Rye and Belgian beers in continental Brains clash!

 Some news from Brains Craft Brewery on their final collaborations of the year:

The final two collaborators in the Brains Craft Brewery’s Continental Beer Challenge have been to the Cardiff Brewery to brew their beers.

Glenn Payne, brewing maven, and Des de Moor, beer writer, were in Cardiff earlier in November attempting to steal the crown in the Continental Beer Challenge.

 Glenn brewed an American rye beer while Des chose to brew a spèciale Belge.

Rye Catcher is an American rye beer. Rye and Rye Crystal malts provide a spicy malt base and a vibrant copper colour to this beer which is powerfully hopped with Apollo, Columbus, Amarillo and Citra hops from the USA, producing an assertive bitterness with robust flavours of citrus and grapefruit.

Brabo, a classic, easy drinking Belgian pale ale made with authentic Belgian yeast has a rich amber colour from Munich and Cara malt and a restrained floral, lightly spicy hop character from Czech Saaz and East Kent Goldings hops. It evokes the Grote Markt square in Antwerp with its imposing statue of Brabo, the mythical Roman soldier who slew the giant Druon Antigoon and threw his hand into the river Schelde.

 Both Rye Catcher and Brabo will be contenders in the Brains Craft Brewery’s Continental Beer Challenge. Joining them will be Dissolution (dubbel - Pete Brown), Blackbird (schwarzbier – Robyn Black), Three C-Son (saison – Adrian Tierney-Jones) The Ides of Märzen (märzen - Sophie Atherton) and Brains’ contender Achilles Heel (helles).

The judging will take place on the 5th of December, ahead of the British Guild of Beer Writers dinner. Last year’s winners were Thinking Drinkers. Their Boilermaker was crowned the winner of the Ultimate IPA Challenge, and is stocked in Tesco and Morrisons.

Rye Catcher will be available in cask and Brabo will be available in keg in Brains pubs in December. Rye Catcher will also be available at The Rake, Borough Market and The Bull, Highgate while Brabo will be available in cask at the Dog and Bell, Deptford.

 Full list of stockists here