St Austell Brewery and Verdant Brewing Co have collaborated on a one-off cask ale, Fuse (5% ABV), made on St Austell’s small-batch brew kit.
Verdant brew manager, Sam Taylor, and St Austell’s small-batch brewery manager, Lee Walker
Fuse was born the way a new beer should be — over a pint on a brewery social. There, St Austell Brewery’s Lee Walker and Penryn-based Verdant’s head of operations, James Heffron, came up with the idea.
Sam Taylor, brew manager from Verdant, joined Lee in the small-batch brewery earlier this month to bring Fuse to life. It’s been made with Verdant’s own yeast and three new experimental English hop varieties.
The finished beer is packed with tropical fruit and citrus flavours. It has a savoury, biscuity note to it, with a thick and chewy mouthfeel.
“It’s really exciting to collaborate with another Cornish brewery whose beers we regularly seek out,” said Lee.
“St Austell and Verdant produce very different beers in their day-to-day operations, so the idea of coming together to blend styles and flavour ideas has been a real pleasure.”
Fuse forms part of St Austell’s Cask Club series, which sees a variety of experimental beers brewed in its small-batch brewery, giving brewers the freedom to experiment.
As a result, an exciting programme of limited-edition beers, in cask and bottle, are available in selected pubs, St Austell’s Visitor Centre, and online. Many of its most popular beers, including Tribute, started out as small-batch releases.
“St Austell Brewery is steeped in tradition, and our brewery is the opposite of that,” said Sam.
“Both breweries are coming at things from a different angle, and that’s the true point of collaboration; different ideas from different places that coalesce to make one product that is great and brings something new to the table that neither one of us would have thought about doing. We’re lucky to have our own yeast strain, and lucky that it lends itself to this style of hazy New England beer.”
Fuse will be available in select St Austell Brewery pubs across the West Country from tomorrow (31st August), with a special event being held at the Chain Locker, Falmouth, today from 6pm, where people can get their hands on a pint of Fuse a day early.
