The Beer and The People!

Recently my favourite craft beer bar, ‘The Pursuit of Hoppiness’ in Exeter closed permanently following the turbulence of COVID-19 and lockdown. The Facebook post announcing the closure was flooded with comments of tributes and support. One comment stood out, it summed up my love for craft beer and the beer and brewing community. That comment was posted by Stannary Brewery.

‘Craft Beer is about more than just the beer, it’s about the people too’

Stannary Brewery from Tavistock on the edge of Dartmoor in West Devon are a small brewery who put a big emphasis on community.

Founded in 2016 by business partners Mark, Chris and Garry, Stannary are based in a small industrial unit on the edge of the town centre. They operate a 6 barrel brewery with an on-site taproom.

The start of their journey wasn’t an easy one as problems with the initial installation of the brew kit meant that their dreams were almost shattered before they could blossom. Thankfully with some extra investment and shed loads of perseverance they were back up and running.

My first experience of Stannary came when I helped organise the first Exeter Craft Beer Festival in 2019, alongside Topsham Brewery. We were seeking to promote the amazing craft beer available within Devon, in addition to Topsham’s own beers, we invited Utopian, Roam, Powderkeg and Stannary to name just a few.

I remember being really impressed with the quality across the board, that included Stannary!

The next time our paths crossed was thanks to my friend Neal who is a self proclaimed Stannary fan boy. He invited Chris and Garry to the Pursuit of Hoppiness during one of our many bottle shares. We chatted over a few beers including ‘Fat Head’ Stannarys’ 7.4% Brown Ale, which at the time I thought looked like dish water but tasted like heaven! Never judge a book by it’s cover.

Stannary have a small but perfectly formed core range. Stannary Pale at 4.5 % ABV, the first beer they ever brewed which they describe as a great gateway from real ale to ‘craft’ beer. Next @ 4.2% ABV is ‘All that Jazz’ a sessionable pale ale and rounding off the range are two IPAs. ‘Reverse Camber’ a nod to the west coast and ‘Hare Trigger’ a fruity east coast juice bomb! In addition to the core range they also brew a number of specials and have just developed two fruited pales; ‘OPP’ an orange peel pale and ‘Slight of Hand’ a mango pale, both fermented on the respective fruits to give a fruit tang.

Community is clearly important to Stannary, this is shown by their recent collaboration with local coffee shop Black Sheep Brew. The result is ‘Black Sheep’ (not to be confused with the Yorkshire brewery), a 4.8% ABV Breakfast Stout with vanilla and lactose. I shared my bottle with my wife, she’s not a massive beer fan but she does love a coffee stout. I’m pleased to say she approved.

Stannary, like most microbreweries, initially focused primarily on the on trade, supplying Kegs and Cask to local pubs and bars. Before COVID 19 and the closure of pubs they were bottling a very small amount of their brews, much of which went to places like Hops and Craft in Exeter, Vessel in Plymouth and a couple select venues across Cornwall. However since the pandemic they started bottling regularly to the point that in has recently represented 60% of their sales, with growler fills from the taproom accounting for the other 40%. Zero cask and keg!

Thankfully the increase in bottling has helped Stannary stay afloat during what has been an extremely challenging time for the brewing industry. In addition to the increased small pack, Stannary have also been overwhelmed by the support from the local community, shorty after the lockdown they announced that they would continue growler fills from their taproom. Initially they weren’t sure how much trade they would get, after a few weeks it was clear that the community had embraced the brewery, with new faces returning regularly to get their local beer. Hopefully now with pubs reopening their sales of cask and keg will slowly begin to pick up again and these new found Stannary fans will continue to seek out the beer, whether at the Taproom or in another local venues.

I managed to visit the boys at the taproom at the beginning of July, just as pubs and bars were being allowed to reopen. Unfortunately due to the limited space it is not clear when they will be able to open, but one thing is clear, the passion and drive to deliver top quality beer is still strong. Both Chris and Garry were positive, especially as they had just released a collaboration with Cornish brewery, Firebrand. ‘Vertical Isolation’, an 8.5% DIPA, although brewed and canned in Cornwall the Stannary influence was clear. It was dank and resinous with masses of grapefruit and pine.

After meeting the guys in the Pursuit of Hoppiness all those months ago and then popping in to the taproom recently one thing that struck me is that the guys are passionate about their community, good beer and are focused on combing the two.

Like they said; Craft Beer, it’s about the people too.   

Peanut Butter Beauty!

Something a little different from me today. A side by side comparison of two 'Peanut Butter Milk Stouts' both from USA breweries.

One from Nashville's Tailgate Brewery, purchased in Favourites of Cheltenham and the other from San Diego's Belching Beaver Brewery purchased in Barnstaple's Crafty Beer Shop.

I've had the Tailgate Milk Stout before, once in New Orleans and a couple of times in Pursuit of Hoppiness but I've never had the Belching Beaver before, that said I've only heard good things.

I love Peanut Butter, I love Milk Stouts and I love the USA. This should be good. I poured them both and got stuck in. 

Firstly the Belching coming in at 5.3% ABV.

It poured jet black with a small tan head which disappeared very quickly. The aroma hit me immediately, peanut butter and lots of it. As I continued to smell notes of milk chocolate and vanilla came through too. 

The Tailgate at a slight lower 5% ABV poured almost jet back with a little more light bleeding through than the Belching Beaver. It was well carbonated, with a small tan head which stuck around a little longer. The aroma was predominantly milk chocolate with some peanut butter coming through eventually. This was the complete reverse of the Belching Beaver Side by side the Belching Beaver appeared thicker, darker and fuller bodied, although only one thing was going to confirm this.

The first sip of the Belching Beaver was great, full bodied with loads of peanut butter and milk chocolate on the palate.

The taste of the Tailgate was equally creamy but with a slightly thinner body. The Tailgate however had more of a milk chocolate taste with peanut butter coming only coming across after a sip or two.

Overall both beers were enjoyable and easy to drink, not overly rich or sweet. Neither was completely balanced, the Belching Beaver was very peanut butter dominated and the Tailgate had a more chocolate focused taste like a regular milk stout with the peanut butter in a supporting role! 

Final thoughts? Well......I would happily drink both again, although if given the choice I would reach for the Belching Beaver first. I felt the stronger peanut butter flavour and the thicker body, resulted in the better peanut butter milk stout! The Tailgate was good, it just lacked that punchy peanut butter hit that I wanted and expected when I cracked open the can. 

Against the Grain, Duration Brewing

Against the grain.....

Whilst many breweries are seeking to brew bigger and crazier Pastry Stouts, Milkshake IPAs and TIPAs its refreshing to see guys like Bates and Miranda at Duration still commanding an important place on the UK beer scene by keeping it pure, classic and flavourful.

I've had beer from Duration before although this was whilst they were still contact brewing at various locations across the UK. I remember being struck by the quality of the beer and bold flavours which resulted from the simplicity of just water, malts, hops and yeast. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now they have their own brewery out in rural Norfolk, UK, it's clear to see that they've stuck to their morals and are produced beer which uses the four base ingredients to great effect.

'Warm Hugs' is a 6% ABV stout with a classic malt bill, centennial and cashmere hops and uses Duration's own house blend yeast.

Warm hugs describes this beer to a tee, I just wanted to pour it, curl up on the sofa and sip away. The aroma was bold with fruity, roasted coffee and bitter chocolate notes. This along with a similarly balanced taste of red fruits, roasted coffee and chocolate resulted in stout which was well balanced yet provided a complex depth of flavours. It was well rounded with a medium to full body and smooth, silky mouthfeel.

It was so refreshing to drink a beer that wasn't trying to be bigger and bolder than the competition, Warm Hugs just delivered deliciousness and left it at that. I really hope @duration go from strength to strength in their new brewery and I look forward to sampling more of their brews over the coming months and years.