Bakers, it’s time for your showstopper challenge! Introducing our brand new limited edition mini series, all themed-around delicious sweet treats and all brewed in collaboration with superb international breweries.
Say hello to FRUIT PIE, RUM SUNDAE, PLUM CAKE, and COFFEE BAKE – four indulgent beers, perfect for sharing and pairing.
For FRUIT PIE we partnered with Sweden-based Elmeleven to create a sour based on a traditional berry & cherry pie. Combining cherries, blackberries, and blueberries creates a sharp forest fruit tartness. The addition of oats and lactose provides a well- rounded mouth-feel, whilst vanilla and cinnamon add to this classic pie recipe.
RUM SUNDAE is a creation with another Swedish brewery, NERD, creating an imperial milk stout based on a classic rum & raisin sundae. With heaps of lactose and vanilla, we have created a milk stout which embodies a delicate ice cream flavour. This is balanced with a boozy shot of rum and a juicy raisin finish.
PLUM CAKE, made in partnership with Poland-based Funky Fluid, is a sour beer based on a traditional plum cake recipe. With heaps of fresh plums, we have created a sour which imparts a sharp and juicy stone fruit flavour. The addition of oats provides a well-rounded mouthfeel, whilst extra vanilla adds a luxurious sweetness to our dessert inspired sour.
Lastly we got together again with Funky Fluid to create COFFEE BAKE – a stout based on a traditional coffee cake recipe. With a huge malt bill, our stout recipe has a bold imperial base which imparts notes of coffee. Heaps of brown sugar and the final addition of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg help to complete the flavour notes of our traditional coffee cake stout.
Let’s take a closer look. We spoke to Lee Grabham, Co-founder and Production Director at Brew York, to dig a little deeper into the thinking and making of the Showstopper Series.
Q: So Lee, tell us – which of the four beers are you most excited about and why?
That’s like asking me to pick my favourite child! I can’t pick one. I’m going to have two.
PLUM CAKE has been made using a co-ferment of two types of Lactobacillus (Plantarum and Brevis) and a form of Kveik Yeast called Valkyrie. I really love the complexity of the two lactos combined with the fruitiness of the Kveik yeast. Both work really well with the plums and other ingredients.
I’m also really excited by RUM SUNDAE as I love rum and raisin ice cream and bringing that flavour to a beer is something I’ve wanted to do since tasting Stu at North Riding’s Rum and Raisin Stout. We brewed this with NERD and they took the lead on the grain recipe which was a lot more roasted and caramel malts than we would normally go with but the results are great.
Q: All the beers in this series are a collaboration with breweries from Poland and Sweden. Tell us why you worked with these breweries and how we can expect to see their influence in these beers?
In short, respect and friendship. We’ve met Chad, Anders and Hannes from Molecules Brewing in Sweden (which comprises Chad, Elmeleven and NERD brewing all in one brewery) and beyond my love for their beers we just really got on with the guys. We therefore knew something great would come of working together so it was great to welcome Chad across to brew with us.
With Funky Fluid, I’m a huge fan of pastry sours and I research this style a lot so I became aware of their beers a few years ago. Unlike most collabs I didn’t have any mutual friends so I just reached out directly and asked if they would work with us. Thankfully they had heard of us and loved our beers also so then it was just a matter of when and what.
Q: Tell us a fact about the making of these beers that we might not realise?
Ok, here are some interesting snippets for you:
PLUM CAKE – Tonka is used in this style as it is very complimentary to plums. Plum (and other stone fruit pits) contain something called amygdalin which breaks down to hydrogen cyanide when digested. They can therefore be quite poisonous. However, when used in the right way their flavour is very almond/marzipan like, much like tonka, hence why this fits so well here.
COFFEE BAKE – Polish Coffee Cake is actually a non-coffee containing cake that would traditionally be consumed alongside coffee. We wanted to capture the whole experience so consulted Gregorz at Funky Fluid about what coffee to use and he said, “go for something classic and roasty, a good Brazilian blend should work well”.
We therefore sourced Brazilian Ipanema coffee which is exclusively prepared using bourbon variety cherry beans to give a noticeable acidity and floral overtone. We think it was worth the extra effort finding the right coffee for this beer!
RUM SUNDAE – This was the first time we had used a Kveik type yeast (Voss) to ferment a dark beer. This was done at the recommendation of Hannes at NERD Brewing. We kept the temperature down (<22C) and were very pleased with how clean the flavour is.
FRUIT PIE – This beer contains 700 kg of concentrated berry and cherry juice. This is equivalent to 2.8 tonnes of non concentrated fruit juice, which will have come from an unfathomable number of cherries, blackberries and blueberries. This amount of fruit makes this one of the most expensive beers we’ve ever made!
Q: There are two sours and two stouts in this series. Why were these styles chosen?
Mostly who you brew with governs the styles of beers you make. NERD are known for massive stouts, Elmeleven are known for bold pastry sours and Funky Fluid are masters of both. It’s also no secret that we are pretty strong in these areas so what we were destined to make together was written in the stars!
Q: If someone was considering buying all four of these to take to a festive party, what sort of food would you recommend pairing them with?
Good question. I think the easiest one is COFFEE BAKE. Get a nice Polish Coffee Cake and consume this alongside this one for an authentic Polish experience.
For PLUM CAKE I think because of the tonka having a marzipan-like character it’s perfect this time of year. I would pair it with a nice Christmas cake or perhaps even better some nice Stollen.
For FRUIT PIE, as we know all good pies need to be served with custard. What better way to do this than by consuming alongside a seasonal favourite, Eggnog Pie (basically the classic milk punch turned into pie form).
Finally for RUM SUNDAE, cheese works really well with rum in the same way it would with red wine. This beer is quite boldly flavoured though so you are going to need something that can stand up to it. As much as I love blue cheese, you need something sweeter and robust here. A nice Gouda, Manchego or maybe even a nutty Gruyere should work well.
Are your taste buds tingling yet? We are so excited for you to try these beers and we hope you can taste the labour of love (and tonnes of fruit!) that went into them.
They are limited edition, available as individual cans or as a 4-pack while stocks last!