Polar Beer for Pubs

The latest beer to come out of Brains Craft Brewery is a 5% single hopped brew, Polar Beer, a sunshine yellow blonde ale, brewed
with Polaris, a new-generation German hop. Polaris being another name for Pole or North Star. Ale and lager malts combine to create a smooth, crisp malty base with a sweet nose, followed by refreshingly light and distinctive herbal flavours from the Polaris hop.
Polar Beer will be available in keg and delivered to selected Brains pubs from Thursday 3rd of April.

Catch Rye Beer from Brain this February at Craft Beer Rising

Some news from late last year that I forgot to publish!

Rye Catcher named Brains’ Continental Beer Challenge Winner 

Rye Catcher – an American rye beer – by Glenn Payne has been named the winner of Brains’ Continental Beer Challenge, after a judging panel deemed his brew to be the best of seven continental beers.

Last year the Welsh brewer invited beer writers and journalists to collaborate with them to develop and brew their ultimate continental beer in Brains’ craft brewery. Alongside Glenn, guest brewers were Des de Moor, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Pete Brown, Sophie Atherton, and Robyn Black. While Brains handed guest brewers a continental brief, they were free to come up with their own interpretation. As well as the winning American Rye Beer, other styles included a schwarzbier, marzen and saison. Seven beers, including Achilles Heel from Brains’ head brewer, were independently blind judged. The copper coloured beer came top with the judges, who identified a “beer with lots of appeal” with “lemon and lime on the tastebuds”. Bill Dobson, head brewer at Brains, said: “Following the success of last year’s IPA challenge, we chose to make the collaboration brew challenge an annual event. The guest brewers are incredible knowledgeable and passionate about beer. They’ve produced a fantastic range of beers and Rye Catcher is a very worthy winner".

Rye Catcher will become part of Brains’ beer festival programme, the first being Craft Beer Rising in London in February.

TASTING NOTES 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.

Other beers in the challenge: · Brabo (Belgian pale ale) by Des de Moor · Dissolution (dubbel) by Pete Brown) · Blackbird (schwarzbier) by Robyn Black · Three C-Son (saison) by Adrian Tierney-Jones · The Ides of Märzen (märzen) by Sophie Atherton · Achilles Heel (helles) from Brains

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

Brains Green Dragon uses fresh hops

 

 One of Brew Wales' favourite beers from last year is set to make a return to the bar this October.

Welsh brewer Brains celebrates the hop harvest by re-brewing its green hopped beer, Green Dragon.

Instead of conventional dried hops, which are widely used by brewers, the 4.1% pale ale uses freshly grown hops – some from Brains’ usual hop supplier in Worcester and some courtesy of the Lisvane pub, the Ty-Mawr, making this beer both a seasonal and a local one.

Bill Dobson explains: “Hop plants are harvested around September every year, and to make sure brewers have enough to last them until the next harvest, the hops are quickly dried and packed to keep them as fresh as possible.

“Because fresh hops have to be added to beer less than 12 hours after being picked, we only get the chance to produce a beer like this once a year, making it a true seasonal product. I hope our customers enjoy it.”

Members of Bill’s brewing team made an early morning trip to Newnham Farm in Worcester earlier this month to select the hops for Green Dragon and brought them back to the Brewery to add to the boil in the early afternoon. The casks were late-hopped with extra hops grown in the garden of the Ty Mawr.

The pub’s manager, Graham Wheatley, explains: “We’ve got our own vegetable patch, or compost corner, in the pub garden, which we use to grow vegetables to supply the pub kitchen. This is the second year we’ve had a hop harvest and we can’t wait to have Green Dragon on our bar.”

Green Dragon will be available in 30 Brains pubs from early October.

Brains Head Brewer has an Achilles Heel!

Brains’ have brewed a Craft Brewery in honour of an accident had by their Head Brewer, Bill Dobson.

Bill tore his Achilles Heel in a football injury earlier in the summer and drew up the recipe while laid up in plaster. Serves him right trying to play footie at his age!

Achilles Heel is a helles, based on the popular German beer style, and was brewed by Bill’s team of master brewers.

Bill Dobson says: “I’ve been planning on brewing a helles for a while - it’s one of my favourite styles of beer. While I was stuck in plaster I couldn’t take as much of a hands-on part in the brewing so I took a back seat and researched a beer style that we’d never brewed before and created our own version of it.”

Achilles Heel is a Munich style helles lager. Combining Pilsner and Cara malts with the finest noble hops from the Hallertau gives a combination of sweet malt flavours and gentle spicy hops with a smooth clean finish. This beer has been slow fermented using a German helles lager yeast and matured for 16 weeks.

Achilles Heel will be available in selected Brains Craft Brewery outlets in October. To celebrate Bill’s full recovery the beer will first be launched in the City Arms, Cardiff this week.

 To find your nearest pub visit here.

Am really enjoying the Brains Craft Brewery Beers, the A-Pork-Alypse bacon & chocolate brew was especially good, as was the US - hop monster the Big Sipa.

The Brains Craft Brewery Story

Found this video on You Tube this morning:


Yes that is me a suit in the Goat Major pub, seem to remember the afternoon involved pies and some beer afterwards!

Brains launches six new beers at Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival

This year Brains will take six brand new beers to the Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival.

 Along with four well-loved beers SA Gold, The Rev. James, Dark and Barry Island IPA, Brains will have six new beers on the bar including a beer celebrating this summer’s rugby in Australia and an exclusive limited edition range.

 Touch.Paws.Engage, a 4% golden ale celebrating the summer’s rugby Down Under.Brewed with Australian hops Galaxy, Ella and Summer, this golden coloured ale has aromas of fruit and tropical citrus flavours that make this the perfect light summer ale.

 Terry’s, a chocolate and orange porter brewed with Premium, Crystal, Brown and Chocolate malts. The addition of cacao nibs in the boil gives a luxurious and intense chocolate flavour with a bittersweet finish and zesty aroma from sweet orange peel and organic orange zest.

 Stars and Stripes, a 5% naturally hazy golden coloured ale brewed with wheat malt and Californian Ale Yeast. An all-American hop line-up of Chinook, Centennial, Citra and Amarillo gives aromas of grapefruit and tropical fruit on the nose, citrus flavours and a crisp bitterness making Stars and Stripes a deliciously drinkable and refreshing beer.

In addition to these, the Brains bar will have recent favourites from the Craft Brewery – Farmer Walloon and Bragging Rights.

 There will also be a limited edition range of three exclusive beers that the Brains brewers have been working on for the past few months.

 Only one barrel of each will be tapped on each day of the three-day festival, followed by a second barrel launched in a Brains pub.

 Cooper’s Reserve, a 10% Penderyn whisky-aged beer launched on Thursday at the festival then in the Cardiff Cottage.

 Low-Hanging Fruit, a 4.8% sour cherry dark launched on Friday at the festival then in the Goat Major.

 Grande Tripel IPA, a 8% Tripel IPA launched on Saturday at the festival then in the City Arms on Sunday.Grande Tripel IPA was brewed with Simon Martin, aka Mr Real Ale Guide on You Tube, and will be reviewed as his 1000th beer on his channel.

 Ian Beattie, Brand Manager says “The Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival is a great festival for us to introduce new beers especially as it’s on the Brewery’s doorstep. The Brains Craft Brewery has allowed us to trial a variety of different beers and with such a variety of styles there’ll be a beer for everybody on our bar at the GWBCF.”

 The GWBCF runs from Thursday 6th - Saturday 8th of June in the Motopoint arena, from 11am to 11pm.

 Visit the GWBCF website for more information and to buy tickets for the festival -  You can also find them Facebook (Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival) and Twitter @GWBCF  

Brains expands craft brewery

Brains invests further in its Craft Brewery
Wales' largest real ale brewer, SA Brain and Co Ltd, announced that it is to invest further in its craft brewery infrastructure to meet the unprecedented demand in the first year of its operation.

The brewer will increase capacity of its craft brewery with the addition of another fermentation vessel and extra cold storage tanks which will enable the business to increase capacity.

Ian Beattie, Brand Manager at Brains, explains: “Since we launched the craft brewery last year we have been struggling to meet demand and have been overwhelmed by the positive consumer reaction for our craft brewery beers. Our brand is connecting with the target consumer and it is fundamental that we remain at the forefront of the emerging craft beer market in the UK. In order to achieve this we need more capacity and the investment will ensure that we are able to meet the increased demand.

Since the craft brewery commenced production we have brewed 22 new beers. Some have sold out in less than 40 minutes and two - Barry Island IPA and Boilermaker - have gained national distribution with Morrisons and Tesco.”

Last year Brains Craft Brewery ran ‘The Ultimate IPA Challenge’ with beer writers and bloggers, which was won by Boilermaker, a collaboration beer with Tom Sandham and Ben McFarland of Thinking Drinkers. This year ‘The Ultimate Continental Beer Challenge’ will see Pete Brown, Robyn Black, Sophie Atherton, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Des De Moor and Glenn Payne battle it out to be crowned the brewer of the ‘Ultimate Continental Beer’ in December 2013.

Bill Dobson, Head Brewer at Brains, added: “Since we opened the craft brewery last year we have concentrated on adding variety to our portfolio and engaging with consumers who are demanding quality beer from a brand they know and trust. Look out for a number of new beers that we will be taking to the Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival in June and the Great British Beer Festival in August. ”

Brains Boilermaker goes national

Boilermaker, a collaboration brew between Welsh brewer Brains and Thinking Drinkers (aka Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham) will soon be available in Morrisons stores throughout the UK.

Above: Tom Sandham from Thinking Drinkers after winning the Brains IPA Challenge last year

Thinking Drinkers, award-winning beer writers and the brains behind the acclaimed comedic show ‘The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol’, brewed the Penderyn-whisky based India Pale Ale with Brains in 2012 in their small craft brewery plant as part of Brains’ IPA Challenge. Boilermaker was crowned the winner of the Challenge by a panel of independent judges at an event in London in December.

This latest Morrisons deal will see the beer stocked in over 320 stores nationwide.

Boilermaker is the second Brains craft beer to gain national listings. Barry Island IPA, a 6% American-style IPA, is available nationwide in Morrisons and in Tesco.

Paul Harvey, head of retail multiple groups, said; “We are delighted that our major customers can see the opportunity that our craft beer range offers the beer category, and we are looking forward to working together to give new and existing consumers more and more variety underpinning our 130 years of brewing credentials”.

For a full list of stockists visit the Brains Craft Brewery stockists page here

TASTING NOTES
Boilermaker is a copper-coloured IPA brewed with Ben and Tom from Thinking Drinkers. Brewed with Chinook, Simcoe, Cascade and Willamette hops and matured with Penderyn whisky infused oak chips in casks from the distillery, the arts of distillation and brewing combine to create an epic Welsh IPA adorned with a fragrant citrus aroma, a touch of spice with hints of vanilla and a warm whisky finish.

Brains Craft Brewery Weiss Weiss Berry

Brains Craft Brewery, Weiss Weiss Berry 4.9% ABV, £1.79/330ml bottle


Not seen this beer on draught anywhere but the Discount Supermarket on Whitchurch Road in Cardiff had some bottles on sale so stocked up on my last visit. This beer is the second, weaker version of Weiss Weiss Baby infused with a blend of summer berries.

Cloudy straw in colour with a rich, foamy head. Wheatbeer characteristics such as cloves and banana are present in the aroma. The wheatbeer flavours carry on throughout the taste and the finish is of cloves and fruit. Quite a sweet beer, not to my own personal taste as I prefer hoppy beers but this is an interesting addition to the Craft Beer range.

Brewed with Weissbeer yeast, malted wheat and Hallertau Hops.

I wonder if the brewing team were 'under pressure' to come up with this name?

Beard lover brews craft beer

Cardiff pub landlord turns brewer


A Cardiff pub manager has swapped pulling pints for brewing pints after spending a day in Brains’ craft brewery.

Chris Rowlands, award-winning manager, beardwrangler and piemaster general of the Goat Major – one of Cardiff’s best loved real ale pubs – turned brewer after Brains invited him to brew his own beer in their craft brewery.
Chris, a lifelong real ale fan, along with a team from the pub, chose to brew a milk stout, he said:

“The day was fantastic! I've always considered myself a bit of a beer nerd but when I went down there I realised just how little I really knew of the process of making beer I'd so often taken for granted.
We named the beer ‘Beardface’, my wife's nickname for me, loosely based off the fact that I look like a lumberjack stuffed into a waistcoat. “

A milk stout is basically a standard stout brew with sugar from milk or cream added, the science behind this being that brewers' yeast cannot ferment lactose sugars so the natural sweetness and richness remains and provides a nourishing, potent counterbalance to the bitterness of a roasted malt. Brains used 5 different malts and a roasted barley to give the beer a layered depth of flavour and a truly nourishingly rich and resplendent pint of stout.

Blending Pale Ale, Munich, Crystal, Brown and Chocolate Malts with Roasted Barley, Beardface is a dark beer with a rich depth. Flavours of caramel, burnt toffee and roast coffee are balanced by the sweetness from lactose sugars, creating a sweet milk stout.
Bill Dobson, head brewer at Brains, added:
“Last year the Goat Major was named ‘Brains Cask Ale Pub of the Year’ at our annual awards ceremony, so we were keen to get Chris and the team in to brew with us. They’re knowledgeable and passionate about beer, and they pass on that passion to their customers.”
The beer will be sold in 30 Brains pubs and launched at the Goat Major pub on Wednesday 20th March at 1700hrs.

Brains get crafty with single hop beer

It looks like the brewery gurus at Brains Craft Brewery have been busy thinking up new beers for 2013 and they will be doing a 'Single Hop Range', brewed, as you've guessed it with one variety of hop. The first of these is Citra, a 4.2% beer using this American Aroma hop that is added during three different stages of the brewing process to provide the maximum aroma, flavour and bitterness to this golden ale with vibrant citrus aromas with hints of peach and lemon.
Brains craft Brewery Citra can be found in these pubs.

Brains brew White IPA

Well we've had Black IPAs so why not a White IPA? Belgian White and American IPA styles fused together at Brains Craft Brewery to produce this interesting brew:

According to Brains, "Atlantic White blends the tradition of Belgian ‘Wit’ beers and the hop-character of American IPAs to produce a ‘White IPA’. Brewed with wheat malt and Belgian wit yeast the addition of freshly crushed coriander seeds, Curacao orange and US hops gives a light refreshing beer with a zesty and spicy finish".

A bit of a fusion beer but as last year saw the IPA series being brewed on the Craft Brewery, 2013 will see a range of European-inspired brews coming out of the brewery.

Boilermaker wins IPA Challenge

‘Thinking Drinkers’ Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham (pictured below) are the first winners of Brains ‘Ultimate Collaboration Beer Challenge’, after a judging panel deemed Boilermaker – a Welsh whisky infused beer – to be the best of seven IPAs.

Earlier in the year the Welsh brewer invited beer writers and bloggers to collaborate with them to develop and brew their ultimate IPA in Brains’ craft brewery. Alongside Ben and Tom, guest brewers were Simon Martin, Martyn Cornell, Tim Hampson, Melissa Cole and Marverine Cole.

While Brains handed guest brewers an IPA brief, they were free to come up with their own interpretation, and beers ranged from traditional, to American-style, to tropical.

Seven beers, including one from Brains’ head brewer, were independently blind judged at an event last week. Boilermaker, a 6.5% ABV IPA, came top with the judges, who identified a balanced but complex beer with an appetising bitter finish.

Ben and Tom said: “We wanted to brew something that reflected the Welsh surroundings of our brew, so we decided to create a whisky IPA. This saw us combine the Brains brewing expertise with whisky barrels selected from the Penderyn Whisky Distillery.

“Blending beer with spirits also doubled up as a reflection of the Thinking Drinkers expertise in beer, cocktail and spirits. Indeed the name comes from the serve of whisky with your ale. Judges loved the balance so if you’re not sure about whisky in your beer, rest assured it has a very delicate influence.”

Bill Dobson, Head Brewer at Brains, said: “The craft brewery has given us the opportunity to bring in guest brewers – which we have never before been able to do. It’s great to be able to draw on their knowledge and creativity to come up with a one-off beer.
“The collaboration beer challenge has been such a success that we’ll be making it an annual event. Next up, the ‘Ultimate Continental Beer Challenge’”.

Boilermaker is now available in cask in 30 Brains pubs. For a full list of stockists visit here

Others beers in the challenge:
· All at Sea – Brains’ entry
· Barry Island IPA – Simon Martin, aka Real Ale Guide
· Colonel Williams – Martyn Cornell
· Triumphant – Tim Hampson
· Fruits of our Labours – Melissa Cole
· Destiny – Marverine Cole

Here is the beer review from You Tube reviewwer Simon with Tom & Bill

IPAs battle it out on the Thames!

The battle of the IPAs will take place on the Thames tomorrow with 7 different brews by Brains Craft Brewery battling it out against each to see which is the best one. Each beer in the series has been a collaboration brew with a beer writer and all 7 will be judged aboard the paddle steamer Tattershall Castle before an expert panel of judges and Chris from the Goat Major pub as well! Only joking Chris!

I've enjoyed drinking the entire range so it will be interesting so see which one comes out top

And yes I do have a personal favourite but that won't cloud my judging!

Brains launch Barry Island IPA in Tesco

A beer brewed earlier this year for the CAMRA Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival has been relaunched today in bottle format in selected Tesco stores.


Created by Simon Martin, aka Mr Real Ale Guide, this India Pale Ale was inspired by the ‘IPA revolution’ across the pond. The boy from Barry has used a trio of hops from the US in this pale coloured ale, which is bursting with citrus aromas. A unique smooth malt taste upfront is finished off by a vigorous bitterness and a ‘tidy’ clout of citrus and berry hop flavours. At 6% its ideal as a breakfast beer (joke!)

Barry Island IPA is now available in selected Tesco stores nationwide:


Wales
Bridgend Extra, South Wales
Cardiff Extra, South Wales
Carmarthen Extra, West Wales
Haverfordwest Extra, West Wales
Llanelli Extra, West Wales
Newport Gwent Extra, South Wales
Pontypridd Extra, South Wales
Swansea Extra, South Wales
Swansea Marina, South Wales
Swansea Llansamlet Extra, South Wales
Talbot Green, Pontyclun, South Wales

England
Cambridge Bar Hill Extra, Cambridge
Brooklands Extra, Weybridge
Burgess Hill, West Sussex
Cheshunt Extra, Waltham Cross
Chelmsford, Essex
Elmers End, Beckenham
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Martlesham Extra, Ipswich
New Malden Extra, Greater London
Purley Extra, Greater London
Royston Extra, Hertfordshire
Twickenham Extra, London
Watford Extra, London
Orpington Extra, Kent

Dot Com stores – available to order via Tesco.com
Croydon
Greenford

Czech out Brains new Pils

Brains’craft brewery team has taken inspiration from the Czech Republic for their latest cask beer.

A Pils from the Hills is a full-bodied pilsner-style beer, weighing in at 5% ABV and brewed with Pilsner Malt and hopped with Hallertau Tradition and Saaz this is a crisp, thirst-quenching beer with an elegant bitterness.
It’s the latest experimental brew from their craft brewery and follows a tropical Black IPA, a golden ale, and a green hop beer.
The beer will be available in 30 Brains pubs from today Wednesday 7th November. For a full list of stockists click here.

Brains looks to beauty with latest Craft Beer

Beer Beauty, also known as broadcaster and journalist Marverine Cole, has created her ‘ultimate IPA’ in Brains’ craft brewery.

While Brains handed Marverine an IPA brief, she was free to come up with her own interpretation. The result is Destiny – a 5.8% dark IPA. A tropical burst from Galaxy and Motueka hops, coupled with fresh mango, contrasts with roast malt flavours.

Marverine also worked with Brains on the pump clip design. Her Beer Beauty website aims to spread the word about the beauty in beer, and, in keeping with her Beer Beauty character, Marverine opted for a pink design and the slogan ‘there is beauty in beer’.

Marverine said: “Destiny is a dark tropical IPA which gives a nod to my Caribbean roots and the islands which boats carrying IPA beer from England to India back in the 1700s would have passed by.

“Thanks to Bill and the team for asking me to collaborate on a beer. I learned so much from everyone during the brew day, as you'll see from the video on my blog it was so much fun. Here's hoping everyone enjoys my fruitilicious mango beer.”
Destiny is part of an India Pale Ale series, which sees beer writers and bloggers develop and brew their ultimate IPA. Guest brewers include Simon Martin, Martyn Cornell, Melissa Cole, and Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham. The IPAs will be independently judged at the end of the year and the winning beer will become part of Brains’ beer festival programme.

The beer will be available in cask in 30 Brains outlets from October 19th.

Golden Dragon is Brains latest craft brew

Another new beer has rolled its way out of the Crawshay Street Brewery and into a selected number of pubs, full list available here.

Golden Dragon combines Golden Naked Oats and the finest Pale Ale Malt with Galaxy and Aramis hops to produce a golden ale bursting with passion fruit and citrus aromas balanced by a light biscuit malt flavours and a crisp bitter finish.

Trip to the 'Diff coming up I think!

Brains use Cardiff hops in latest brew

GREEN DRAGON

Wales biggest real ale brewer SA Brain is to launch its first ever beer made using fresh, or green, hops. But not only is Green Dragon a true seasonal beer, it’s also a local one – using hops from Brains’ very own Ty Mawr pub in Cardiff.

Above: hops growing in the garden of the Ty-Mawr

Instead of conventional dried hops, the 4.1% pale ale uses freshly harvested hops – some from one of Brains’ hop suppliers in Herefordshire and some courtesy of the Lisvane pub.

Bill Dobson, Brains’ head brewer explains: “Hop plants are harvested in September every year, and to make sure brewers have enough to last them until the next harvest, the hops are quickly dried and packed to keep them as fresh as possible.

“Because fresh hops have to be added to beer less than 12 hours after being picked, we only get the chance to produce a beer like this once a year, making it a true seasonal product with a distinctive taste that I hope our customers enjoy.”

Bill and his brewing team made the trip to Pridewood Farm in Herefordshire earlier this month to select the hops for Green Dragon, and early the following morning they were added to the brew. The casks were late-hopped with extra hops from the Ty Mawr. The pub’s manager, Graham Wheatley, explains:

“We’ve got our own vegetable patch, or compost corner, in the pub garden, which we use to grow vegetables to supply the pub kitchen. Last year we thought we’d try our hand at hops. We’ll be selling Green Dragon in the pub and will be able to tell customers it was made using hops from the garden. I’m sure it’s going to go down well.”

Green Dragon will be available in 30 Brains pubs from early October. To find your nearest pub click here