One of the things we love most about being a brewing company is being able to brew beers with our friends in the industry. The first collaboration beer we made was with Wiper & True back in January last year when we brewed a beer called Bristol Vice: lots of wheat, part soured mash, saison yeast and some modern German hop varieties; namely Hallertau Blanc and Mandarina Bavaria. It was dry, refreshing, slightly tart, with some spice, floral and peachy notes from the hops.
When Bruce, Rich & I sat down together at the start of this year to look at our brew plan and organise some collaborations for this year; a slightly different take on this beer was at the top of our list. We all loved version one, but we wanted something different from the second version. After lots of emails back and forth with Michael and Will from Wiper and True and a few discussions over beers Bristol Vice II was born:
Lots of wheat (still)
Full kettle sour
Punchy American dry hops
The beer changed so much through fermentation that it was hard to figure out how it was going to end! It went through stages of Nelson Sauvin-like white wine flavours, peach notes and then tropical fruit. The end product is something we are really proud of: clean, dry and sharp with some really nice grapefruit and pineapple notes.
We'll be pouring this beer and another 10 beers each from ourselves and Wiper & True at Small Bar on Thursday 12th May.
https://www.facebook.com/events/823983957706649/
Come down and let us know what you think!
Jack