Saying goodbye: Daleside tribute post

Well, looks like this is it, the final countdown is almost over.

My last mash. my last Sparge, and my last time scooping out the hops from the copper, my last racking session and my last transfers all await.

My Last brew will be Daleside Spring Frenzy, a 3.4% golden ale that’s easy to brew and easy to drink. I was hoping for a Bitter or Leg Over batch to see me off but it’s all cool with me. I’ve had it all now. The beer festivals, the brewing, the occasional screw ups, inventing my own beers (anyone who’s tried ‘Old Winter’s Tail’ I apologise) and enjoying the joys of life in Harrogate.

Daleside are a company with an un-compromising traditional Yorkshire attitude, an admiration for simplicity and a solid core range of beers. You could say their old school. I would and have always had the opinion that Daleside would get more publicity in the blogging world if they didn’t name so many beers with the name ‘old’ at the start of them. But old school things are cool, like Iron Maiden or Monty Python.
 

Personally I can’t wait to move on. Especially to a brewery I’ve been familiar with since my very first few pints of cask ale. I remember well Eric Lucas (Daleside MD) asking me what I had learned from my time at Daleside, a question that would require at least a 5000 word essay in itself to answer. But since I had only found out I had the Mordue job 20 minutes previous all I could reply in my state of mind was “lots of stuff”, which about covers it. But what I should have said was “more than I ever did from my MSc in brewing and home brewing experiences put together”, which would have been more accurate.

Being in real brewing is where I wanted to be, and that's where I am. A big thanks goes to Craig (head brewer/the daddy), Matt (Brewbo), Col (man of action) Dave (number one dray) and the rest of the Daleside crew for all the guidance, support and generally looking after me. Compared to all the other jobs I have ever had, the whole experience of my time at Daleside brewery has straight ruled beyond imagination.   

Let the countdown continue...

Three days to go.