THE CASK PROJECT
St Austell and Hogs Back celebrate harvests
St Austell struck up its barley partnership with a band of Cornish farmers in 2002 and the current crop will make about 20m pints of beer.
Each year, brewers at the south-west business head out to the fields – some as close as three miles away from the brewery – to see how the crop which will be processed into malt has fared this year.
Despite hopes not being high due to “some of the worst, wettest, most sunless and grey months in living memory”, fears were allayed as when they saw the “golden swaying fields of winter barley”.
The brewer and pub operator said a bright light had been the enduring consistency of Maris Otter, which can be used in favourites such as Tribute, Proper Job, Big Job, Anthem, Cornish Best and Hicks.
Excellent quality barley
While yields were not in any way spectacular, in the most part, the quality was excellent and “far better and more consistent than some modern varieties” with a later harvest giving low nitrogen, good grain size and good specific weights.
Around 2,000 tonnes of Cornish barley from this year’s yield will go into St Austell’s beers while more will come from other local sources and from its farmers in East Anglia.
Meanwhile, Tongham-based Hogs Back Brewery hosted its 10th Hop Harvest weekend recently with a record number of more than 4,200 revellers flocking to its Surrey brewery for live music, family entertainment, beer and street food.
The Hop Harvest celebrations followed two weeks of harvesting in the hop garden next to the brewery.
The hop hangar, where the hops are processed and dried at optimum freshness, was transformed into a party space for the crowds.
Newton Faulkner headlines
The entertainment started with a sold-out ‘Roots’ concert of original music, headlined by Newton Faulkner, a graduate of Guildford Academy of Contemporary Music.
Alongside entertainment, guests enjoyed the full range of Hogs Back beers, including Green TEA, variation of the brewer’s flagship Tongham TEA, brewed with fresh ‘green’ hops straight from the hop garden, as well as Surrey Nirvana, One Planet Hazy IPA and, for the first time, Dennis Hopp’r IPA from Mondo Brewing, Hogs Back’s sister brewery in south London.
Hogs Back managing director Rupert Thompson said, “Although this year’s crop wasn’t our biggest ever, largely because of wet weather early in the growing cycle, the quality of the hops is excellent, and they will add a distinctive flavour to our beers.
“We’re only down 10% on last year’s volumes across the Fuggles, Cascade and Farnham Whie Bine varieties.”
Fuggles will be used in Tongham TEA and English Cascade in its Hogstar lager and Surrey Nirvana Session IPA.
