Left to right, Two Thirsty Gardeners Richard Hook and Nick Moyle, with St Austell Brewery’s Rob Orton
St Austell Brewery has collaborated with bloggers, the Two Thirsty Gardeners, on an upcoming Small Batch brew.
The limited-edition pale ale is brewed with hand-picked wild hedgerow hops and is infused with a blend of lemon verbena and gunpowder tea.
The Thirsty Gardeners (4.3% ABV) — named after the green-fingered duo — boasts crisp, refreshing notes of green tea and lemon sherbet, with a floral aroma.
The beer is brewed with lemon verbena, a flowering perennial shrub native to South America, which was traditionally used in herbal teas and medicinal remedies. It also includes gunpowder tea, from Morocco, in which each individual leaf has been delicately rolled into a small round pellet, to retain its flavour and aroma. Its English name comes from the fact that the tea resembles small grains of gunpowder.
The Two Thirsty Gardeners — otherwise known as Nick Moyle and Richard Hood — are famous for digging and swigging their way through the seasons. Combining their passions — alcohol and gardening — they released their debut book, Brew It Yourself, in 2015, featuring more than 70 beer, wine, and lager recipes made with foraged and home-grown ingredients.
‘The beer is brewed with hops and lemon verbena grown on our own allotment’
Nick said: “We’re very excited to have collaborated with St Austell Brewery on this tea-inspired beer. It’s the first time we’ve used these ingredients to brew with, and what better place to experiment than St Austell’s Small Batch Brewery?
“The beer is brewed with hops and lemon verbena grown on our own allotment, so we’re really looking forward to sharing it with beer drinkers across the South West.”
Rob Orton, brewing and bottling manager at St Austell Brewery, added: “We were delighted to work with the Two Thirsty Gardeners on this beer. Innovation is at the heart of what our Small Batch Brewery is all about, so it was great fun to help them make their home-grown idea a reality.”
The Thirsty Gardeners will be on sale at select pubs that are part of the Small Batch Beer Club from September 30. To find your nearest outlet, visit staustellbrewery.co.uk/smallbatchbrews. The beer will also be available at Falmouth Beer Festival (October 3-5) and St Austell Brewery’s Celtic Beer Festival (November 30).
