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| "Say traceability one more time! I dare ya! I double dare ya!!" (bringing a close to section 1) |
Entropy; a state of disorder or randomness that increases with time.
I remember a long time ago, one of the first University lectures I ever attended at Lancaster uni being opened with the subject of entropy. The universal law regarding order, or the degree of disorder, uncertainty or randomness that increases with time within a system. This can apply to just about anything. For example when you don't mow the lawn, shave for a week or get the kids to tidy their bedrooms. Randomness and disorder creeps in. Even during certain conversations I have found my own brain to regress into a state of randomness and disorder.
So it is easy to see why accreditations such as SALSA plus Beer have a very relevant role in brewing especially in a once rapidly expanding independent brewing industry. Facing a SALSA audit can be very challenging and stressful especially for breweries relatively new to them. Back in the days at the old Daleside site preparing for a SALSA audit meant massive upheaval. Tediously working through each section of the SALSA standard whilst finding time to paint and clean various walls or parts of a building so old they were literally falling apart. Another one of the more awkward parts was the various contesting opinions within the team on how much/little is required to appease an auditor on any given section.
The best approach it seems is to have the foundations in place and maintained, alongside knowledge of what (in theory) should meet an auditors expectations. On the Roosters site everyone has a roll to play to keep on top of the record keeping and cleaning. And with the arrival of our new centrifuge and malt silo's even more paperwork will undoubtedly have to be redone before the next audit.
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| New malt silo's. |
As most people are now aware, it is now winter. Getting to work and back has become that bit more challenging again. Waking up to find the heating already on, knowing full well it's set at the 10oC (as low as it will go) setting certainly indicates things are getting brutally cold outside. Although this hasn't hindered efforts in getting into town and executing the Christmas shopping early with the efficiency of an SAS raid.
The new Roosters production team members that have joined throughout the year are settling in nicely. On the beer front Daleside Santa's Progress is out again on cask but sadly not in bottled form this year. Rooster's have released Little Donkey (4.3%) a Christmas beer featuring Jester hops. But one release I would recommend looking out for is the slightly unconventional Halloween themed NEIPA Mind Flayer (7.4%).
Now to me the beer style NEIPA often translates like one of those new age, supposedly progressive concepts (like cancel culture, Tiktok trends or having an Alexa) that in reality is just impractical, pointless or both. But not in this instance.
Largely the mastermind of Rooster's lead brewer and brother priest of the yeast Tim, Mind Flayer doesn't sit in line with most conventional very hazy-hoppy NEIPA's (i.e. have little to no bitterness and taste closer to pineapple juice than IPA). Instead a healthy amount of dry hop aggression is retained with resinous citrus, mango and stone fruits on the palate from the use of Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic and Galaxy hops. The body is still very soft with an upfront fruity, hoppy aroma and the drinkability is similar to a classic IPA without having too much weight to it for the abv.
In it's entirety Mind Flayer is not just very well orchestrated but has that factor of individuality I like finding in beers. Tim had obviously checked his bad invincible bearded brewing self before taking to the brew house floor to brew this one. I would recommend pairing it with meat feast pizza whilst listening to Akercocke's 'The Goat of Mendes' album for that perfect Halloween ambience.
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| Almost like the Goat of Mendes himself would personally approve of this beautiful beer. |
Be sure to get hold of this one while it's still about. That is all for now regarding the winter update. Except to mention that the SALSA audit was passed and production manager Stu thankfully refrained from pulling the trigger.
