The building has previously operated under a number of different names including Casa, The Aviary and the Town Arms, its first use as a licensed premises having originally been used as the local police station. The recent rebranding and refurbishment has been sympathetic to the building's original features whilst significantly modernising and opening up the interior into a designated dining area with table service and a smaller bar area where bar service is provided. The new features are quirky and interesting with light fittings made from beer bottles and recycled washing machine drums, framed album covers in the toilets and an original canoe mounted on the ceiling in the dining area. This is the newest addition to the B&K chain, which prides itself on brewing its beer in-house and theming its ales after the history of the area in which each premises is based. I was familiar with the chain having visited venues in both Portsmouth and Bristol so I knew roughly what to expect but I was very much looking forward to getting stuck into the brewing process. I had done something similar before at Great Yorkshire Brewery in Cropton around 4 years ago but, in the intervening years, I am confident that my beer knowledge has greatly improved and so I was eager to put it to the test.
I arrived around 9.45 and was immediately introduced to Ben Pearson, head brewer for the venue, who was apparently impressed by my punctuality. A quick cuppa was followed by signing of the obligatory health and safety paperwork and then it was time for my experience to be begin! The brew kit here is located in a prominent location just inside the main entrance where it stands out as a forest of large, copper vessels. Our first task was to begin the brew. The water in the hot liquor tank needed to be transferred to the mash tun in addition to the malt in order to begin the process of allowing the sugars to be broken down and extracted. The water had been already been heated as this is done by the process of a timer which begins the procedure at roughly 4am, in order to ensure that the sufficient temperature has been reached in time for the day's brewing to begin. Ben explained that we would be spending the day brewing Tricky Tree, a 5.5% traditional IPA, named after a nickname for Nottingham Forest, packed with citrus and fruity flavours from 3 different types of hop. But first, we needed to add the malt. Transferring the water into the mash tun, Ben added pale malt whilst I commenced the 'mashing in', which involved standing on a ladder and using a paddle to stir the malt into the hot liquor, ensuring that all of the malt was wet and evenly distributed throughout the mixture. This started off relatively easily but, as more malt was added, the mixture got thicker and heavier and a considerable amount of strength was required to stir the malt in. Along with the high temperature, this was hard work and I'd worked up a significant sweat by the time the mixture had reached the required consistency, resembling that of a malty, delicious-smelling porridge. With all the malt added and stirred in, this could now be left for an hour and a quarter to brew before the next stage took place.
As I recovered from the hard work, Ben explained what other tasks we had to do today. Our next job was sterilising casks and then filling these with beer, something which I had never done but I was looking forward to trying out. This meant heading into the cellar, accessed through a door behind the bar and down a slope which acts a barrel drop, into the basement area which occupies a series of small rooms, which in the building's law enforcement phase, actually acted as the cells. Some of the cell markers are still visible in the brickwork. Ben immediately set me to work using a basin with a high pressure water pump to sterilise empty casks ready for reuse. I was surprised to find out that the brewing procedure here is a one-man operation with Ben having sole responsibility for the end product. Apparently, all the brewing in the chain is done in the same way with one brewer dedicated to each venue, all overseen my a master brewer. Ben himself had recently been helping to cover brewing duties at the company's Bedford venue, where his career with the company had begun following an apprenticeship he'd completed at Oldershaw in Grantham. I was intrigued by the amount of work that one man was responsible for, even just for a single venue, as we began filling the now-sterilised casks. This involved using a long hose that runs from the fermenter, all the way into the back room of the cellar where beer is pumped directly into the empty casks. Before the beer was put into the cask, Ben added finings to each which would then be supplemented by a second addition as the casks were full. Ben explained that this was done more for personal preference than necessity and he was investigating whether the addition of two lots of finings during the barrelling process was significant in affecting beer yield. It didn't take long until the casks were filled and fined and then it was time to knock a shive into each to seal the casks which is harder than it sounds but oddly satisfying. Another half dozen casks later and we returned to the brew kit, where a bacon sandwich awaited was much needed.
The next step in the process was the extraction of the brew from the leftover malt in the mash tun and the transfer of this into the kettle before the addition of the hops. Using a series of pipes, a small container metal tun-like vessel which acted like a filter driven by pumps, we transferred the hot, malty smelling liquid out of the mash tun, switching the pump on and off accordingly as the liquid level changed. To ensure that we got as much sugar as possible from the original mixture, we also carried out a technique called 'sparging'. This involved using a rotating arm that sprays water evenly into the remaining mash, with the aim of flushing any excess sugar out of the mixture in order to get as close to the target ABV as possible. Ben offered me some of the hot liquid to try and it was very sweet and very warming and I was looking forward to seeing how the finished product was going to turn out. Ben now pointed out that it was time for a beer. Briefly heading behind the bar, he returned with 3 thirds of 3 different beers from the Brewhouse range. I enjoyed these as Ben explained about them whilst the sparging was going through its paces. The first of these was Constable (3.9%), a traditional bitter named in honour of the building's original use. This was very drinkable and refreshing, a proper session bitter although Ben said be had been experimenting with the mouthfeel as he was concerned that the finished product was a bit watery to the taste. I, for one, can't see what he's worried about! Next up was 1899 (4.4%), a pale ale that owes its name to the date of the first Test Match between England and Australia at Trent Bridge. This is a classic take on a mid-strength pale with a good balance of malt and hops and a refreshing sweetness on the palate. The final third was Tricky Tree, the beer that I was brewing today. This is a very good IPA with a punchy, citrus flavour and a strong hop aroma, all giving way to a delicious mouthfeel and a smooth finish. If the batch I'm brewing tastes as good as this, I think it will be a hit!
The sparge was over now so we turned on the kettle to allow it to bring the mixture back to temperature before we added the hops to the boil. Whilst this happened, our next task was the one that I'd been dreading: emptying and cleaning the mash tun. This ended up not being as bad as I thought as I used a large tool, similar to a giant fish slice to scrape the mash from the vessel and into 2 rubber buckets. The hard part was disposing of the waste as this meant a walk to the bins at the rear of the building to tip the waste malt away. Ben explained that he had previously tried to arrange with local farmers to come and pick up the waste for use as animal feed but was finding it difficult to rely on them as, more often than not, the promised pickups never happened. So it was that we spent a few minutes conveying the waste malt to the bins as I scraped it out of the tun. Once the majority had been removed, we hosed down the interior before Ben wiped down the inside and removed the floor panels to make it easier to clean. This was then left to dry out. As we waited for the kettle to reach the optimum temperature, I decided that it was time for another beer. The weapon of choice this time was Street Block (4.7%) an American style red rye ale which is amber in colour with a dry, bitter finish and plenty of spicy and aromatic hops. The name comes from residents of West Bridgford who protested about the perceived 'urbanisation' of the area and refused to allow the word 'Street' to be added to any road names as a result. Ben also gave a me a taster of a beer that was currently in the fermenter, Talladega, an American pale ale that is designed to be kegged, and has tonnes of grapefruit flavour from US hops. It's pre-finished state is an interesting fusion of sugary malt and hops and I'll definitely be popping back at a later stage to try the finished article.
We were reaching the business end of the brew now and, with the kettle up to temperature, we were able to add our first batch of hops. Ben prefers to use hop pellets instead of hop leaf and, after collecting the 3 required varieties from the cellar, we measured out the required amount and added them to the boil. First to go in was Chinook, added as a bittering hop. This was then left to come to the boil and left for an hour before the next hops were added. It was lunch break time now so I decided on a lamb and rosemary burger from the delicious burger and opted for a pint of Tricky Tree to wash it down. The burger was amazing and much needed as I hadn't realised how hungry I was! Ben went off to check a couple of things and shortly returned to complete some weekly paperwork as we waited for the first stage of the boil to finish. With the bittering phase now complete, we weighed out the next hop, Cascade, which would be added next to add flavour and impart the strong citrus notes that are the backbone of the beer. These would be left to boil for a few minutes. The addition of the second hop was followed by the addition of a small batch of protein tablets, designed to prevent protein precipitating out into the beer and causing a haze. Shortly after this, the final hop, Mosaic was added. The addition of this hop imparts a fruity aroma and is similar in character to Cascade. The presence of two similar hops in a brew is due to the relationship between smell and taste. Similar flavour and aroma hops ensure a strong continuity of tastes throughout the brew and means that the balance is carried off correctly. The final stage was fast approaching as we waited for the hops to do their job and impart the delicious flavours into the mixture before the whole thing was transferred over to the fermenter where it would be joined by yeast to begin the journey into a completed beer. Whilst we waited for the yeast to settle in the jug that we had prepared for it, the transfer to the fermenter was started, accompanied by yet another beer. This time I went for Calaboose (4.9%), an unfiltered cask pilsner. This is a hazy, straw coloured lager with a light, malty character and spiciness from German hops. It's name comes from an alternative name for a jail, again reflecting the building's original job.
With the mixture transferred to the fermenter and the mash tun and kettle now fully sterilised and ready to be used again, the yeast was finally added and the fermenter sealed. It would now be 3-5 days for the yeast to do it's job as the sugars in the beer were broken down into the alcohol that we so love! With the exception of the addition of a small amount of cold water to correct the gravity (something that Ben had checked prior to the yeast addition), all of the ingredients were in and the brew was complete! All that was left to do was to clean down which meant hosing down the brew area, sterilising any equipment that hadn't been done and ensuring that liquor tank was filled with water recycled from elsewhere in the process, ready for Ben to use again in the morning. I had had a fantastic day! I can honestly say that brewing is something that I really enjoy and I can definitely see it being a potential future career option for myself. I left Brewhouse & Kitchen with a huge smile on my face, some new beer knowledge, new ambition and a mini-keg of 1899 to enjoy at home. I will definitely be visiting this place more frequently, as there are many more beers I need to try and Amy and I are getting married in the upstairs function room so it stands to reason that I should keep coming back to check things out! I urge all of you to do the same!
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