#ISBFXI Brewday 5 - Flipping The Script with Torrside
“When the last train is going
And the streetlights look like stars
And your thoughts like rockets
Are all but homeward bound
When everyone is dreaming
And you don't know who you are
I will keep my arms wide open
You can pour your heart out”
Ramona’s Tea Party – “Pour Your Heart Out”
Jim : ISBF wouldn’t be where it is without the love shown by hordes of lovely humans and scores of those people happen to brew exceptional beer. It has - for me - been life enhancing. Those people have made such a difference not just to my life, but the lives of so many people touched by the work of Start Inspiring Minds - the magnificent charity supported by ISBF.
Some of these lovely humans - in late 2015 - formed Torrside Brewing. Since first meeting Chris, Nick & Peter on the Manchester beer scene, they have been open and welcoming. They have been firm and steadfast supporters of this event since we first took a beer (I think) in Year 3. Each ISBF, we get invited to New Mills and it is always a brewday we look forward to.
They’re special people, in a lovely location, brewing some of the finest beer in the UK (there’ll be a Beers Manchester post coming soon featuring their beers) and it’s always a special day for us. But something we never take for granted. They’re friends of this event, to state it plain.
I’m going to leave it to my companion for the day - and dear friend)/lovely human - John O’Donnell to describe the day (in both his words and his photographs). (I’ll freely say that his words brought a tear to my eye…..)
Over to you John…..
Having been a small part of what Jim calls the #ISBF Family since ISBF #1 in 2014, there’s many of his achievements that make you want to be more Jim.
Watching him grow that family into a year-round community of like-minded beer lovers that have spawned countless friendships and even an ISBF baby or three. Seeing him persuade some of the very best brewers to make small batch, niche beers for a tiny event. Handing over the stupendous amounts raised for the charities. Observing him do all this while totally committed to his amazing family. Yes, there are times we could all wish we were a bit more Jim!
This morning was not one of those mornings! It was 15 minutes before my alarm when I woke up, pulled out the phone to find that the first picture on my doom scroll is from the man himself, already on the platform of his local station. While I’ve not even crawled out of bed. At that moment, I was glad to be less Jim – ‘Bless the rains that I’m just a twenty-minute tram ride from Piccadilly’ I thought. (That “music” reference is duly noted! Ed….)
A shower, a coffee and a sausage sandwich later, I was on my way to Picadilly where I met up with the ISBF head honcho on the 07.51 to Buxton. Our destination was a brewery that I’ve visited many times, but have never had the opportunity to brew at. And in another personal first, todays brew was the first time I’ve been involved in parti-gyle brewing.
Our hosts have made the art of getting two beers, one ‘big’ and one ‘small’ out of one grain bill something of a speciality of theirs so it was with some excitement that we alighted at New Mills Newtown for the short walk to Torrside Brewing. We were greeted by co-owner Chris, our brewer for today as Torrside’s primary brewer Sarah was away taking a well-earned break.
While Torrside’s usual parti-gyle modus is to use the first runnings to produce a small batch Monster beer and the second runnings for a larger batch of a more sessionable beer, on the journey down, Jim had explained that today, we were flipping the norm. The plan was for the first-runnings to be the base for a full batch of a big hoppy beer, aiming somewhere between East India Porter and Black IPA. The second runnings were destined for a small batch of what doesn’t sound like a Torrside beer at all – dark, yes,, but under 3.5% ABV? Of course, it would be given a Torrside twist, but more of that later.
Chris had already weighed out the malt and - more importantly for my old knees - got it up onto the mezzanine floor. So after a quick coffee, we set to work on loading the hopper. Sharing the work three ways makes the heavy lifting a lot easier (and from the off, Jim was busting the myth that he spends collab days behind his laptop screen….). So it wasn’t long before the hydrator was on and the mash was underway.
Having only ever visited Torrside during brew tap weekends and the annual Smokefest (diary date, 20th & 21st March 2027), seeing the space in production mode makes you realise why those tap weekends are infrequent. The space that, on a tap weekend, is filled with packed tables of beer geeks, canal boaters and walkers enjoying the output is instead packed with pallets and pallets of bottled beers, casks, kegs and more. It must be a hell of a game of Tetris (“Game of Tetris” simply HAS to be the name of a Torrside/Elusive collab - #JustSaying - Ed) to pack it all tightly into the brewing space to welcome the public.
As we commence the mash rest, we are joined by assistant brewer Barney who gets his priorities spot on – the second coffee of the day is along in a jiffy. Jim retreats to the bar and deals with the laptop’s abandonment issues (OK, he was editing the post about last week’s Elusive brew day). Meanwhile Chris and Barney start setting up for the interesting part of the day
– the gas fired mini-copper perched atop a stack of pallets, ceramic tiles and bricks. Now we are in Torrside territory!
With the main kettle already full with the first runnings off the wort, Chris returns from his shopping trip just as the second runnings are transferred to the small copper and the gas burner is lit. While it might be unusual for the baby copper to have the baby beer in it, it’s a method Torrside have completed successfully many times and an hour later it’s flame out and time to add the final additions of Bramling Cross and 100 bags of vanilla chai tea. The aroma hit is almost instant – spicy cinnamon dominates with subtle sweet vanilla in the background. It might not be a Monster ABV but it IS a Monster aroma and once again, we know we are in Torrside territory.
Although he has spent a good chunk of the day at the computer, confirming beers with brewers who have confirmed availability and chasing brewers who haven’t, as the day draws to a close Jim commandeers the mash shovel as his gym session for the day, leaving me as sack monitor as the spent grain is bagged up for its next life as animal feed.
Our last collaboration effort of the day is to make the flame out additions to the big hoppy dark part of the days efforts before Barney kicks off the transfers and starts the final clean down.
The whole Torrside crew have been stalwarts of the ISBF family since the early days, during which time they’ve come up with some of the very finest beers to be served at the festival. Less than seven hours after we arrived, we’ve made not just one but two beers to join that legacy at #ISBFXI – two beers that I’m now eagerly anticipating drinking and I hope that you, avid reader, are too.
Thanks to Chris & Barney for welcoming us to New Mills. Jim will insert a footnote here to tell you how few tickets are now left and how you need to snap them up quickly if you want to taste these and all the other special ISBF brew day beers.
Thank you John. Especially for the tear inducing intro…. (and for introducing me to Ramona's Tea Party)
Where do you think you're going to get both of these beers first? (Thank you Torrside!) Is that even a question that needs asking?
So. Yes. Tickets. They're getting low. Especially on Thursday.
If you haven't already got yours - and want to come along to our little slice of beer heaven, click here (there's little more than a handful left for Thursday!)
Back soon. (I'm currently on my way back from yet another Brewday!)
Be kind to one another.
Jim x