Bucket List Ticks and Circles Squared : Brewing With The Bad Seeds

“I can hear my mother wailing and a whole lot of scraping of chairs

I don't know what it is, but there's definitely something going on upstairs…….”

(“Dig Lazarus Dig” - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds)

Bad Seed Brewery are that rare thing. A brewery that have had a beer at each ISBF.

From finding their exquisite bottles (complete with hanging tags) on my first trip to Yorkshire Ales in Snaith, to finding their beers in unlikely Wigan pubs, I've always loved their stuff.

This Malton brewery has formed a big part of my beer journey. And it seems like I'm not the only one (see below).

I was totally made up when Chris invited us over. Chris is one of the nicest fellas in this business. As a journey to Newcastle with an empty pin (supplied by Stuart Neilson - another one) to help us out testifies. And that was the day before!

Anyway. On arranging this brewday, there was only one choice of companion for me.

Over to Andy…..

“Little did ISBF maestro Jim know, when he asked if I’d like to help with the ISBF6/Bad Seed brew day, that he was creating a confluence; a coming together of two entities that have formed a huge part of my good beer journey.

You see, I credit Bad Seed with starting me out on this journey. How so? A bottle of their collab, with a then cuckoo-brewing Northern Monk, called Salted Lemon Wit in early 2014. It was a revelation. Beer didn’t have to be brown and twiggy!

(The aromatic joys of Amarillo coated hands…..)

Not long after, the Bad Seed boys did a MTB (alongside Brass Castle), at the Rook & Gaskill in York, and this cemented them as a cornerstone brewery in my good beer enlightenment.

And ISBF? I attended the 2nd one, on my own, as a way of breaking down some of my social anxieties and to push me out of my comfort zone. It worked, it was brilliant. And continues to be so welcoming and friendly, that it’s now an annual pilgrimage for many of us.

I now consider many of the people I’ve met there as friends; only the really special events can do that. Oh, and the beer is always great, but you knew that!

So a brew day with Bad Seed for ISBF6 was a no-brainer for me. And it was a lot of fun. I’ll leave Jim to go into beer details etc, but a big thank you to both him, and to Bad Seed’s James & Chris for their hospitality (and patience with a newbie like myself). A thoroughly enjoyable day.”

Andy

Cheers Andy.

One of the things I (Jim) have tried to do is to get people involved who've never been involved in the beer process - other than drinking the end product!

Andy had a blast - immersing himself totally - I could swear he was going to dive into the Amarillo at one point!

This was a most excellent day. And ticked a bucket list tick for me. I'm not sure how much longer this event will run for, but I'm so glad I got to Malton.

We even had some surprise visitors!

It's always lovely to see Stuart and Chloe. Especially as Stuart and Chris both helped me with that pin!

So. What did we brew?

I've had a thing for some time about fruit and hops complementing. So, I was made up when James and Chris at Bad Seed fancied doing this very thing

With my favourite hop. Amarillo. And Oranges. An Orange fruited Amarillo Session Pale.

Say “Hello!” to “Dig Lazarus Dig”

Coming first to #ISBF6.

Massive thanks to James and Chris for putting up with us - it was an ace day out. With good beer people. And huge gratitude to Andy for coming along, throwing himself into everything and agreeing to write this up.

Ain't they the best type?

Be kind to one another.

Back (very) soon. Jim x