British hops take centre stage

Putting British hops centre stage

Our latest collaboration brew, produced with all British hops is a little bit special.

I grew up in Kent where hop farming is part of the cultural landscape. The sighting of an Oast house, traditionally used to dry hops, as the train rolled into the station was a sure sign of nearing home.

But British hops are in decline, we produce less than 1% of the hops we did 100 years ago. Brook House in Herefordshire are one of the pioneering farms working to reverse that trend.

Hopping mad

Many thought Will Kirby was mad when he moved his family from London to Hereford seven years ago to start a new life as a hop farmer. But by taking the best new technologies from the US and Germany, and nurturing the rich Herefordshire soils, he and the team at Brook House Hops are starting to produce some very special hops indeed.

A unique collaboration

We jumped at the idea of brewing a limited edition beer to be served at the Brook House annual hop walks this month. The hop walks are attended by around 250 brewers and industry professionals, a hard crowd to please! Pete selected Phoenix hops to take centre stage, bringing warm and spicy aromas to our nutty Rye IPA, with the addition of Pilgrim for a bitter finish.

We only brewed 250 bottles so this beer won't be on general release, although it proved so popular we are now rethinking our new beer for later this year...