#ISBF8 #Brewday9 - Pictish Brewing

“….. To a distant land, sand and sand
Touch to touch, a marble man
The house is glass, furniture's chrome
Soldier talk and uniform

We can live, I can live
Celebrate, celebrate…. “

Celebrate - Simple Minds

Back in 2000, the beer landscape (certainly round Manchester) couldn’t BE more different than what we have now.

I mean yes, we had Independent breweries, but nowhere like the diversity we have now. Marble had been brewing for almost 5 years at the rear of The Marble Arch, we had Phoenix in Heywood (formerly Oak Brewery of Ellesmere Port) and - way back - we had the Manc OG of what we now would regard as “Craft”. Brendan Dobbin and his Ardwick based “West Coast Brewery”.

Brendan Dobbin can be regarded as one of (with Sean Franklin) if not THE OG of modern UK Brewing. I can just about recall tasting his “Sierra Nevada Pale Ale” (he - “obviously” - had to change that name!) and knowing that here was something different.

Not brown. Not twiggy. A revelation in fruity flavours. One of the earliest UK Brewers using imported US Hops.

His legacy endures.

There's a link here. Just like the original brewery kit at Marble, the brewery kit at Pictish was originally built by Brendan Dobbin.

His legacy endures.

That kit was installed back in 2000. When the brewer / owner was Richard Sutton. Richard brewed award winning beers almost from the off.

Even 11 years after Dobbin at West Coast, this was still fairly revolutionary stuff.

Having bought the brewery from Richard in 2013, Paul Wesley ensured that Pictish never missed a beat.

Brewing legendary beers like Alchemist, some of the finest single hop Pales in the UK such as the magnificent (and much loved) Brewers Gold, Pictish are one of the finest purveyors of session beers in this country.

And some of the best Cask Conditioned beer you will find anywhere.

Now then. The Independent Salford Beer Festival is built on simplicity. Knowing which breweries make exceptionally good beer is simple. Choosing Pictish for each ISBF has been simple. The Pales are clean, classic, refreshing. Tasting how the hop should taste. The rare ventures onto The Dark Side are always special, rich, roasty. Just yum.

Like I said. Choosing Pictish for the cask bar at ISBF, it’s a simple task. As is asking Paul if we could come and brew a beer. You see, Paul is one of most self effacing of Brewers. Self deprecating to a fault, by repeated sales alone, he understands that what he makes is bloody good, but you’ll never catch him waving flags, or hyping.

Pictish have a minimal social media presence. The beers sell themselves. Quality, you see, sells. Especially when you’ve been doing this for 23 years. Hitting the mark, each and every time.

My kind of brewery. Paul is one of my beer heroes.

In Lockdown, my heart leapt when I heard Paul was “bagging in box”. I asked if he’d deliver to mine (no small distance from the brewery). I asked if any of my friends wanted. Silly question. 9 orders. That Brewers Gold felt like liquid silk. I nearly wept.

That’s how good...... That’s reputation.

Porridge incoming!!!!

So anyway, moving on, I picked up the phone one evening (with Jock nudging me) and popped the question to Paul.

Now then. Single hopped session pales are Pictish specialities, but it isn’t easy to get a first time beer like that, if you’ve brewed with almost every hop!

But he had an idea. One that resonated. A one-off beer from last year, brewed for a special lady (proper Pictish fan girl) who also happens to be a member of the #ISBFFamily. But brewed with a different hop.

“What would you like?” says Paul....

“Got any Jimbo Catnip?” – aka Centennial - I replied.......

So. Here we are. 8:15. Rochdale. Mashing in loads of Pale malt. Porridge smells filling this small unit. Making me feel like a Hobbit longing for his second breakfast!

As much as breaking up New World Hops, the smells of mashing in stir my soul.

With that in the rear view mirror, The pack of Centennial leaf was brought out.

One of Life’s true sensory pleasures. A freshly opened bag of Centennial Hops

Now then. I’ve done this once or twice, so, when someone else is involved, they get the olfactory joy of opening and breaking up the pack to weigh out. It never fails to elicit an “mmmmmmmmmmmm” and a big grin is never far away. And those beautiful sticky oils smell amazing on the hands (and take a bit of washing off!). Lemony Centennial. Mmm mmmm.....

This was to be a Single Hop Pale, so – with transfer of the wort to the copper (or kettle if  you wish) – 0.9kgs of Centennial leaf was added for bitterness, with the rest to be added late in the Boil for flavour and aroma. Martin (Pictish newish – to me! – Assistant brewer) and Paul chatted with us about all kinds of things, from recently brewed beers to where the beers can now be found in the wild and how the beer market has changed post-pandemic. An interesting chat, giving a clear understanding of the changing beer market.

Hops WERE added here - honestly!

By this time we were joined by the Arch Fangirl herself (Caroline, with John) who stepped up to add the large late dose of Centennial, predictably filling the space with beautiful fruity aromas

Late Hops added, I had to get a shake on before transfer to the fermenting vessel and the deployment of the special Kveik yeast.

Kveik ferments at a higher temperature than Ale or Lager yeasts and is a right voracious little devil, converting those sugars – rapidly – into alcohol. It tends to produce very clean, dry tasting beers. I’m a fan.

Being a Norwegian yeast, Caroline (hailing, herself, from that fair nation) was the obvious choice to deploy it. Especially as she’s the only one of us who could reliably pronounce the word correctly. (Clue : It doesn’t rhyme with ‘bike’!)

Job. Done.

So. What have we made.

A Single Hopped Pale Ale. Fermented with Kveik yeast. It should be really beautifully fruity, with that signature lemon sherbet note, characteristic of Centennial. It will be dry.

“Yggdrasil 2” (Click on the hyperlink for an explanation)

The sacred Norse Tree “Yggdrasil”

And where will you get this first?

Yeah. You know.

We’re heading towards a sell out on all sessions, so, if you want to join us (and you REALLY should) click here to grab yourself tickets.

Treat yourself. And help a bloody lovely and important charity.

Back soon. Be kind to yourselves and each other.

Jx