Brewing

Brewing philosophy

It has to be fun and it has to pay its way. Apart from that, there are no rules. I want to explore what is possible within the world of beer. I like assertive and distinctive flavours. In flat contradiction to what the tutor on a Brewlab course told us: "If you brew what you like to drink, leave now." He was a financial adviser and of course he was thinking of the conventional brewery model that had to sell lots of beer to lots of people to pay the wages and the bank loan. "You have to brew what your customers want to drink." quoth he. And indeed he is right to say that because if you haven't got a market for your beer you are out of business. But as I often think, there must be plenty of people like me. At the scale of the Poppyland Brewery I don't have to find that many customers, so I can afford to experiment. There are people who are looking for something out of the ordinary - extraordinary even. If I get it right I will brew beer that won't just satisfy your thirst. I shall delight and amaze you.

I do like hops but I promise you they won't all be hoppy.

Just most of them.

Progress at the brewery

By February 2013 all renovation work had been completed. Brewing equipment from Iceni Brewery was delivered in fits and starts and by the summer I was brewing in my own brewery.

Until then I had been brewing with a borrowed Russian Doll kit in order to get some ale for Christmas, brewing on the dark side, with a smoked porter (3.9%), a robust porter (5.7%), a black IPA (5.7%) and a Baltic Porter (7.5%).

Sadly that Russian Doll had a major structural failure when the hoist jammed and two bolts holding the cantilevered mash tun sheared. It was full of wort and grist and I was lucky not to be injured.

In 2013 Brendan of the Iceni delivered three vessels but there were many unfinished aspects and defective parts and a lot more work was required before brewing could begin. Welding, pipework, malfunctioning heaters, cooling design, heat exchanger, pumps all need further work, so it looked like there wouldn't be any brewing that month (March 2013). Fortunately I had beer in hand from earlier brews and from a collaboration with Brew Wharf, so there was beer available for sale.

Output from Poppyland Brewery

Year	Bottles	Casks	Hectolitres
2012	535	0	3.22
2013	4983	0	22.56
2014	5849	15	40.22

Beer reviews

It is really important for a brewer to have feedback, both good and bad. So thanks to the reviewers who made these remarks:

Roger Protz: Evolution Saison IPA. "Sensational"

Hail to the Ale: On the Edge. "Lovely stuff". "Finally, worth a mention is how this beer has an insane level of drinkability. It's thirst quenching yet flavourful and balanced. I hope it's still for sale when it gets warmer!"

Rate Beer: Out of the Blue. Bottled, 375ml cork and wired, from Cromer Farm & Health Shop, Cromer, Norfolk. Gold, carbonated with white head. An interesting start from this new cuckoo brewery, a deliberate Saison, there is a light apple flavour from this, rather like a Normandy cider, this is with a lemony hop note. There is a touch of sweetness giving it a slightly flabby note, but there is a balancing floral hint to keep it interesting. Pretty pricey, but really worth a try. 14/20 overall".

Untappd: On the Edge. "That's rather nice. Good dry-hopped note @BeautifulBeers"

Mr Ticker @bradfordbeers on Twitter: Smokehouse Porter 5.7%. "The Poppyland beer was awesome!"

Advice for beer label collectors

My printer Steve Ratcliffe up the street in Holt Road (Cheverton and Son) uses a self adhesive paper called 'Communique'. If you try to soak off the label in water you will find that the paper disintegrates and the adhesive doesn't dissolve. The technique is to keep the label dry but very slowly and carefully fill the bottle with very hot or near boiling water, shaking to ensure that the heat is dissipated to avoid thermal shock and breakage. You will then find that you can peel one corner up and by slowly and steadily pulling at it the whole label will gradually come off, with some of the adhesive on the back and some still on the bottle.

I only print as many labels as I need plus a few more for the archive. They are a significant part of the costs of producing the beer. If you do want some, please send a cheque for £5 (the lowest retail price of a bottle of my beer) to my address and I will send a selection of the currently available ones:

Chesterfield Lodge, West Street, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9DT