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 females, 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.
ENDS – ENDS
Please find a link to photography: https://bit.ly/2IFa1xO
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, interviews or photography, please contact LUX – The Food & Drink agency on 0131 555 6911 or email: katy.stollery@getlux.co.uk / eloise.leeson@getlux.co.uk
London Craft Beer Festival – 3rd to 5th August, 2018, Tobacco Dock, Docklands.
For tickets and details of the full line up of beer, food and music, please find this at: londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk
Bristol Craft Beer Festival – 14th to 16th September 2018, The Amphitheatre, Bristol
For tickets and details of the full line up of beer, food and music, please find this at: bristolcraftbeerfestival.co.uk.
Rhubarb: A User’s Guide – further information
The We Are Beer collaboration beer, Rhubarb: A User’s Guide, is brewed using a pale grist with a high proportion of wheat, quick-soured in the kettle overnight (with the help of lactic acid producing bacteria lactobacillus plantarum) then blended with 450 litres of freshly juiced Yorkshire ‘Pink Gold’ rhubarb juice.
After four days’ fermentation with a clean ale strain, the yeast was dropped out and they added the botanical infusions via the hop cannon: many kilos of fresh lemon thyme, hibiscus and rose petals and dry-hopped with Huell Melon.
Tara O’Brien, artist who produced the label for the artwork can be found at: https://www.taraobrien.co/
The team who made Rhubarb: A User’s Guide
- Jenn Merrick – Earth Station
- Katie McCain – Pressure Drop
- Sienna O’Rourke – Pressure Drop
- Sophie de Ronde – Burnt Mill
- Kath Stratford – Howling Hops
- Alix Shaw – The Five Points
- Sarah Evans – The Five Points
- Charlotte Cook – Truman’s Brewery
- Jaega Wise – Wild Card Brewery
- Hayley Marlor – Fuller’s
- Riina Laats – Signature Brew
- Flo Orford – Wiper & True
- Cynthia Toulouse – Wiper & True
- Sue Fisher – Ramsgate Brewers
- Marta Van der Vyver – Husk Brewery
- Hester Boyce – Wild Beer Co.
- Claudia Asch – Couldwater
- Emma Cole – Cloudwater
- Robyn Bell – Cloudwater
- Sarah Barton – Brewsters
- Alice Batham – Brewsters
The Heriot-Watt team:
- Rachel Sutherland – Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt (formerly Sensory & Quality Manager of Innis & Gunn)
- Heriot-Watt students on the undergraduate and master’s degree courses:
- Lillybet Belaqua
- Triona McAleese
- Megan Byrne
- Grace Robson
- Bhaswatee Hazarika
- Kim Berkhuizen
- Tina Williford
- Katrina Stewart
ABOUT WE ARE BEER
We Are Beer was founded by two friends, Greg and Daniel, in a pub. A new-found love of ‘craft beer’ led them to collaborate on something that was, back in 2013, greatly missing – a modern festival, celebrating modern beer. Wanting to play their part, We Are Beer’s first endeavour was the London Craft Beer Festival in 2013. It broke the mould as the first tasting-led festival in the UK, combined with headline music acts and the best food producers out there.
That core mission of celebrating the creativity, diversity and dynamism of modern brewing culture, led them to establish the Bristol Craft Beer Festival in 2016 and the Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival in 2017.
That mission is still at the heart of everything they do today and everything they’re planning for the future. Their aim is to be a platform that promotes modern beer – bringing breweries, drinkers, musicians, chefs and brands together to help grow this fantastic category, be it through festivals, beer collaborations, partnerships or story-telling.
To find out more, please visit: www.wearebeer.com.
Further information:
Eloise Leeson <eloise.leeson@getlux.co.uk>