Independent South London breweries Orbit Beers and Anspach & Hobday have teamed up to create a beer for Woodfest 2022.
The festival is organised by The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood. The group celebrates traditional beer styles served from wooden casks.
Paul Spraget, head brewer at Orbit Beers, and Paul Anspach have brewed limited-edition 1861 Running Porter (5.3% ABV). It is inspired by a traditional recipe and will be served from wooden casks at the festival, from 25th-28th May.
Designed to be served fresh, the beer offers rich flavours from a combination of pale ale malt, brown malt, and black malt, along with Lallemand London ESB yeast.
Full-bodied Running Porter is dark, walnut brown, with a frothy tan head. It presents aromas of malted milk biscuits, chocolate, and hazelnut, with a hint of freshly cut grass from the addition of UK Chinook and Bullion hops. Velvety malts, milk chocolate, and caramel sweetness are on the palate. There is a soft bitter finish and light carbonation.
Brewing traditions
Paul Spraget and Greg Stork (lead brewer), from Orbit Beers, joined Paul Anspach and Dan Gambino (lead brewer), from Anspach & Hobday, to brew the porter at Orbit Brewery, Walworth, in last month. They were inspired by the traditional serve from wooden barrels to create something uncomplicated, classic, and packed full of flavour.
Orbit Beers is deeply rooted in European brewing traditions with a modern approach. It takes classic styles and makes them its own, which was the goal with 1861 Running Porter.
One wooden cask of the limited-edition beer will be available at Woodfest 2022, and one cask will be served on 19th May at Anspach & Hobday’s venue The Pigeon, in Camberwell. Another cask, along with bottles, will be available on the bar at Orbit Taproom, in Walworth, South London, on the weekend of 20th May.
Originally, the ‘keeping’ style was the norm, but as demand grew, the ‘running’ style evolved to be served fresh, immediately after it was brewed. The brewers have kept back the final barrel to be aged and revisited at a later date as 1861 Keeping Porter.
Woodfest 2022
The aim of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood is to stimulate the brewing of and encourage the drinking of traditional draught beer, drawn direct from the cask. This can be done by gravity, by a handpump, or by other methods approved by the SPBW’s national executive committee (this includes bottle-conditioned beer).
Although the society does not specifically campaign for the use of wooden casks for beer dispense, it supports and encourages breweries and pubs that use them, and the coopers who produce them.
The third Woodfest will be held between Wednesday and Saturday, 25th to 28th May, at the Turk’s Head, St Margarets, Twickenham. Tickets can be purchased here.
