Review of 2015

It’s fair to say that 2015 was a pretty incredible year for events in our Balham shop and indeed our new Clapham Junction shop. We welcomed brewers and food producers from across the country (and indeed the globe) and, as we begin to fill up our 2016 events calendar, we thought it would be good to take a moment to look back on a few of the highlights of last year.

By The Horns – 4th March

One of our most local breweries came down early in the year to take us through their core range and some exceptional specials, such as the Sour to the People. Although sours can be risky at big tastings, the fruity, moderate tartness of this beer meant we sold out on the night and have continued to sell out ever since with customers not being able to get enough of it. Since this event, BTH have gone on to expand their brewery and capacity with a lot of exciting plans coming to fruition so keep an eye out, because we’ll definitely be getting these guys down again to discuss some of the awesome stuff they’re getting up to.

Harbour – 18th March

Harbour are seriously cool guys. Don’t believe us? Beside the fact that they’re brewers, they all surf and have a mini skate park in the brewery. Pretty awesome, right? Joe, their Developmental Brewer, travelled up from Cornwall to take us through their pale ale, IPA, light ale as well as a few specials, incuding an imperial stout to finish off the evening. The state of most people’s heads the next morning was a testament to how good a night was had.

Belgian Beer Tasting – 15th April

A night which has gone down in We Brought Beer folklore, the Belgian Beer Tasting, in partnership with Cave Direct, was quite possibly the booziest event we’ve ever had. Bart, a Belgian sommelier and our host for the evening, led us through tasters of eight beers in total, finishing up with Kwak (8.4%), Delirium Tremens (8.5%), Troubadour Magma (9.0%) and finally Rochefort 8 (9.2%). Suffice to say, some people were stumbling a bit by the end, although Bart did manage to go through most of the evening without a single slurred word! A lot was learnt on the night, and only slightly less remembered, including a new trick for holding your beer using only your belt! This was a night that will stay long in the memory of all those who attended.

Lervig – 22nd April

From Norway came our most well traveled brewer, Mike Murphy. An American, he had brewed around the world before settling down at Lervig, Stavanger, in 2010, a brewery that had been started in protest at the closure of the area’s local brewery by Carlsberg. Originally a lager only brewery, Mike turned them around by producing more American style beers and they have now collaborated with some of the best breweries in the world – from Magic Rock to Evil Twin. That night we were taken through the Johnny Low, a 2.5% session IPA, Lucky Jack, Hoppy Joe and their single-hop Galaxy IPA. Aside from the fantastic beers, it was also great to hear about Norway’s beer culture. Despite having incredibly strict alcohol laws, Norway is teaming with quality craft breweries, largely driven by their belief in quality over quantity. We’ve tended to keep Lervig as a permanent fixture at the shops ever since this tasting and we’re hoping to have them back again in 2016.

American Beer Tasting – 13th May

Although many of the beers we’d tried before had been American styles, this was our first tasting dedicated soley to beers with a zip code instead of a postcode. With beers from Fordham, Old Dominion, Saugatuck and Tailgate breweries, we were treated to a great range of beers and styles from across the pond. We could try to describe the event, but we reckon these photos from Chris Coulson more than do the evening justice.

Orbit – 10th June

Based up near Kennington, Orbit are producing German style beers with an ability few other breweries in the UK posses, as well as some more in vogue styles. Robbie, one of the brewers, joined us with their Duke wheat, Neu altbier, Nico Köln style lager and Ivo pale ale and gave us all a lesson in the history of each style, how they’re drunk, why people aren’t happy with calling Kolsch a lager, and even a bit about the history of 4AD record label. Orbit call what they do “Hi-Fidelity Brewing”, and that comes across in the precision and consistency with which their beers are brewed.

Weird Beard – 15th July

Weird Beard have always been a favourite with the WBB staff and customers and their branding is amongst the most unique out there, with the individual skulls, “Lupin”, changing to suit the personality of each beer. From their 2.5% milk stout, Dark Hopfler, to their 200th batch triple IPA, Defacer, they consistently hit the mark. What’s more, they have a particular desire to use the Japanese hop Sorachi Ace at any given point and it just gives some of the most wonderful characteristics to a beer. Gregg and Chris (you’ll hear more about Chris later!) came down to guide us through a selection of their range, finishing up with a side-by-side tasting of both the barrel-aged and non-aged versions of their imperial stout Sadako.

Brooklyn Brewery – 12th August

There are few people who have become as synonymous with craft beer in the UK as Brooklyn Brewery, thanks mainly to the huge success of their lager. Their UK ambassador, Rachel, joined us to took us through the history of the brewery via the medium of beer. The Sorachi Ace saison and Blast! IIPA were both crowd pleasers, but it was the Black Chocolate Stout ice cream float to finish the night that really wowed everyone. The intense and warming characteristics of the stout melded perfectly with the vanilla ice-cream to leave many people trooping back home via Sainsbury’s to pick up some ice-cream of their own.

Mondo – 26th August

Mondo are one of London’s newest breweries and, back in August, they were even newer! However, by investing in quality equipment from the off, they ensured that they hit the ground running. On the evening, Todd and Andrew from the brewery came by to talk us through 5 of their beers, with the James’ Brown Ale surprising many who hadn’t expected such a light approachable beer of that style.  As well as tasting core favourites Rider Pale Ale and Kemosable IPA, it was their seasonal, Poppa Cap, a strong pilsner, that made everyone really sit up and take notice with all 30 litres of the keg taken home that night in growlers! Keep an eye on Mondo – if their initial months are anything to go by, the next couple of years should be very interesting indeed!

Brick – 2nd September

Despite being founded in December 2013, we weren’t able to get Brick into the shop until mid-2015 when they started taking on new accounts. We were so enamoured with the incredibly solid beers they were producing that we quickly invited them down to the shop. Ian, founder and head brewer, and Aidan, head of sales, came down to the shop with something that always gets us excited – an exclusive! Just for this event they had kegged their normally cask-only beer, Sir Thomas Gardyner, a 3.8% American Pale Ale that, to be honest, completely took everyone by surprise with it’s intense, citrus hop character. Their core range Pioneer IPA & Pilsner on keg were also firm favourites. If you get a chance, head on down to the brewery, because they’ve got some experimental exclusives in their tap-room brewed on Ian’s old homebrew kit that will blow you away.

Celt – 9th September

For our first Welsh Meet the Brewer, Tom and Ellie from The Celt Experience came down from Caerphilly and provided us with one of the funnest MTBs that we’ve ever hosted. Oh, and there was also cheese! Having tasted a mix of core & seasonal (including a gooseberry saison!), we finished the night with an 8.5% chocolate rye porter, 614 Annes, and a pungent blue cheese. If you’ve never tried a Celt beer before, get down to the shop and pick some up, because they’re awesome and Tom, their head brewer, is one of the most infectiously enthusiastic people in the industry. If you missed the last one, fear not, because there’s no way we won’t be getting them back down!

London Beer Lab – 23rd September

We like London Beer Lab. A lot. In fact, we like LBL so much that we brewed a beer with them, The Bear of St. John. A 6.5% Red IPA, this was brewed to celebrate the (slightly delayed) opening of our new shop in Clapham Junction and the MTB was used to launch it. What LBL are doing is incredibly cool, constantly revolving and changing their lineup meaning there is always new and exciting stuff is coming out. Whilst we believe our Red IPA was pretty damn good, it has to be said that their Black IPA completely stole the show. A wonderful blend of sharp, bright hops and a rich, roasted backbone combined to create one of those beers that really sticks in the brain and makes you go wow. Bruno, who came down to the shop, and the rest of the team there are doing a fine job, be sure to check them out.

Beer & Pie Matching – 30th September

Any pub worth its salt serves a decent pie – there is something intrinsically wonderful about having a great pie with some beer. In MyPie, we had someone who makes some of the best pies going. Starting with a Steak & Ale Pie paired with Fourpure’s Beartooth, we moved onto a Rabbit & Pork Belly Ragu with Northern Monk Pear & Hawthorn Wit, Chickpea & Pumpkin Curry with Saison Dupont before finishing with an Apple & Pear pie matched with Redchurh’s gorgeous Old Ford Export Stout. Chris, Mr. MyPie, is an exceptional cook which made choosing these pairings nice and easy. If you ever see him crop up an event, be sure to head straight to his van, because you’ll be getting some quality grub.

Five Points – 7th October

The Five Points Pale Ale was one of the first beers ever to get cracked in We Brought Beer and it has remained incredibly close to all of our hearts so when we had a chance to get Five Points down to the shop, we jumped at it. Although their head brewer couldn’t make it down due to illness, we were joined by their Head of Marketing and one of their first employees, Doreen. Trying their five core range beers, we were all impressed with the simplicity of their beers, all of them are great examples of the styles. The stand out beer of the night was their Hook Island Red, a 6.0% red ale with a great body and brilliant tropical fruit flavours that come out against the bigger backbone.

Cloudwater – 21st October

There are few breweries which got beer drinkers as excited in 2015 as Cloudwater! Their branding, beer background and future plans meant there was a lot of hype around them, leaving them with some big expectations to live up to. Thankfully, Cloudwater nailed everything, their seasonal approach to their beers providing them with a pointed note of difference to most other breweries. We were lucky enough to have Paul Jones, one of the co-founders, come down to the shop and take us through their Autumn range with their two lagers, Motueka and Vienna, and their NZ Hopfen Weisse and IPA all sampled on the night. Overall, I think what impressed people the most were their lagers. Whilst it’s a style that can often be forgotten in the current climate of producing beers that destroy palates with hops, it’s important to remember that there’s a reason why lagers became the world’s most popular beer style – when done well, they’re damn good! We might not see it for another year, but the Vienna Lager is a beer that will definitely be gracing our shelves once more.

Pretty F****** Good Toast – 4th November

Pretty F****** Good Toast pretty much does what it says on the tin; David is a guy who makes some awesome toast! Rabbit confit, chocolate shavings and parmesan was paired with Orbit’s Rauch; asparagus, marmite and Lincolnshire Poacher with Anchor’s Big Leaf Maple; Wild Beer Co’s Schnoodlepip with a pastrami, caramelised onion and Cornish Yarg and finally Sambrook’s Russian Imperial Stout finished the night off with some smashed avocado, black truffle and goats cheese. The first beer and food event in our new shop, it was an awesome way to kick start everything there, setting the bar very high for future food events!

London Beer Factory – 4th November

London Beer Factory are pretty new, but they’ve made sure to get themselves into drinkers glasses by concentrating on a core range of beer that they’ve been steadily nailing down, coupled with some awesome branding. We invited Sim and Ed, two brothers and the co-founders of the brewery, down to take us through their beers. We’ve had the Paxton Pale and Chelsea Blonde in the shop before, however, we also tried their two new beers, the London Bohemia Pilsner and Beyond the Pale. The Bohemia was a crisp, clean, refreshing pilsner that our very own Alex Marshall ended up getting in for his wedding. Their Beyond the Pale was a fruity little session IPA, at 4.2% ABV it was easy drinking but with a juicy, tropical fruit characteristic. Oh, these guys also bought down a beer taxi. Pretty cool!

Fourpure – 11th November

Our first Meet the Brewer in the new shop, and we were delighted to not only be able to invite Fourpure back after their brilliant turn in our Balham shop, but also be one of the launch sites for their Winter seasonals, Northern and Southern Latitude. Taken inspiration from the differing seasons in each hemisphere, Northern Latitude was a rich, deep warming red rye IPA, whilst the Southern Latitude was brighter and lighter, reminding you of the hot weather down under. Co-founder Dan came down and talked us through their core range beers, as well as these seasonals and their sour beer, Hoptart. It’s fair to say everyone was impressed and left feeling slightly merrier for the tasting.