Peter Hayden (usually to be found underneath a hat) is celebrating the wonderful aromas of British Hops in his latest beer brewed in collaboration with hop farmer and British Hop advocate Ali Capper. And the new beer is called “Capper”, because in Peter’s words “it such a perfect fit with the Head in a Hat brand, that Ali should come along to brew with a name like that, it had to be called Capper!”
And there’s hat-making history to the name. On the Capper family tree, the family surname in the early 1500’s was actually Whittingslow and their trade was “Capper” or cap-makers. By the mid-1600’s the trade had become their surname.
The hops chosen for this beer are First Gold and Pilgrim grown by Ali and her husband Richard Capper at Stocks Farm in Worcestershire plus the wonderful Admiral hop. All three have typical delicate, yet complex British hop aromas, with Pilgrim imparting spice, cirtus and pears; First Gold providing orange, marmalade & spice; and Admiral delivering some punch with resinous orange and citrus flavour notes. The hops were all supplied by Hop Merchant Charles Faram Ltd.
The project came about when Ali met Peter Hayden at a British Hop Association event earlier in the year. Peter Hayden used to be an explosives engineer and fell in love with brewing during his ten years at Meantime, becoming one of the first accredited Beer Sommeliers in the UK. Today Peter’s passion is delving into the archives of historic London beer recipes to give the modern drinker a chance to savour the past, literally.
Joining Peter and Ali for the brew day was Matt Cocks from the London based, Cubitt House Public House Group. And Matt, a big advocate of British hopped beers, has already placed an order for Capper Beer to go on sale at the Thomas Cubitt, The Pantechnicon Rooms, The Orange and The Grazing Goat in London. Matt found the day enlightening “It was my first brewing day, breaking up the hop leaf and adding the hops to the brew alongside two people who are so passionate about British Hops, made it memorable indeed.”
Matt arranged a tasting of the beer last week and the verdict was unanimous, a delicious hoppy beer. Chris Hall, Beer & Food Writer, said of the Capper Beer “It’s orangey and spicey like orange and carrot cake and I absolutely want another. It’s very different to other English beers I’ve drunk recently”.
Tasting Notes:
Beer style: Pale Hoppy Ale
Hops: Pilgrim, First Gold and Admiral for bittering and again for mid/late hop aroma
Aroma: Orange, spice and citrus
ABV: 4%
Contact details:
Peter Hayden A Head in a Hat Brewery: http://florencebrewery.co.uk 07973 465 081
Alison Capper www.britishhops.org.uk : alicapper@mac.com 01886 884 202
Matt Cocks Cubitt House: http://www.cubitthouse.co.uk 020 7730 0070
Paul Corbett Charles Faram & Co Ltd 01905 830734
