Combing art and science in new beer recipe book

A new book by the award-winning writer, Melissa Cole, features over 70 recipes using beer as an ingredient.

In the The Beer Kitchen Melissa has combined two of her greatest passions: great brews and delicious food combining the art and science of cooking and pairing food with beer.

The book offers ideas for simple dips, chutneys and pickles to show-off roasts, classic pies and inventive desserts, by combining an instinctive and scientific approach to cooking with beer.

Readers can feast on the exquisite Beer-brined Pork Chops with Blue Cheese Polenta, the perfect Sunday lunch of Ale Roast Goose with Double Red Cabbage, or for a light but tasty snack try the creamy Celeriac Croquettes with Hefeweizen Sauce.

The Beer Kitchen is the first cookbook that specifies a style of beer – and even a few different brands – from the supermarket shelves. It has multiple vegetarian and vegan options, thorough advice on tasting notes and a whole section dedicated to cheese, plus all the science on obtaining optimum flavour.

 

 

Rhubarb sour beer brewed by 30 women

In an industry first, an all-female collaboration today unveiled a new limited edition craft beer: Rhubarb: A User’s Guide, just in time for this year’s London Craft Beer Festival.

Led by brewing expert Jenn Merrick, 30 women, including both current brewers and students, gathered for just 24 hours to create this unique kettle sour, in a bid to celebrate female brewing’s past, present and future.

Described as a sherbet-flavoured, crisp, refreshing beer that’s ideal for the summer, it has been brewed with Yorkshire ‘Pink Gold’ rhubarb juice, infused with fresh lemon thyme, hibiscus and rose petals and dry-hopped with Huell Melon.

Organised by We Are Beer, founders of London Craft Beer Festival, the kettle sour was hosted and brewed at Pressure Drop by brewer, Katie McCain. The all-female team comprised of 20 brewers and 10 undergraduates and lecturer from Heriot-Watt’s world-renowned MSc in Brewing and Distilling (see list below).

The day, which was extremely hands-on, saw everybody throwing themselves into the experience; contributing to the recipe design, blending flavours, prepping ingredients, and pitching in with the mashing and the boiling.

Jen Merrick, founder of community brewery, Earth Station, said: “It was such an inspiring day to see so many women who contribute to the craft beer industry all in one place, making a beer that drew on the skills of these industry leaders and connecting them with the next generation of brewers.”

Greg Wells, co-founder of We Are Beer, the company behind the London Craft Beer Festival who commissioned the project, said: “This is an amazing summer beer that will be a fantastic addition to the London Craft Beer Festival, which will see our biggest line up of beer, food and music yet.

“The aim of this limited-edition beer is to celebrate the incredible female talent and influence on modern brewing by creating a collaborative beer with past, present and future female brewers from across the industry.”

Continuing with the all-female theme, illustrator Tara O’Brien was commissioned to produce the artwork design for the label. The craft beer is available in 330 ml bottles at 3.6% ABV.

Rhubarb: A User’s Guide will be available at London Craft Beer Festival on 3rd to 5th August, at Tobacco Dock.

Brew day for the next generation

Brewster’s Brewery in Grantham is running a Project Venus brew day on 18 May 2018 to raise awareness about brewing as a career choice for women.

Set up by Sara Barton in 2011, Project Venus advocates women’s roles in the UK brewing industry. By facilitating communication, education and collaborative brews, they aim to create an approachable networking space for all females involved in beer. This year marks 20 years of Brewster’s Brewery and the fifteenth event for Project Venus.

The theme is ‘Next Generation’ to highlight the career opportunities for young women in brewing by connecting women currently in the industry to brewing students and those already thinking about a career in beer. Recipe development on the day for the brew is open to anyone who wants to attend, particularly students and people who haven’t designed recipes before.

Brewster’s brewer, Alice Batham said: “As its a Friday we are also planning on heading in Nottingham after the brew day has finished. Nottingham is not too far from the brewery and has lots of beery things to offer. ”

Brewster’s Brewery is in Grantham, a really easy train ride from London Kings Cross and with quick links by road via the A1. Trains and buses run from Grantham to Nottingham. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Please contact alice@brewsters.co.uk if you would like to attend.

@ProjectVenusUKEire

Beer and chocolate tasting: 25th March, London

Date:               Tuesday 25th March

Time:              2.00 – 4.00 pm

Venue:            The Clarence, 53 Whitehall, London SW1A 2HP

We’re delighted to be staging our fifth annual Dea Latis Beer & Chocolate tasting. This time, we’re holding it central London and we hope many of you will be able to join us to taste two of our favourite things in life!

Once again, we’ll be tasting a number of chocolates with beers specially chosen to complement them, with guidance from beer sommelier Annabel Smith and other experts.

So whether you’re a lover of beer, or chocolate, or both, please join us for this enjoyable and informative event. Tickets, including beers, chocolates, expert talks and tea/coffee, cost £17 per person. Please visit our Eventbrite page to buy tickets:

http://bit.ly/1fKLa8W

If you have recently signed up to become a Dea Latis corporate member, discounted entry is available, please email lisa@lisaharlow.co.uk to put your name on the list.

Great piece about what pubs can do to improve their beer service to women:

http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/lifestyle/browns-beer-why-pubs-must-wake-up-to-women/1710.article

Women driving the real ale booooom!

There’s lots of beer and brewery talk in the press as the Good Beer Guide from CAMRA was launched today.

And The Metro leads the coverage, stating research has found that: “ale has shed its ‘old man’ image as trendy young men and women drive the boom.”

The good news is that there are now 840 breweries in the UK, and ladies are helping to spread the word about proper beer with 32% of women having tried real ale and 38% of 18-24 year old women.

But how do we get our female friends who haven’t yet sampled Britain’s national drink to try it?  If you’ve successfully converted your gal-pal, let us know how in the comments below!

Researching women’s attitudes to beer

Employment in beer and brewing