Round Corner Brewing has collaborated with the Yeastie Boys on Eye of the Storm, a 7.3% ABV vintage ale. It’s described as a rich malty beer with a robust lingering bitterness.
The founders of the two breweries have known each other for much longer than Round Corner Brewing’s existence. Round Corner funder and head brewer, Colin Paige, established a friendship with Yeastie Boys director, Stu McKinlay, more than 20 years ago in New Zealand.
The ale is chestnut in colour, with a symphony of malt which has mellowed for two months during a long 12°C tank maturation on the lees. UK Ernest hops were loaded in the kettle to produce 56 IBUs of bitterness.
The name comes from the River Eye, which flows through Round Corner Brewing’s hometown of Melton Mowbray. The river was once used to carry the malt now so important to making beers like this vintage ale.
“We’re delighted to be launching Eye Of The Storm today at the perfect time of year for a vintage ale,” said Colin. “This brand new beer is all about the malt. In fact, there are eight different types of malt in this beer.
“As brewers, our fermentable extract comes from barley malt, but there’s many different types we can use, which vary in colour and flavour. In Eye Of The Storm three of these malts are different types of crystalised malt. These add nice caramel, light molasses, and maple syrup-style characters to the beer, so it drinks really well.
“To give this beer its complexity, we’ve aged it for quite a long time in tank. It’s a wine-making technique we’ve used called ageing on the less. This means it’s been matured quite warm — we start at 12°C compared to our usual lagering of 2°C.
Yeast complexity
“This allows the yeast to stay up in the beer through a long two-month maturation period, allowing a little bit of yeast complexity within the beer without it being barrel aged. We’ve also used 100% English hops called Ernest in the beer, giving it a strong bitterness which we love.”
Colin added: “Making this beer with Yeastie Boys is special for us. I’ve known Stu personally for a very long time, back when he worked in IT and I was brewing in Wellington. We thought a vintage ale was the perfect beer to be making, and a style both breweries love, as it got us through the cold Wellington winters.
“The result is absolutely cracking and a perfect drink to get out of your fridge an hour before consuming to allow the malt to really shine through.”
Stu McKinlay added: “Colin and I became friends in New Zealand almost 20 years ago now, and then, shortly after, he became a mentor to me. Over these years I’ve learned a lot from Colin and our breweries have become closer, with Round Corner Brewing being a contract brewing partner for Yeastie Boys.
“We chose to make a vintage ale as our first ever beer together because not only is it the perfect time of year for the beer, but the idea is that good things take time. A vintage ale not only takes time to brew, but we wanted to make sure our first collaboration was the right one. We’re super proud of this beer and working with Round Corner Brewing.”
