Monday 8 April 2013

A Good Afternoon Out


Have I tipped Wilson Potter as a brewery to watch? Dunno. I know I have praised their astonishingly clean beers on Twitter and I may have mentioned them elsewhere.  In fact, on checking I have and I was going to do so again following a visit on Saturday, but have been beaten to it by a fellow blogger,* who writes BeerManchester. So, rather than re-invent the wheel, I'll merely direct you to his report, which is here and which gives a potted history of the brewery and the rather pleasant lasses that own and run it.

One or two things to add.  While their cask beers, mostly hop forward, are really rather good, additionally they really seem to have cracked bottling beer.  Those that know me will be aware that I don't do much by way of bottled beer drinking, but the beers they produce are always worth having and last to their "use by" date rather well, maintaining condition, appearance and flavour.  Many of you will be aware that the ability to put beer in bottles by hand and produce something that isn't yeasty/spoiled/vinegary/ explosive, or just generally horrid, isn't a skill mastered by all.  This is undoubtedly helped by a Howard Hughes like obsession for cleanliness.  I am glad to confirm that they are starting to stride forward and earlier (natural) worries about progress seem to be behind them.  Concentrating on clean, hoppy, drinkable session beers seems to be working out for them and is proof (like their friends at Mallinsons) that brewing good suppable beer that people actively want to drink, is not a bad idea at all. In under six months I'd say they have come a long way.

Lastly, they are members of the Female Brewing collective known as Project Venus, though I'm pretty sure they regard themselves as "brewers" first and "brewsters" by accident of birth. That's as it should be too.

Seek their beers out and you won't go far wrong is my firm recommendation.  (Later this week, at the Oldham Beer Festival would be an ideal opportunity.)

I would tell you my blogging colleague's name, but when I met him, I was a few pints of Bon Don Doon in and either don't remember it, or am unsure that I was told it!

8 comments:

Cooking Lager said...

"hop forward" that means more an initial bitterness than bitter aftertaste right?

I only ask as I like to slip these things into my conversation in order to give a false impression of intelligence and discernment.

Matt said...

When I saw the title, I assumed you'd started celebrating Thatcher's demise.

Neville Grundy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Neville Grundy said...

The correct term for a female brewer is 'brewer'. She is no more a 'brewster' than a female baker is a 'baxter' or a female spinner a 'spinster'.

I'm not being pedantic; 'brewster' is so obsolete it doesn't appear in my very comprehensive and fairly new dictionary. People who use 'brewster' in this way are being pretentious and obscure so that they can appear knowledgeable by having to explain it to people who don't know what it means. Precisely the pretentious attitude, in fact, that Cooking Lager is skitting at above.

Professor Pie-Tin said...

@Matt - why would Tandy be celebrating the Iron Lady's death.
Without her he wouldn't have been able to buy his council house with an outside bog that they all live in 'oop North.
Wahaay !

Tandleman said...

I know Nev. Calm down.

PPT: Indeed though the bog is a bit parky at the moment.

BeersManchester said...

Slainte for the link Mr T! Excellent point aboout the bottled stuff. Got to own up that I bought quite an amount from another Micro and they were badly tainted.

Can't say that about WP bottles! Particularly the Gingery and Pudding Porter, both excellent as was the Tandle Hill.

(Nice Cheese butties as well!!!)

Neville Grundy said...

Calmed down now, TM.