#ISBFX Brewday 11 - Myths & Legends with Brids Cross Brewery
“I’m going to make a good sharp axe,
Shining steel tempered in the fire;
We’ll chop you down like an old dead tree,
Dirty old town, dirty old town”
“Dirty Old Town” - Ewan McColl
2016 is - in so many ways - a year that I wish never happened. And one that me & mine will never forget.
It's only a slight exaggeration to say that this event kept me sane. Helped me in ways that very few know & understand.
I owe ISBF so much.
But there is one memory from that year that always brings a smile.
Andy “The Boy Genius” Heggs and I were discussing the logo design for #ISBF3 when I had a rare flash of inspiration….
“Go listen to ‘Dirty Old Town’ by Ewan McColl and use that……”
Andy - “You don't want a logo. You want a work of art!”
Look carefully at that t-shirt whilst listening to the song. And you'll get how good that design is…
There's a reason why I call Andy “Boy Genius”.
This brewday felt a little like coming full circle.
Some things are simply meant to be. Written in the stars, if you will.
There are few breweries that achieve that marriage of branding & product in a way that grabs ME.
Sean O’Reilly has done just that. With Brid's Cross.
Myths. Legends. Celt & Saxon imagery. I'm fascinated by the ancient history of this nation. Brutal, yet oddly romantic.
Just like “Dirty Old Town”. Go listen.
Sean & I seem to think the same things about beer.
I try to balance the beer list at ISBF and there was a beloved beer style I didn't have. We chatted and soon found common ground.
Dark malts feature…
Brewdays are brewdays. This one was slightly different in that the kit tested Sean's skills and ingenuity.
He's definitely one for solutions. Not problems.
Mashing in was smooth and straightforward, then Sean's skills and knowledge came in to play, quickly sorting a major transfer issue in to the copper.
Then we came to hops. And this beer will be seeing plenty.
An early addition of my current Catnip, Columbus for a little bitterness, followed late by more Cs (Columbus, Chinook & Cascade) for flavour and aroma.
Adding the hops is my favourite fragrant job…
I won't tell you about the beeautiful aromas.
It wouldn't be fair…… 🤣......
And there's more Chinook & Columbus to go on in dry hop too 🤤🤤🤤
Brewing is 10% of blue assed fly stuff and 90% time best utilised in other ways.
Me, I contacted breweries for beer details….. I mean, beer is rather important at a beer event, wouldn't you say?
Having filled in several lines in the Spreadsheet of Earthly Delights, it was time for transfer to the FV and almost home.
Was a lovely day with Sean. Shooting breezes, talking present & future plans (for him & the brewery, not ISBF!). He's one of life's true lovely humans. And I'm thrilled to not only have made this lovely beer, but to have beaten him - but not by too much - in our Beery NFL Fantasy League at the weekend! (Sorry Sean!)
A cracking day. Thanks to Sean for putting up with me and humouring me with the beer style….
So. What is chuckling away in sean’s FV?
“A Good Axe”. A US Porter at around 4.8%. Dark. Tasty. Sessionable.
Oh yes.
And where……..
OK.
If you want first dibs at this, there's only a couple of tickets left for the Thursday evening session.
Get. A. Shake. On. Click this link.
Back soon. With the final collaboration brewday!
Be kind to one another.
Jim x