Persistence & Reward : An #ISBF6 Brewday With Marble
Some people. They just never give up. And it's an old, old phrase, but “If you don't ask, you don't get…”
It doesn't always apply. But then Phil isn't just anyone. He's a smitten devotee. Of West Coast IPAs. But one in particular.
There were a few of us here at this brewday, but this is Phil's story. And a bit of a realised beer dream. Over to him…
“Social media. It has its pros and cons. We’ve all seen the allegations of Russian interference in the US election and the furore surrounding Cambridge Analytica.
Rank amateurs the lot of them.
After a carefully co-ordinated grass roots guerilla campaign, I found myself in deepest, darkest Salford having safely navigated passport control at the Yorkshire/Lancashire border and arrived safely at @marblebrewers new brewery & tap.
To say this was an honour is a massive understatement. Not only do I think Marble are the best brewery in the UK, but I was there to revisit and re-imagine an iconic beer as a one off for #ISBF6.
Marble Brewery's Biggest Fan. With Phil.
I arrived a little late to find my fellow “brewers”, @beersmanchester, @beerfindergen, @jockjoyce and @leggywolf fully immersed in the brewing process, aka trying to work out how to work the filter coffee machine. Having made sure we’d got that bit right, it was then time to watch @marble_slawek do all the work.
I never got to see the old brewery but the new kit looks amazing and to my untutored eye everything seems to run so smoothly. From crushing their own malt, which feeds straight into the mash tun, and the rows of shiny FVs and conditioning tanks the whole place just oozes class and a big step forward for @jan_marble and the team.
Having watched Slawek mash in we were all quite tired, so it was time for breakfast butties and more coffee. [6 coffees later] It was then time to, y’know, actually do something…cue grabbing a trusty orange shovel and embarking on digging out 1.4 tonnes of malt. There’s a reason Slawek has the muscles he has but between us we managed to get it all out. I must confess to quite liking the smell of warm grain, but that paled into insignificance compared to what was to come.
It was then time to add the hops. All 21kg of them. Citra, Simcoe & Amarillo. The smell, oh the smell…. For 3 days afterwards, all I could smell was lemony Simcoe and that’s no bad thing.
A little aromatherapy. Just a fraction of the dry hop…..
After an embarrassingly easy brew day (for us) there was nothing more for it but to have a beer. Jan had arranged a WCIPA taste off (spoiler alert – none are as good as the beer you’ll be getting at ISBF) around lunch which was interesting. We were then left in the semi-responsible hands of Carl which resulted in us having to sample Cross Collar straight from the conditioning tanks. Wow. Incredibly, we even managed to leave some to be canned later on in the week.
The only thing missing from the day was the chance to meet (head brewer) Joe and to thank him in person for agreeing to do this as he was, thankfully safely, on his way home from Japan.
As for the beer we brewed? If all turns out well, it’ll be a 7.1% WCIPA. Correction, THE 7.1% WCIPA. Roll on ISBF…..”
(Well. If THIS doesn't put you off….. Ed 🤣🤣🤣)
This beer will be a personal highlight for Phil. That “guerrilla campaign” was real. Almost Twitter trolling its intensity.
But it paid off. (Literally) in spades.
Come along to #ISBF6 and grab a first taste on #ThirstChanceThursday!
Well. That's it. The final brewday for me. And the final brewday write up. All there is left to say is “Come and join us”. Have a beer, have some fun.
Still tickets available for Thursday and Saturday evening sessiond.
See you next weekend.
Be kind to one another.
Jim x