Chorlton Brewing Co – new in!

When a brewery starts with the opening line, “is all about producing amazing beer”, of course, you can look at that many ways; sideways, or with more than a little, “oh yeah, realllly”, and then when you read on “We’re mostly concentrating on sour beers as we’re on a mission to expand the possibilities of what’s possible”, to our ears, can mean one of two things – car crash brewing, or OMG good beer.   Thankfully, it’s the latter not the former.  Yes, these beers, are OMG good. Chortlon Brewing Co, is one of the most exciting, eccentric and brave new breweries I have had the fortune to be introduced to!

Mike, a well travelled, eccentric character, like many had gravitated to the railway arches of Bermondsey, London to hone his brewing skills and equally satiate his palate for innovative beers with the burgeoning beer community.     Then, just upped and went to Manchester to scratch that itch of opening a brewery, following the dream!   Not able to actually open the brewery in Chorlton, as was planned, they are now gracing the delightful scenery of Ardwick in Manchester.  Tongue firmly in cheek.  But, like many, as a friend recently said, it wouldn’t be modern day British Craft Brewing, if it wasn’t in a railway arch, so Chorlton Brewing co, is in a railway arch.

Beyond the location, the route to opening the brewery, what Mike is achieving with his custom brew kit, is seriously impressive – super clean, incredibly aromatic tart ales that, trying to avoid the cliches, both push the boundaries of what sour/tart beers are, and reflect on what has gone by, with passion and devotion to the styles. Ignore the numbers on the various beer rating websites, these are really out there beers, but really accessible and great fun refreshment.

What drew me to them, was the impressive Yakima Sour, a dry hopped “berlinner weisse”, with American aromatic hop varieties, that leaves a “Jolly Rancher”/Haribo sours type experience – super fruity, but with a long tart citrusy finish.    Then there is the Woodruff Berlinner, again another lacto-sour, but flavoured with natural Woodruff, so you can experience the natural flavours, that have become forgotten by the larger brewers who remain commercial brewers of this style, in Berlin.

Oh.. And every beer they ever make will be unfiltered, unpasteurised and unfined.  Do not miss these guys.   We’ll be increasing the range, as and when new beers emerge from the railway arch.

Looking to Buy Chorlton Brewery beers, get them right here!

A Customer Review…

We’re not big into the whole reviews mechanisms that people are constantly trying to sell us; I wonder how easily they are manipulated, or just give space for the disgruntled to threaten?  (Please add your thoughts in the comments)

But when you get notes like this, not uncommon, but incredibly valuable to us – to our team, so we know what we’re doing is correct and valuable to the you the customer. 

“I have to write to thank you for the lovely glass, and also for the wicked service that you and everyone in beer HQ deliver to your customers.

I know I haven’t had vast quantities of things from you….In fact I’m just a little itty bitty customer, but the service has been second to none. This makes you an unusually special company in today’s “your not buying a thousand units a year, we don’t care” culture. You DO care.

A few little, but hyper important points make you stand out as a firm I always harp on about to my beer friends, both here and on the other side of this rock.

Firstly, you communicate every step of the way. You’d be amazed how many seemingly wonderful companies haven’t got the idea that We Pain in the butt customers like a confirmation mail or two :). With you, we get tracking, email replies… It’s communication heaven.

Secondly, your packing is mail zombie proof…. In fact, I believe your packing would even survive a mail trip to Brazil and handling by the evil agents of the baggage handling confederation…. The true dark side of parcel and luggage stomping! Boot marks and scuffs galore… Even a van? tyre mark on my suitcase once! (They also like to steal chocolate from cases which is a little sad as well as weird).

I’m going back to the land of Brazil at the end of the week, but I’ll look forward to ordering more goodies on my return. Give everyone there a big “Cheers” and a few beers if there are spares 😀

Many thanks… And a very Merry Christmas to all, A happy customer 🙂”

thanks to all and everyone for an amazing festive run up!

from all the team at Beermerchants.com

PS: Discounts, promo’s and third party websites

and regards, Discounts, promo’s and third party websites: We send out a Brewsletter, monthly, with all the latest beers, special offers and bargains. We don’t do promo-codes, links from “savings sites” so all and every one knows exactly what they are paying, every time. Also, please don’t trust any Savings, Groupon, promotional websites we may be listed on, as we cannot guarantee the nature or quality of information provided. So, if you want to save on beer, know what’s new in here at Beermerchants.com don’t hang about, register and win! read more here

Christmas is Beer time.

Christmas has long been the time for special beers to come out and be enjoyed but who is to say that it is only the Christmas style beers that can be enjoyed in the season on goodwill.

Many other beers really hold their own in the darker months of the year. Now most people would typically say a good Stout suits the time of year well, it does but maybe try something more interesting like a thyme or a chilli stout.

Brown ales are an oft maligned beer that really should come to the fore as the nights close in. Slightly stronger abv with big malt flavours can really work as winter warmers much of the Belgian beers are already suited to this before they even do their specials, looking at Bruges Zot Brune or De Dolle Arabier here.

Come on through people we can be more interesting than that right? Dark beers are better in the winter, what a shocker!So let’s try something new, spicing up a sour beer to make our own winter brew. Let’s take a bottle of something nice and sour perhaps a Boon or a Lindemanns gueze if you’re feeling it go with a Berliner Wiesse to get your sharpness. Next grab a bottle of Belgian wit Blanche de Bruxelles would be best. 2 parts sour to 1 part wit to get us started. We want to heat the beer as we add in spices so get a pan on the go and add the beer in. Only a really low heat though! As we have added in the wit it’s time to bring those flavours out with additions over the sour, we’re talking orange peel and coriander now. But we want it to be more interesting that just mixed beers so let’s add in some cloves about 1 per serving add in freshly sliced ginger and ground nutmeg too. You will want to add some sugar but not much and do that to taste. Warm it through and keep it warm for about 2 hours before 1st serving. It will taste better the longer you let it all infuse so leave it longer if possible. It’ll last 2 days so don’t forget to refresh your batch. Enjoy the mulled sourery goodness of your own creation.

By Bryn Fowler follow him here: @CavedirectBryn

There’s a beer for that … an improvement

Even with blogging deaderer than the zombie apocalypse, for those of you watching Downton Abbey last night (not me), you may have seen this advert from the revitalised Let there be beer campaign Britain’s Beer Alliance.    Definitely an improvement on the last efforts by the Let there be beer attempts.   Guess that’s what happens when you engage Pete Brown and a decent movie director?  (obvs there is more to it than that… “Along with representatives from CAMRA and the big brewers“)

Anyway, it’s busy here.   It’s better than the guff with the guy off Saturday football telebox.

you can read more at the Britain’s Beer Alliance website here:

Are you a brewer?

Are you a brewer, brewery or do you know a brewery that deserves more attention?

Since we’ve started, way back in 2005, we’ve always tried give great attention to the ebb and flow of the developments of this wonderful world of contemporary beer today.    But, as we’ve got busier and busier it’s harder to keep an eye on what’s happening – no matter how much time you sit and watch the twittersphere…

Of course we get sent samples, but we’ve always worked hard to sort the wheat from the chaff, making sure that just any ol’ or new beer lands on our website.    Having something of an awareness of brewing and worked with some of the best in the game, they have instilled in us, what it takes to be “just good beer”.

Now, here’s the nub, I know a fair few of you who read this are brewers, work at breweries or are just really big fans of your local brewery.     What we’re asking is, if you think your beer is excellent, get in touch!   If you’re a friend of a brewery, make sure they’re aware of this, we’re always looking… and if you think there are beers “missing” from our site, let us know too!   Tweet us, drop a note/link on Facebook or email us!

London Beer

London Calling – a mixed case of London Brewed Beers… we’ve “restarted” it, 16 bottles of some of London’s most characterful beers, with a free Meantime Glass and a  15% discount  This case will include great IPA’s, great lagers – from Camden Town, Redchurch, Kernel,  Meantime, Partizan and the Amazing Craft Beer London Book! Normally over £60, all for £49.95!

World Beers – Beers of the World

I really hate the word “world beers” , but it does apply describe those monopoly beers from around the world.   We try to keep a low stock, hardly paying them any interest – but people do like them.

At the risk of Ratnerising them, I guess they do have a home.  Our beermerchants.com section on world beers is a perfect selection of those beers available from around the world. These are beers you may be able to sample sitting in the comfort of your own home or in a pub, club or bar. Alternatively, there are beers you can sample when you visiting particular parts of the world.

The world literally is your oyster when it comes to beers. You can select something novel like an African beer or a Chinese beer. On the other hand, you may wish to opt for the right beer with your chicken tikka masala.

We’re beer nuts, so do check out our range of mixed cases – whether it is a blond lager you prefer or a darker beer. Whether it is a beer that tastes of liquorice, toffee or coffee, there is something here to suit any taste and choice.

Prost!

prost!

We’ve been offering the Prost! case for some time now – a consistently popular case, covering many bases of German beer. We’ve improved it one step again, incorporating the world class beers from Mahrs and Fassla. We’ve found more specialist German beer glasses. [read more here]

Thank you!

as always, thank you for reading, and enjoying great beer!

Lambic and Gueuze

About Gueuze, Lambic and more…

This is a truly amazing category of beer.

The few breweries that brew Lambic, then blend to be Gueuze – the famed Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen, the new comer blender Tilquin, the variety and consistency of Boon as much Mort Subite. There are also brews from Girardin and De Troch that aren’t in stock at the moment, but, look out for them in time. Then the curious and perculiar to the lambic brewing scene, the blender, famously Hanssens. It’s hard when you’re this nerdy about Lambic, to not have a growing variety of gueuze and kriek etc.

Yes, Lambic isn’t for everyone’s palate – leathery, acidic, woody, raw and spritzy flavours. But, once you “get it”, you’ll love those flavours. A great come home to beer – the sharp refreshment. That goes oh so well with italian-style dried meats etc.

For the Beauty of Gueuze

For the beauty of Gueuze and Kriek

Save 10% on a mixed case of celebrated and sort after gueuze and kriek. This case ships with a free Boon Glass. Whilst stocks last! [read more here]

It’s not a well hidden secret that we can really dork out when it comes to gueuze, and kriek. Those sour wild fermented beers are a go to, far too often. So much so, we’ve really stocked up and have a good selection.

For the Love of Gueuze

We’ve put together a mixed case of a variety of Gueuze, kriek, faro and witte-lambic, with a 10% discount and a free Boon branded Lambic glass. all available whilst stocks last. [read more here]