Brewing Beer at Nutbrook Brewery

Once upon a time I bought a selection of local beers and made some Stout Cakes with a stout called ‘Midnight’ by Nutbrook Brewery. As per the usual, I blogged about it and took a couple of snaps.

The guys at Nutbrook Brewery in West Hallam, Derbyshire got in touch to say that they loved the blog post and asked if I would like to come down for the day and watch the brewing process … well, let’s just say, it didn’t take me long to provide the answer!

The timing was perfect, as I was already involved in The Big Blogger Beer Swap (#beerswap on twitter) and I was hoping that Nutbrook Brewery would be the source of at least two of the beers to send to Beer Bloggers over the UK for their tasting notes.

I packed light with only my digital stills camera and my iPhone 3Gs, and snapped a few shots and recorded a bit of handheld shaky iPhone video to document the process …

1. The Malt

2. The Mash Tun

3. Sparging the grain

4. Hops and Yeast

5. Checking and Tasting

6. Bottling

I had a great day learning about the process of beer making as explained by Chris, the Head Brewer. I knew the basics, but didn’t really understand the full details of the Malt, Hops and Yeast and where they came into the brewing process. Chris patiently went through the details allowing a full hands on experience with a live brew.

I also found out a few things about Nutbrook Brewery and was pleasantly surprised to hear about their custom ‘Design a Beer‘ product, which allows anyone to go down for the day, select the strength, hops and type of beer they would like to make and then make it! … taking away (after the brew) 72 pints of beer in their own labelled bottle … WOW!

Chris and Dean at Nutbrook Brewery certainly have a micro brewery to be proud of, and I for one will be returning to purchase beer at their credit crunch busting ‘direct from manufacturer’ prices!

Here is the current Nutbrook Brewery Beer Selection (2009):

• Banter Bitter 4.5%
  A light golden yellow beer with a traditional hoppy taste from the very best of new world hops. With its floral notes and familiar bitterness this beer is a true Nutbrook winner.
• Bitlyke 4.2%
  A rich bronze beer having all the traditional traits provided from old English hops. It has a soothing bitterness but just enough body to make it a satisfying Nutbrook beer.
• Midnight 4.7%
  This dark full bodied stout is made from the finest crushed roasted barley. Its rich and festive taste makes this beer the ideal seasonal toast.
• Responsibly 4.4%
  Brown with bubbles and froth, tastes a lot like beer… or… a light bronze, crisp beer with a fruity flavour. Don’t be silly, drink Responsibly.
• Mongrel 4.5%
  A darker sophisticated beer giving a fuller taste provided by a complimentary blend of new world hops. A full body taste for full satisfaction.
• More 4.8%
  A beautifully dark beer with a suitable red tint. With its burnt roasted barley taste and sweet bitterness this beer has a different, very pleasurable taste.
• Or8 3.8%
  Nutbrook’s little brother but still with an attitude. This little beer with its subtle hop tastes still has all the great flavour which comes with all Nutbrook beers. Pleasing to just about everyone.
• Shire Ale 6.2% (Croots, Nutbrook, Derby)

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions and show some support for this small local micro brewery.

If you liked this post, you’ll probably love these:

• Design a Beer – My Brewday at Nutbrook – you can brew here too!
• Testing The Grainfather – All Grain Brewing System
• Brewing a Black IPA – with recipe
• How I made a BrewTree – Gravity Fed Homebrew Stand