A New England White IPA created by the SIBA’s UK champion homebrewer is set to go on sale across all five Bundobust bars.
Left to right at the brew day: Neil Walker, of SIBA; Bundobust head brewer, Dan Hocking, competition winner Matthew Durant; and Alix Blease, of Lallemand Brewing
Matthew Durant’s beer was named best homebrew in the UK in a competition judged by professional brewers and experienced beer judges from the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA).
The competition — run this year in association with award-winning brewery and Indian street food experts Bundobust, yeast specialists Lallemand Brewing, and The Malt Miller — challenged homebrewers to come up with a great-tasting wheat beer.
It was Matthew’s New England White IPA that wowed judges, combining the smooth drinkability of wheat beer with the stonefruit and tropical hop flavours of a hazy New England IPA.
He said: “I wanted something that packed a little bit of a punch but was drinkable, with the yeast bringing some of those soft banana flavours.
“For me, as a homebrewer, to go from 19-litre batches to then come here today and brew on the big kit has been a little bit daunting at first, but Dan’s been fantastic in explaining everything to me and I’m really looking forward to tasting the final product.
“To be able to see the beer in all the Bundobust restaurants, really looking forward to that — will be a proud moment.”
Now in its second year, the SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards this year challenged entrants to brew using Lallemand’s hugely versatile Wit yeast and a minimum of 25% wheat in the recipe. Apart from that, it was left to the homebrewers’ imaginations, with various styles entered, including Belgian Wit, American wheat, German hefeweizen, and white IPA.
Neil Walker, from SIBA, said: “This competition is testament to how high the quality of homebrewing in the UK has become, with really talented homebrewers such as Matthew pushing boundaries and brewing incredibly good beers, such has his delicious White IPA.
“It was a pleasure to join the brew day and see his recipe brewed on a commercial scale, something that every winner of the SIBA Homebrew Beer Awards gets to experience.”
Dan Hocking, head brewer at Bundobust, said: “It was really nice to have a completely new perspective and explain what you spend all of your time doing, and then to have another creative mind come at it as well.
“We’ll be putting Matt’s beer into all the Bundobust restaurants in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and Liverpool, and we’re hoping to get a keg of it sent to one of Matt’s locals as well, so he can show off his beer to all his buddies.”
Alix Blease, of Lallemand, also attended the brew day and had some technical advice for other budding homebrewers looking to recreate the recipe.
“[Matt’s] beer is more towards a white IPA in style, so he’s used the yeast to exemplify some of the banana flavours from it. You can do this yourself by making sure you’re adding plenty of nutrients, fermenting with no head pressure, as well as reducing your mash temperature and increasing your fermentation temperature — you should be able to exemplify a lot more of those banana and clove ester characteristics.”
