Putting all that aside, I have to tell you of the many milestones that have been laid down the last couple of weeks at Piddleworld
First on the list is The big guys third anniversary of working at Britains most quirky talked about brewery. This monumental day coincided with brew number 600. This naturally had to be our flagship ale...Piddle. As I have mentioned before, myself and our noble leader spend an admiral amount of time "flavour profiling" and with the assistance of Will the "yoda of hops" we made the slightest of tweeks to the bittering hops. You may already know that we add three stages of hops to every brew, the first lot added at the point of coming to the boil are the "bittering" hops these give the brew its bitterness (funny that) and its astringency, a slight replacement of a proportion of these have given us a smoother and more rounded mouth feel. the other two stages are the "lates" and when the boil has stopped bubbling the "off boils" these give the beer its flavour and aroma. There is something quite spiritual about adding the mighty hop to the brew, I have given the honour of this to two special people over the last few days, Andy Stevens the electrical wizzard the gets me out of trouble at the drop of a hat, or flash bang at the copper! and of course our OLD friend Wurthers. Making sure they both stuck to my strictest health and safety directive and stayed off the top step of my ladders, as we dont want a bright pink screaming man in the beer as it would sting a bit and obviously ruin the brew.
We also got our van back from the Automobile Hospital. Our pole dancing queen of the road had a slight altercation with an indecisive BMW and modified the front. As a momento we have been given the old hood (thats american for bonnet, The big guy is teaching me yankee talk at the moment). We really arent sure what to do with it. My plan is to polish it up with wax and then wait until it snows and then set the west dorset land speed record for a 4 man/3 blokes and a bird, gravity powered machine down the side of the Piddle Valley. Ive picked my spot, but feel it may be quite a while until weather conditions suit.
The sheer mention of snow seems a distant memory in light of the recent weather. Spring is definitely upon us post Vernal Equinox. I have just completed a mini tour of "meet the brewer" in conjunction with wetherspoons Great British Real Ale Festival and the launch of this seasons ale "Cocky Hop". No two events were the same and I have met lots of lovely people, many of whom I will see again when they come to visit the brewery. A special mention has to go to the boys based at Bovington that I met on the sunny patio at The Swan in Weymouth, these brave and spirited men are off to Afghan in the next few weeks, and I wish them a safe and speedy return. Also the two "likely lads" at The Sir Percy Florence Shelley, with a combined age of nearly 150 years with hilarious tales of when man met machine at the automated checkouts in Sainsburys and general chaos and living proof that beer is good for you. Interestingly the local knowledge of an abundance of wild hops growning in a couple of hedgerows got me quite excited. So watch this space for one of the Piddle specials coming out in the autumn, any suggestions of a name for this wild ale will be gratefully received at vic@dorsetpiddlebrewery.co.uk or posted on the comments page here.Until next my happy piddlers, be nice to each other and drink great beer.
Cheers
Vic the brewer
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