcyon Daze’, ‘ Wind Jammer’ and ‘Rope Walk’.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
My brother is currently working in Antarctica in support of expeditions and I’m looking at making a beer for his return in Spring called ‘Penguin Parade’ with a good fistful of Glacier hops.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
I am really encouraged to see more and more people trying real ale for the first time and i’m pleased to see more younger people spurning churned out lager in favour of a good real ale. I really think brewing is taking off massively and it is great to see that a real choice and variety is now available.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Bottle conditioned and cask.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
As we are only small and only recently started we have yet to really punch out, however we did produce a souvenir ale for Pocktoberfest and we were really happy to see it sail out at this music and beer festival.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Only that we didn’t start earlier.

What is your brewing ambition?
To see our beer in some far flung flung corner of the country and see it being enjoyed.

What was last beer you drank?
It was a pint of another local breweries beer called ‘Bad Kitty’.

What is your favourite hop and why?
We’re very lucky in that where we live there is a great deal of countryside on our doorstep and we enjoy foraging and following the seaonal treats. I have found some wild growing hops, although I have yet to brew with them I have eaten the hop shoots in spring and they’re just like a really delicate asparagus. The aroma is something to behold and I can’t wait for next year to catch the cones before they turn.

What is your favourite beer/food combo? Steak and Ale Pie, no question.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Anyone who has started from scratch and has produced some really exceptional brews.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
I’d love to work with someone like Ray Mears and tinker about with making a beer with some odd wild ingredients that only someone like Ray Mears would know about. As i’ve said, I love foraging!

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
‘Bad Kitty!!’ bloody good beer.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Bee keeping, flyfishing and trying to get outdoors.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Invisibility, i’d love to hear what people say about my beer behind closed doors.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

www.bigriverbrewery.co.uk

Anything else you want to tell us?

Follow us on facebook.

The Brewhouse

What is your brewery capacity?
8BBL

What is different about your brewery?
We’ve developed a theme for our beers that is resonating with a portion of the beer drinking market. Furthermore with the recipes of our core range we’re aiming to be a little different from much of what is out there. That’s all you can hope to do in a competitive market — you can’t be all things to all people and you have to seek to stand out in some way whether it’s through branding/theme and/or beer styles/recipes.

Within our core range we’ve fused beer styles and created beers that are a clash of styles. There seemed little point to us in trying to clone other well-established beers — after all, those beers are great, so why try and make our own version of them?

How long have you been brewing for?
Just over a year.  Initially cuckoo brewing then from our permanent home near Castleford, West Yorkshire since July-11.

How did you get into brewing?
Andrew: I had been brewing at home for 20+ years and full-mash home-brewing for 5-6 years.  I went on the BrewLab course in Sunderland in 2007 and bided my time waiting for the moment/opportunity/inspiration to hit me, which it did in the summer of 2010.

Mark: A deep appreciation of the end-product!

What beers do you brew regularly?

We have a core range comprising the following:

Clash London Porter 4.5% – a traditional dark porter with a complex malt profile and finished with US hops — a ‘clash’ of styles

Pumpclips

Devolution Amber 4.5% – a classic US-style Amber with generous late hops

Kraftwerk Braun 4.5% – another clash of styles this time a hybrid of an English bitter and a German brown ale — essentially an English malt backbone finished with noble German hops

Beat Red 4.5% — the latest addition to our core range – a red ale with a big floral/citrus hop finish

Severin Dark 3.3% – an Autumn/Winter dark session beer brewed with 5 coloured malts and finished with berry-fruit hops (available Autumn/Winter only)

Ravenscroft Pale 3.3% – a Spring/Summer pale session beer with a fruity hop finish (available Spring/Summer only)

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
Every month we brew a special under the banner of our Rewind 33 series. This commemorates a classic album or single release from 33 years ago.  Next year we celebrate the fantastic year for music that was 1979 — we’ve already lined up the brew schedule and are very excited about what’s in store!

Additionally, we have some exciting plans for 2012 that should see us brewing some other, occasional beers of interesting styles and perhaps different strengths.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Markets are always cyclical. Big brewers become bigger and ultimately alienate their customers which allows smaller producers to enter the market and appeal to drinkers in their own way. If the pub co’s can be broken up and the distortions removed from the market (e.g. Relative price of beer in pub vs supermarket) then there will be even more opportunities for smaller brewers to supply their local pubs.

Micro-brewers will become more engaged with keg as it opens up new market opportunities, particularly in venues that perhaps do not have the skill, or throughput to handle cask beer. This will not be to the detriment of cask as we don’t see micros substituting keg for cask, rather they will add it to their portfolio.

New hops will continue to come onto the market making for greater variety in beer tastes and aromas. It’s this surge in strongly flavoured and scented hops that we believe has turned beer into a topic of conversation. It’s now possible to discuss beer in the way that wine is talked about. Beer has become cool and dare one say it, sophisticated.

There are many opportunities for innovative brewers to capture the hearts, minds and palates of drinkers.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Not yet but watch this space. We have a few products in mind for bottling and are actively considering kegging at some point in the future.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?

Very simply we have a feeling of pride every time a customer re-orders one of our core beers.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Regrets are wasted energy. It might have been beneficial to have had the wherewithal to have started about 3-4 years ago, as the micro-brewery market is considerably more crowded now than it was in 2007, but we both feel that had we begun a few years ago we wouldn’t have had the theme or the development plans we now have in place.

On the bar.

What is your brewing ambition?
Do we want to develop the products and the brand to a point where we could sell it for multi-millions like a certain Cornish brewer? Maybe! But really it’s about growth, innovation and continuous improvement. We strive to provide drinkers with a pleasurable product and, from our side, have a bit of fun with the music angle along the way.

What was last beer you drank?
Andrew: Marble ‘Chocolate Marble’

Mark: Thornbridge Jaipur – a fine beer

What is your favourite hop and why?
We both love Summit which is a high alpha US hop. We used it as a single hop in our Kick Inside special and it’s part of the recipe in Beat Red.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?

Andrew: a Bavarian dunkles and some kind of pork-based product!

Mark: I don’t have a particular favourite – though a chef of our acquaintance plans to marinade a steak with Propaganda, our 7.8% Imperial Stout – I’ll definitely have some of that!

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
We were inspired by the combination of great beer and strong branding of breweries such as Dark Star, Thornbridge, Marble, Summer Wine and more recently Magic Rock.

Equally, we appreciate the skill and effort applied by some of the smaller, less well known brewers we meet. All heroes in their own right.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with
and what would it be?
We’re actually planning a couple of exciting collaborations next year with  great brewers so keep your eyes on our social media channels for more information.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Andrew: Acorn Gorlovka

Mark: Gorlovka is a good answer, splendid beer. But I’d love to have brewed My Antonia, a collaboration between Dogfish Head and Birra del Borgo, that was a memorable beer.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Andrew: Listening to music and going to gigs. Occasional walks/hikes.

Mark: Summer, playing cricket. Winter, watching Channel 4 racing. All year round – “researching” other beers.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Andrew: Absolutely no idea!

Mark: Warnie’s flipper would come in handy, as would the ability to dig out a mash tun with a flick of a finger.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

Twitter: @RevolutionsBrew

Facebook: www.facebook.com/revolutionsbrewing

Blog: http://revolutionsbrewing.blogspot.com

Web: www.revolutionsbrewing.co.uk

Anything else you want to tell us?

LOVE MUSIC:LOVE BEER!

What is your brewery capacity?
We have a 15 barrel plant.

enjoying a pint

What is different about your brewery?
I want to make beers that are really accessible. It is annoying when you have no idea what a beer is like from its pump clip, so ours show the colour of the beer and the numbers show how the beers fit into the style range; no farm animals please. Oh, and great beer.

How long have you been brewing for?
I have been brewing ‘big’ for two years, but I’ve been full mash mini brewing at home since I was a nipper.

How did you get into brewing?
I have loved beer and learning about beer all my grown up life. Making my own recipes has been great fun and seemed a logical step.

What beers do you brew regularly?
The current regular brews are: XT-TWO (pale and continental), XT-FOUR (amber and addictive) and XT-EIGHT (dark and multifarious)

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
I am currently working on a special collaboration brew with some other local brewers. It’s great getting together and sharing ideas with like minded beery folks.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Don’t know, but I enjoy looking.

Bottling at Lovibonds

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
We currently cask the beers, but we will be bottling and kegging the beers in the future.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
When the first beer from the new brewery, XT-FOUR, turned out beautifully.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
I lived in the USA for a number of years and I wish I had got involved with some of the micro-breweries while I was over there.

What is your brewing ambition?
To brew something that really gets beer noticed in the foodie press and proves how beer is more versatile and interesting than wine.

What was last beer you drank?
XT-FOUR – obvious answer, but true.

What is your favourite hop and why?
The next new one I find… although I do like Cascade, bit over used maybe but lovely lemony citrus aroma.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Steak pie, chips and gravy with a porter, in a Yorkshire pub with an open fire

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Anyone doing something different and imaginative

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
Sam Calagione and maybe brew something with plums and dates?

XT Brewhouse

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Arrogant Bastard

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Sorry, don’t understand the question.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Super Zymurgist powers – ability to understand and control those pesky little fellows.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?
Yep, try www.xtbrewing.com and @xtbrew

Anything else you want to tell us?

Please push the pubs and restaurants to wake up and look at all of us innovative little micro-brewers so we can show what good beer really is.

What is your brewery name and where did it come from?
Tyne Bank Brewery. The name was chosen due the brewery being located on the banks of the Tyne just along from Newcastle’s quayside behind the famous free trade inn.

What is your brewery capacity?
The capacity of the brewery is 20BBL with 3 20bbl fermenters.

Julia and Mark

What is different about your brewery?
We are a new brewery and this gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to brewing new beers. There is no preconceptions of what our beers styles are like allowing us room to experiment. Due to the exciting boom time in U.K ale’s at the moment this has given us the confidence that there will be a market for a more varied range nationally and also in my home town of Newcastle and opens the door to tackle any beer which takes our fancy. As the tag line says “Born out of love for real ale and a passion to create.”

How long have you been brewing for?
Just over 3 years now.

How did you get into brewing?
By chance, I had just returned from 3 years of working and traveling around Canada, N.Z and the alps cooking, snowboarding, surfing, fishing and having a lot of fun but very skint! A very good friend of mine bobby beck a Herriot watt graduate was the head brewer at mordue brewery at the time who was relocating to Canada and invited me to help brew and take over the reins if I liked the job. I did, rob left a new career and passion began.

What beers do you regularly brew?
We brew three regular ales for the masses. Castle Gold, 3.9% English style pale ale with plenty of English hops throughout, sweet malt with citrus notes. Monument bitter, 4.1% amber/red, 5 malts blended to give a nice malty caramel background with U.S and English hops giving a berry/fruit flavour and aroma. We also have a 5% I.P.A depending on which hops are available, either way it’s bitter with obscene amounts of hop flavour and aroma! There is also a special brewed once a month which could be any style beer we fancy having a crack at.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
With the imagination of the brewers.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
We cask and have just started to bottle, as yet we haven’t jumped on the kegging bandwagon but we are looking into it with an idea to see our beer sail off to foreign lands.

What is your proudest moment in brewing?
Drinking a pint of my ale in the local pub and hearing some else order a pint of it from the bar.

Tyne Bank Casks

Do you have any brewing regrets?
No. Regret nothing you have only learned something.

What is your brewing ambition?
As im to old and into much debt to travel the world brewing it would be to help train the next generation of brewers and see where they can take things. Oh and win the GBBF.

What was the last beer you drank?
Durham brewery’s Bede’s Chalice a 9% Belgian triple. Beautifully balanced, lovely fruity notes and bags of flavour. My favourite Durham beer so far.

What is your favourite hop and why?
Today it is Nelson Sauvin, beautiful powerful aroma with tons of oil which gives the beer an extra viscosity. Mmm Nelson Sauvin

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Due to my financial situation I rarely get the chance to eat food of the standard of the beer I drink, so I have little knowledge on the subject but I do know they all go well with chips!

Do you have a brewing hero/inspiration?
Doug Odell and his philosophy on brewing beer.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
It would be with Doug Odell and the beer would be a double I.P.A

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Haven’t drank it yet still researching.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Drinking beer, reading about beer, surfing, snowboarding, fishing and spending quality time with family and friends.

If you could have one superhero power what would it be?
The healing powers of Wolverine.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?
Yes, please follow me on twitter @tynebankmark (website is http://www.tynebankbrewery.co.uk/ brewery twitter is @TyneBankBrewery)

Anything else you want to tell us?
No time got to start transferring. Keep on brewing!

What is your brewery capacity?
Brew length = 22.5 barrels. Current annual maximum = 4500

What is different about your brewery?
It’s built in the National Brewery Centre. New vessesls, traditional design.

How long have you been brewing for?
I’ve been in the brewing industry for over 22 years.

How did you get into brewing?
Left university with Biological Sciences degree, joined Bass Brewers at Tadcaster in the laboratories. Trained as a brewer, passing Master Brewer exams in 2000.

What beers do you brew regularly?
Worthington White Shield, Red Shield, Mild, Brewery Tap, seasonal ales and Worthington E

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Shields. All designed to reflect the changing seasons.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
There will always be a place for beers produced on a large scale and I respect that, but the trend towards more distinctive beers will continue as people look for more experience for their £’s.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Cask and bottle

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Historically passing my Masterbrewers exams. Most recently being appointed as replacement to Mr Wellington. Huge boots to fill, but what a challenge.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
None to date

What is your brewing ambition?
I would like to produce beers that are worthy of winning gold at the CAMRA GBBF, and that people will actively seek out

What was last beer you drank?
Bottle of Red Shield

What is your favourite hop and why?
I’m a big fan of the noble hop Saaz. People consider it to be a traditional lager hop, but I have dabbled in my garage with ales made using Saaz and they were very interesting. Lot’s of earthy, spicey characteristics, backed by orange peel and grapefuit notes.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Worthington’s White Shield and strong cheddar or dark chocolate. Both combinations work so well. Also any beer with pork scratchings – who doesn’t like this combination.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration? I was always inspired by some of the beers I grew up with. Particularly Simpkiss and Bathams in the West Midlands. These were the some of the original blonde beers that I tasted and were (in the case of Simpkiss) and are (Bathams) fine beers.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Always been a massive fan of Bathams from Brierley Hill, smooth and tasty. But then Guinness has always been a favourite on a Sunday as well, and is iconic.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
I love to travel and have just started indoor climbing to keep fit. Also love to cook.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Not sure it’s a super power, but like the idea of time travel to see what brewing was like in the old days and what the future holds.

BIG Thanks to Jim for taking part I know he’s super busy at the moment!!

What is your brewery capacity?
4500 Hl/year

What is different about your brewery?
We are artisanal, we make NO compromise with quality, we grow our own barley, we have been the first European brewery using recyclable kegs, we are the World first brewery producing a top fermented, bottle conditioned, organic and gluten free beer, made with 100% barley.

Working out???

How long have you been brewing for?
My grand grand parents were owner of “Brasserie Louis & Emile De Coster” in Bruxelles, which have been taken over by Inbev and renamed “Brasserie de Belle-Vue”

How did you get into brewing?
I have been Managing Director of Meura (worldwide well known Belgian brewery manufacturer) for ten years. I sold brewing equipment all over the world.

What beers do you brew regularly?
St Martin and Brunehaut

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
St Martin Christmas

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Quality, quality and quality. No compromise on that level.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Yes, we do bottles (33cl and 75cl) and kegs. All conditioned.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Each time I meet a happy customer.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
The influence of the industrial brewing industry and their massive marketing possibilities, convincing people to drink bad products.

What is your brewing ambition?
Staying craft and having fun.

What was last beer you drank?
Our last brew of St Martin Triple, which came out of refermentation today.

Just great!

What is your favourite hop and why?
I am a fan of aromatic hops.

Shiny....

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
May be a stew rabbit with a St Martin blond….

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Pierre Celis, who re-invented the Belgian White and open the US market to different beer tastes is definitely one!

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
Any good brewer with whom we could develop a great beer!

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
I am working on a “Quadruple”, but I am not happy with it yet… takes time!

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Looking at my barley growing in our farm. And sailing when the weather is ok.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
I don’t like superhero. They are artificial, and our world is too articifial.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

We have a website : www.brunehaut.com, facebook and twitter. and twitter 2

What is your brewery capacity?
Everything, but I’d like to point out that my brewing team deserves the titles they hold. As much as I may have brewed and can brew, they deserve the credit. I’m the founder and have become more of chief idea guy and manage the direction and growth of our company. I turn quite a few wrenches though.

One big glass...

What is different about your brewery?
Different from??? I think the obvious is the main difference between ourselves and our brethren in Craft Brewing is our location and the struggle it is to brew on an island. Our friends at Alaskan certainly can relate. We are just so isolated from our supplies, parts, technicians, etc that it presents a challenge. Fortunately we like a good challenge and believe that the struggle is worth our integrity in always being truly local and brewing our beer in Hawaii.

How long have you been brewing for?
Almost 7 years now, we started in 2005 as a small Brewpub, we did about 400 bbls that year. In 2007 our production facility opened and we began brewing and canning as well. That year we did around 1500 bbls. We still brew at both locations, this year well do over 18000 bbls. It’s been a crazy ride that we (our entire team has enjoyed.

How did you get into brewing?
I always loved good beer and for the most part stayed away from the fizzy yellow domestics, of course there were those days in college when you really had no choice but in large part I was a craft and import guy. In 2001 I took a vacation to Maui and fell in love with the island, I also learned that craft beer was virtually non existent in Hawaii. In fact most were made on the mainland and shipped back. I saw an opportunity to create world class beers and maintain authenticity and integrity of the brand by truly brewing in Hawaii. We created our motto in early 2005 just after starting the company “Handcrafted Ales & Lagers Brewed with Aloha”

What beers do you brew regularly?
Our flagship brands are the Bikini Blonde Lager, Big Swell IPA, and CoCoNut PorTeR. These were the first 3 in cans, then we added Mana Wheat to the lineup of canned beers. Going back to 2005 before canning we brewed around 20 different beers in a year, now with seasonals (and a lot more tanks) we brew around 50 different beers in a year, most of which are available at the pub only or select draft accounts that move good volume for us.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
As I mentioned about 50 different beers a year, we brew so many to keep the variety and education behind our craft forging ahead. In Hawaii the selection isn’t anywhere near the mainland so we like to mix it up.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
No one can say for sure but I’d like to think that we will always be pursuing better beer and educating those that are in the dark about what craft beer is and what it can be. Technology will improve, costs will go up, all the usual you see in successful industries but the ultimate success will always lie in the quality and authenticity of the liquid.

Cans in Paradise

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
No bottles, we can! yes to all the rest.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Getting the doors open. since then I’d say every day gives me that feeling when I see the enjoyment of our beers by our fans new and old.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
None, we wouldn’t be where we are without any “mistakes” that may have occurred. Easy to look back and think you should’ve done something different but I know at the times we didn’t have a choice and were just struggling to succeed. So no regrets.

What is your brewing ambition?
Maintain our growth and success while continuing to be who we say we are. Our integrity means more than a paycheck, we’ll always be truly local as long as I’m at the helm! Beyond that continuing to wow the audience, innovate, collaborate, and deliver great beer to a thirsty world.

What was last beer you drank?
I visited my good friends at Allagash yesterday so Allagash White and Confluence ’11

What is your favourite hop and why?
The one that doesn’t get dropped on the floor when weighing out.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
I LOVE food so it’s hard to play favorites, today I’d say a nice lambic or gueuze with duck confit, or maybe a spicy jambalaya with a big hoppy ipa, or….

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Too many to list, Sam, Dale, Adam, Greg, Bagby, I could fill this page. Might sound a bit cliche but we all stick together and help each other out in this business….well 99% do. I’ve called a lot of guys that have crossed bridges I needed to cross to get advice and perspective. We can all learn from each other.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
We’ve enjoyed a couple collaborations already. I’m down to collaborate with any good brewed out there. I’m fortunate to call among my friends some notable craft brewers and you’ll see some fun ones in the coming years.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
All the ones I haven’t yet, we’ll get around to them. One we did recently was Maui Onion Mild to celebrate the wonderful Maui Onion. I don’t believe onion had ever been used in beer before, but it was delicious.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
Paddle boarding with my wife and our kids (Sofie, our black lab sharpei mix that is part fish I think, and Bella our blue nose pit), relaxing, reading industry stuff. To be honest it’s hard for me to shut off and even when I’m chilling I’m still developing ideas and problem solving. You never know when or where an idea will strike.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Flight, I recently started flying and really enjoy the freedom, plus I don’t enjoy the airport hassles much.

Thanks to Garrett for taking time to fill this in, please visit his website at  www.MauiBrewingCo.com , follow him on twitter here or buy their beers from MBT here.

I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I did, I think there’s some fantastic answers and a lot of stuff I agree with.

What is your Brewery name and where did it come from?
Beer Here. The name came form the wish to open a brewpub/tap room. But for now it is just a contract brewery.

What is your brewery capacity?
In principle unlimited as I am contract brewing. Last year I made approximately 800HL.

What is different about your brewery?
I work a lot with lower alcohol beers and think the most fun come from getting a lot of flavor into a beer with modest ABV. That being said I also have quite a few stronger beers in my range of beers.

I have been in operation with Beerhere for three years now and brewed 50+ beers without brewing an Impy stout eventhough that is was most Danish breweries make as one of their first beers…. but for me it just seem too easy

How long have you been brewing for?
12 years in total. I started as a home brewer and moved into professional brewing 7 years ago when the Danish craft beer scene started booming.

My business partner and I had an IT company . We bought some used equipment in the UK to start a small brewery to have as a business on the side of the programming. Suddenly it took off and I have never really looked back. We hooked up with a larger micro brewery after a few years and it got way too commercial for me. Three years ago I sold my share in that brewery and founded Beer Here to get back to the roots of craft brewing.

How did you get into brewing?
A friend of mine and I met once i a while to cook and drink wine. One day he brought a 3 liter bottle of IPA from a new micro brewery. We finished the bottle that evening and I was pretty much hooked to good beer after that.

What beers do you brew regularly?
I have a range of five beers I try to always have in stock: “Fat Cat” a 4,7% red ale with Nelson hops, Lupulus a 4,7% US-style pale ale, “Hop Fix” 6,5% Scandinavian style IPA made with rye and dark caramel malts and American and German hops, Ammestout, 6.5% Milkstout brewed with lactose and coffee and Tia Loca, 4,5% which is a Belgian/German wheat beer made with Bavarian yeast and spiced with coriander and orange peel.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
I brew an English style organic barley wine and and IPA with Columbus hops and orange peel for Christmas. For Easter I brew a lightly hopped golden ale with grape juice and honey based on a 7000 year old Sumerian recipe.

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Session beers. I tend to crave extreme beers less and less every year and a lot of my friends feel the same way.

Mashing in

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
Most of the beers are available on both bottle and keg. Once in a while I make a cask of something but not often enough if you ask me.

What is you proudest moment in brewing?
Recently my “Infantøl”  – a 2,8% brown ale – were chosen for a new international beer book as one of the few Scandinavian contributions to the book. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something when I get recognized for a low alcohol, lightly hopped brown ale along hundreds of stouts and IPA’s.

Before that it was when my prevous brewery were voted Brewery of the Year in Denmark after only one year of operation and my Ølfabrikken Porter made Ratebeer #1 in its category (I believe it still is)

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Not really. Every time i have done something stupid I have also learned something.

What is your brewing ambition?
To find the soul of Danish beers. These days most Danish brewers (and to a degree myself) are trying to imitate other countries brewing traditions. There has to be a Danish beer – not necessarily with Danish ingredients, but something that is unique in the World beer scene.

What was last beer you drank?
I try to drink my own beer everyday. The last beer I drank which I really enjoyed and were not my own, was very fresh unpasteurized Nils Oscar Lager I had on a trip in Sweden. It were so crisp, simple and easy going and perfect for that particular moment.

What is your favourite hop and why?
Nelson Sauvin. It is quite unique because it has the fruitiness of US hops and the spiciness of Central European hops. I also have a special relationship with it because I was the first Danish brewer to use it commercially.

CTZ (Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus) is also an old favorite of mine.Especially for dry hopping.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Probably beer-steamed Mussels with fries, mayo and Belgian blonde ale. A well-cellared bitter or mild from cask and a hot curry is also a match I really enjoy. Qaudrupel and blue cheese is my favorite way to finish a good meal.

I think beer and food pairings should be kept simple and beer lends itself well to roustique dishes.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing has probably forgot more about brewing than most brewers can ever hope to learn.

I also had the pleasure of spending a few days as a slave/intern at Russian River a few years back. Vinnie Cilurzo has a very interesting view on brewing as he is more focused on process than recipe. I agree with his philosophy that you can make a good beer with a mediocre recipe if you know what you are doing. However you can never hope to make something good with the best recipe in the world if you do not know how to handle the ingredients and equipment.

Another one is Peter Klemensen (Danish Brewmaster who has now left the business). He started brewing a strong, smoked, roasty porter back before anybody in Denmark had heard about craft beer.

Beer Here Lupulus Label

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
The Bruery. After I heard about their experiment with brewing the Danish inpired ale “Rugbrød” I wrote Patrick Rue and asked him if he was interested in doing a “Hvidtøl” with me (traditional Danish low alcohol ale). Unfortunately he has not bothered replying yet.

Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
I draw, listen to music, cook and write computer programs. And drink beer of course.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Being able to eat unpalatable sugar water and create beautiful beer. Yeast cells are my small superheroes.

Do you have a website/twitter/blog?

BeerHere can be found on Facebook and on www.beerhere.dk. My African brewing project Bierwerk can be found on www.bierwerk.com.

Anything else you want to tell us?

Don’t waste your thirst!

HUGE thanks to Christian for filling this out, I’ve got to say I really like the look of the Bierwerk stuff.

If you’re a brewer and want to take part in Meet the Brewer then please drop me a line!!