Legless Liz and gluten-free beers make News of the Brews

Read on to see the latest news of the brews from March.

First Dawn at Caledonian​

Edinburgh-based Caledonian Brewery is set to unveil the latest addition to its seasonal guest ale range with its golden pale ale First Dawn.

The 3.7% ABV the ale has soft fruit flavours and spicy aromas, which combine to create a delicate, fresh and zesty finish.

Craig Steven, the firm’s beers manager for Scotland, said the beer was aimed at spring trade and would be available from March to May. He added: “A new season calls for a new beer.

“The days are getting longer and brighter, and this wonderfully bright golden ale reflects the season.

“Outlets should consider outlining suggested beer and food pairings on their menus in order to maximise interest in crafted and carefully selected beers.”

Double release by Hawkshead​

Two beers have been launched by Hawkshead Brewery at its beer festival titled Northern Craft.

The firm’s head brewer developed a hefty 9.5% ABV Northern Imperial Stout, which is rich and complex with deep chocolate and roasted coffee notes. Hawkshead’s pink-coloured, light and low-alcohol Chuckleberry Sour, meanwhile, has been re-released and will be available in keg and bottle.

A cask-conditioned 5% ABV amber-style lager has been commissioned by JD Wetherspoon and is currently available at the pub giant’s national spring beer festival.

Mitchells & Butler’s Ember Inns collaborates with Black Sheep Brewery​

Ember Inns has launched an exclusive pale ale in collaboration with renowned Yorkshire brewer Black Sheep Brewery.

The brew will be served across 147 pubs in the brand’s portfolio and was developed in response to the resurgence of the cask ale category in Ember Inns’ sites.

Director of operations David Briggs, said: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to develop our offer, and with our reputation for serving quality ale, the partnership with Black Sheep was a natural next step.

“The brew has been shaped by Black Sheep and the Ember Inns’ team, using in-depth knowledge of our guests and their tastes.”

Bellfield’s GF beers at show​

The UK’s first self-claimed entirely gluten-free (GF) craft brewery, the Bellfield Brewery, showed its first two beers at the Allergy and Free From Show in Glasgow earlier this month.

At the show, the Edinburgh-based brewery launched its Lawless Village IPA, which is named after the Portobello area where the company’s founders come from.

A traditional pilsner-style beer called Bellfield Bohemian, brewed using traditional Noble and Saaz hops, was shown.

Other beers set to launch in the future include a golden ale, a stout and other IPA lager-style beers, the company said.

Meanwhile, the brewery is set to invest in research and development into more free-from beers. Work will be led by brewer Kieran Middleton and master brewer David Smith.

World Beers’ Italian trio​

A trio of Italian craft beers is to be introduced to the UK by importer World Beers, in a bid to extend its range of Birradamare brewery beers here.

The three additional lines will include the Birra Roma, La Zia Ale and Na Birretta Rossa and are from the Italian artisan brewery that’s based just outside Rome.

Managing director of World Beers Peter Karsten said: “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since we launched Birradamare’s Na Birretta Chiara and Dammenipa pre-Christmas, so it was important to move quickly to bolster the range.”

The new additions will be pushed during the football Euros and the Olympics.

Six Everards licensees brew Hoptical Illusion​

Everards will make its newly brewed ruby-style Hoptical Illusion beer available across its portfolio of pubs.

The brew was created at the Brunswick Brewery – a process which took two days – as part of the firm’s Gold Course scheme and has been available for the whole of March.

Licensees went through the whole process during the ale’s creation and developed an ale hopped with a selection of new-world hops to give it a full-bodied hoppy, citrus, floral character, which is reminiscent of an American-style IPA.

The beer has an ABV of 4.7%.

Legless Liz is the Queens Arm’s latest beer​

Brew it Yourself authors Rich Hood and Nick Moyle were the first to pull a pint of Legless Liz at Corton Denham’s the Queen’s Arms earlier this month.

The beer was developed for the pub in celebration of the Queen’s 90^th​ birthday later this month and is also available in 500ml bottles – £20 for four.

Queens Arms co-owner Gordon Reid said: “We had fund creating out new ale, not only during all the hours of tasting and tweaking with Gyle 59, but also getting our regulars  to name this home-grown brew.”

The brew has a mixture of punchy citrus, resinous and classic floral hops.