The competition to find a beer good enough to carry the Roux name has been won by London craft brewers, the Fourpure Brewing Company, a family brewery in South East London.
The competition was organised with Daniel Fox of the London Brewers Alliance, and 12 London breweries entered the search for the ‘Roux Brew’, which will be a special ‘house’ beer to be paired with seasonal summertime food for the Michelin 2 starred Le Gavroche, and for Roux at Parliament Square and Roux at the Landau restaurants.
The listing will be guaranteed from April till the end of September, and a competition for a second brew for winter menus is planned for the autumn.
The beers were judged by Michel Roux Jr, Albert Roux, Head Sommelier at Le Gavroche David Galetti, Greg Wallace co-presenter on the MasterChef series, Silvano Giraldin, Rachel Humphreys Head Chef at Le Gavroche and Luke Finegan Sous Chef at Roux at Parliament Square.
A shortlist was drawn up in February, comprising beers from Fourpure, Brew by Numbers, By the Horns, Hackney, and Windsor & Eton.
Michel says that from the initial tasting, it was clear that Fourpure had brewed something very special: “The freshness of the grapefruit and orange zest and coriander seed really stood out – this is a beer that has a zing about it, and we feel it will partner perfectly with the flavours of our summer menu.”
Head Brewer at Fourpure, John Driebergen describes their Roux Brew as a Belgian Wit – 5.6 ABV – Belgian yeast, with fresh pink grapefruit zest, fresh Sicilian Navelina orange zest, and coriander seed.
“The beer is unfiltered and unfined, meaning when the beer is bottled there is still yeast in suspension so it bottle conditions. It’s naturally carbonated during the fermentation and then we make any minor adjustments we need to, in order to achieve the perfect level of carbonation,” says John.
“The recipe for this beer uses premium malts and carefully chosen Styrian Goldings hops. We zested the grapefruits and oranges by hand and chose an authentic Belgian yeast strain specifically for this beer. The provenance of ingredients is really important to us.”
The LBA was formed in 2010 as a collective of London breweries within the M25 to celebrate the resurgence of brewing in London.
Le Gavroche was among the first quality restaurants to establish a beer list. This now extends to 17 choices. Michel Roux Jr is keen to expand that choice and to promote the matching of beer and food in his restaurants.
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Issued on behalf of Le Gavroche
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