4.5% Alnwick IPA, a modern-traditional (but more modern) style IPA featuring peppery, fruity, citric hop notes over medium bodied biscuity malt.
As many are aware I have two homes, one where I work in Harrogate through the week, the other in the market town of Alnwick up in Northumberland. Yes that's right Northumberland, that county right at the top of England. Now many folk living within or nearby Alnwick are probably familiar with the bottled beer contract brewed by my work, Alnwick IPA. Go to Alnwick and you will find it sold in bottled form in many pubs. Well as it happens last Wednesday, as I am now a trainee brewer, I was given the privilege to brew Alnwick IPA for the first time.
When I say trainee I mean more amateur as I have over 12 brews under my belt now, including a Stout and a Morocco ale. So I am well under way to becoming an official brewer (big time). By now I am fully aware that brewing using the Daleside kit is a lot different form brewing with my Panda & Frog home brewery kit involving loads more valves, pumps and laborious work. But for some reason I just love brewing this beer, the formulation has so much integrity and simplicity, a classic British IPA at heart. Or it could be that I just love throwing in the copious amounts of hops into the copper. Don't get me wrong Daleside don't brew hop bombs, in fact their stance is always against them, but out of all Daleside beers I have tried this one has the highest perceivable bitterness, which still is not excessive.
What I aim to achieve over the next few months is to gain a more intimate understanding of the Daleside brew kit, like wise brewer once say, one who understands one's brewing kit is one who is truly at one with the brewing force. This I must achieve, and this time it's the folks back up North who will consume my end product. I suppose everyone needs to do their bit for the community.
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