West Berkshire Brewery has secured a seasonal listing this autumn with M&B’s leading Castle group of pubs for Wheaty McWheat Face, its new beer brewed for Imbibe Live’s Wheat Beer Challenge. the brewery has also won a trip for two to visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery in the Czech Republic.
Beating off Boss Brewing, Harviestoun, Little Beer Corp and Heavy Industry in a lively final staged on the first day of Imbibe Live, West Berkshire won over the audience with its restrained style of wheat beer.
Chair of judges, Mark Dorber, said: “Will Twomey [head brewer] nailed the wheat style. The balance was exemplary. It was crisp, fresh and spoke of English material.”
West Berkshire chief executive,Simon Leis, said: “Wheaty McWheatface was brewed on our new pilot brewery and is one of several new beers that we have experimented with.”
Will Twomey used British ingredients throughout, from the 50:50 blend of wheat with Maris Otter malt, via Kent First Gold hops, through to the brewery’s own ale yeast. He developed a number of production techniques to dial down the overt banana and clove notes so typical of Belgium wheat beer styles.
He said: “It’s always nice to win awards, but this one is very special. I’m very proud of this beer. I really like beers where you want to get a second or third.”
In second place came Harviestoun, with its Wheat Beastie, where leaves of lemon verbena, lime and coriander contributed to a refreshingly, complex beer. Another debut, this is the first of a new, seasonal keg range from the Alva-based brewery. “Fruity, zingy and refreshing,” said M&B’s Richard Yarnell.
Sarah John, co-founder of Boss Brewing, the youngest brewery to make it to the final, said: “We were getting asked for wheat beer by our customers, and when you see a pattern, you know you are missing a trick. Her brewery’s Boss Bix leant towards the witbier style, with a marriage of orange peel and coriander seeds in the mash tun.
Orange notes loomed large in both of the other finalists too. Tom McNeil, of Heavy Industry Brewing, put the new hop, Mandarina Bavaria, centre stage in his cloudy hefeweissen-style beer, Pigeon Toed Orange Peel, while Little Beer Corp’s Paul Hutcheson arrived on stage in bull fighter regalia, to celebrate the “vast amounts” of Spanish blood oranges that went into the production of Running With The Bulls.
Tim Hampson, chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers, said: “In the UK, wheat beers are something of a sleeping giant. Yet in their countries of origin, the many variations on the style are revered. And worldwide, wheat beers have become a must-brew style for serious craft brewers who want to showcase their creative skills. Crisp, refreshing and absolutely entrancing. More beer drinkers deserve to have the opportunity to try these beers.”
Fellow beer writer and wheat beer specialist, Adrian Tierney-Jones, said: “All too often wheat beers get overlooked by the current beer revolutionaries so it was so heartening to see the quality and the breadth of character in the beers we judged. II look forward to seeing more Brit wheat beers in the future.”
