January is a month when people traditionally regain consciousness from the booze-sodden and mince pie-laden days of Christmas and New Year, with no money left in their wallet, a dull, thudding hangover and a limited desire to drink.
All of these factors mean it can be a bit of a quiet month for we breweries, offering a precious chance to catch up on all the paperwork, maintenance and cleaning before everyone gets their pay cheque at the end of the month and miraculously gets their thirst back.
We also usually use this time to review of our ranges and discuss what we’re going to brew in the coming year. By doing this, we hope to inject at least a bit of order into the year ahead.
Out with the old
The first big decision of 2018 has been to say goodbye to our old friend Blonde Knight, the 20 per cent rye ale that’s been with us for the last couple of years.
Farewell to our old friend Blonde Knight.
Personally, we were always big fans of the Knight, but it was always the odd one out in our traditional range (perhaps because it’s a bit too unusual for the people who like classic ales). So, the noble knight has ridden off into the sunset, perhaps to return at some point in a slightly different guise.
If you do have a bottle then hang onto it, it might be a collectors’ item one day...
In with the new
Now, if you’ve been left distraught by the demise of the Knight, then dry your tears. We’ve got not one, but two equally noble beers, to take its place early in the spring.
These will be Eden Pale, an easy drinking blonde made with fruity Slovenian Styrian Wolf and German Bavarian Mandarina, and Eden Cracker, a classic English ale brewed with English Challenger Hops and Maris Otter and Crystal malts.
At 3.6%ABV Eden Pale is the designated drivers’ friend, while Eden Cracker is a bit of a reaction to the welcome resurgence in Best Bitters. Both will be familiar to our cask fans, but we’re happy to now be able to offer them both as permanent additions to our traditional bottled range.
We’ll be tweaking other ranges as the year progresses and we’ll keep you up to date with any changes we make. As always, feel free to get in touch to let us know what you think.
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