Sell Me Ishmael - Introducing Up Front Brewing

It was inevitable that brewer Jake Griffin would one day launch his own brewery. It was just a matter of where, when, who and what. 

Brewer Jake Griffin on tour!

Up Front Brewing launched in Glasgow in March this year, unleashing two great beers - Ishmael IPA and Ahab stout - at the Inn Deep pub in Kelvinbridge. They sold out in a couple of days.

In fact, his first batch of kegs sold out quickly pretty much everywhere they went, such was the strength of Jake’s reputation, and indeed the growing praise for Ahab and Ishmael.  

Jake Griffin made a name for himself in 2012 when he and his pal Chris Lewis (who’s just set up his own Dead End Brew Machine) won a homebrew contest, organised by the Institute of Brewing & Distilling, with their brain-melting Zombier porter. The beer raised eyebrows and secured Jake a stint at Fyne Ales. The Argyll brewery also went on to unleash the beer to an eager public. 

A few years later and Jake graduated to become head brewer at Drygate, though the plans for his own brewery had clearly been fermenting for quite some time. 

Rather than regarding his a rival, his current employers are fully supportive - Up Front is based out of Drygate, and Jake has a canning contract with Williams Brothers of Alloa (who part-own Drygate). In fact, Drygate is home to a few other “gypsy” breweries - Floodline, Monolith and Heidrun.

Jake’s also working on sorting out a national distribution deal, and the ambitious brewer is this weekend transporting 500 of his cans down to Bristol for the Festival of Apathy, organised by artist Stanley Donwood, the man behind pretty much all of Radiohead’s artwork. Jake’s also hoping to get along to a few beer festivals closer to home, assuming he can get the time off!

Donwood also happens to be the man who designed Up Front’s labels (how Jake and Stanley met is a story in itself by the way). His labels are distinctive and beautiful - sweeping black and light lines of an angry sea surround the titular characters. See below of pics. 

But how do they taste? Having missed the launch, I picked up a couple of Up Front’s cans from newly opened beer shop Grunting Growler in Finnieston.

Ahab is a smooth, rich and multi-layered stout with heaps of fruity US hop flavours smoothly balanced against black coffee, roasted and chocolate notes, with some sweetness and a wee bit of smokiness there too. At 6%, Ahab stout is easy to drink, waxy, medium bodied and full of flavour and character. And it’s black dark like the fatal captain’s own watery tomb.   

In contrast, Jake’s other launch beer was Ishmael. A hearty US-style IPA, also 6%, that pours a glowing amber with a thick white head. Again, Jake’s gone for hefty amounts of American hops, with grapefruit, tangerine and resin flavours all singing out. A clean, robust toffee-like malt backbone remains like an anchor. Ishmael IPA is lively and big of character, with a long-lasting finish that, like the poor sailor himself, stays with you until the bitter end. 

http://www.upfrontbrewing.com/

Beer Review: Loch Lomond Silkie Stout - Champion Cask Beer of Scotland

Silkie Stout by Loch Lomond Brewery

What a result for Fiona and Euan MacEachern and the team at Loch Lomond Brewery! The Alexandria-based brewery took four golds and the Champion Cask Beer of Scotland prize at last week's SIBA Scotland beer contest. 

The bash took place at in Glasgow's Drygate, and while Fiona admits to having had an underlying optimism about Silkie Stout given its consistently good feedback, in no way were she and her team prepared for such a hefty haul. Their superb Silkie Stout, which won the Champion Cask Beer of Scotland, was picked out from more than 100 beers from 36 breweries.

It’s a brilliant result for the Alexandria-based brewery, which only launched in 2011. In the four years since, they’ve built a reputation for consistently good beer that caters to both traditional drinkers (see Silkie Stout and their 80/- Kessog), and hop-lovers (try gold winners Bravehop IPA and Southern Summit). 

It’s also a huge thumbs-up from those in the trade. The 50 or so judges at the Society of Independent Brewers event included brewers, bar owners, hoteliers, bloggers and other assorted beer lovers. It was, says Fiona, “just fantastic”, to get this sort of recognition from such a large swathe of industry peers. It also gives Loch Lomond a solid platform from which to develop their “massive plans for the brewery” over the next couple of years.

Taking silver overall was Seven Peaks Mosaic IPA, brewed by Drygate’s Jake Griffin. After honing his brewing skills at Fyne Ales, he must have been delighted to have seen off their classic Jarl, a ubiquitous presence in winner’s lists at beer festivals. Jarl took bronze overall, gold in the Standard Bitters and Pale Ale round and gold in the Champion bottled beer category.

The winners of each heat go through to the UK-wide Beer X bash in Sheffield in March.

Six Gold Winning Beers

Silkie Stout by Loch Lomond Brewery (5%)

Sweet and smooth with aromas of coffee and chocolate, Scotland’s champion cask ale also has hints of dark berries, caramel and liquorice. Easy to drink it’s also sufficiently layered to please the beer geeks. The long, dry finish will have you coming back for more.

Seven Peaks Mosaic IPA by Drygate Brewery (5%)

Winner of the Strong Bitters and Pale Ales round, Seven Peaks takes its name from the jaggy roof of the Drygate building. It’s a belter of an IPA; heavy on the hops with heaps of tropical fruits – melon, peach and citrus - from the titular mosaic hops. Finishes bitter with a bit of caramel malt helping to round it off.

Jarl by Fyne Ales (3.8%)

If Jarl were a person this golden-coloured ale would surely be crushed under the weight of prizes heaped upon what is one of Scotland’s most popular beers. It’s crisp, clean and refreshing, with citrus and floral hops to the front. Its Imperial big brother Ragnorak (7.4%) won gold in the Premium Strong round.

Weizen by Windswept Brewing Co (5.2%)

Windswept’s take on the German style hefeweizen won the SIBA Speciality Beer round. Flavours of caramel malt and earthy citrus, as well as an inviting combination of banana and cloves, typical of the wheat beer style.

Pale Ale by Swannay Brewery (4.7%)

More amber than pale, Swannay’s prize-winning ale took the Gold for Premium Bitters and Pale Ales. It’s a citrus hop-forward beer, with a rich aroma that also carries pine and floral notes. Held together marvellously by a sweet biscuit-flavoured malt that leads you to a balanced bitter finish.

Fathom by Jaw Brew (4.0%)

Fathom won the Standard Mild Ales & Brown Ales, and pours the colour of coal black, with just a hint of colour coming through. Flavours of coffee, smoke, treacle and dark berries in this waxy and malt-heavy brew.

Vestan West Coast IPA by Heidrun Brewing Co/Drygate

Vestan West Coast IPA 6% by Heidrun Brewing Co.

Rather than having a Dry- or a Tryanuary I've gone vegan for a month.

Beer-wise, having a Veganuary means being a little bit more discerning about what you fill your glass with. Beers that use isinglass, or finings, are out. (Isinglass is derived from dried fish bladder and is used to help filter out the small particles of dead yeast left over from the fermentation process.) Bottle-conditioned craft beers are a fairly safe bet for vegans; mass-produced beers and cask ales less so.

Vestan West Coast IPA is one such vegan-friendly beer, and hails from the Drygate Brewery in Glasgow under the Heidrun label. Bottle conditioned, this powerful IPA proclaims its vegan, unfiltered status on its lo-fi branding, something more breweries ought to consider.

The aroma on Vestan carries a big resin and pineapple hit, thanks to the hefty helpings of Simcoe and Amarillo hops, both hugely popular in American IPAs.

Unlike many IPAs though, Vestan West Coast IPA pours very cloudy and has little carbonation, much like a cask ale. The first taste is a headrush of pine and pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine and new leather, and there is a long, long-lasting bitterness that carries with it hints of pepperiness. At 6%, Vestan is a big, bold and brooding pint, one that's more suited for sharing than for sessions.

Reflections

So it turns out I'm not off the drink at all. Turns out You were right, I was talking rubbish.

Lasted until Monday, when I headed on down to the Print Works in Glasgow to check out the artwork to go with the Williams Brothers venture at Drygate in the city's plush east end. Better beer blog thebeercast did a write up, and so did the Creative Review. I thought the artworks were brilliant, mostly. The lager good; the IPA fantastic; and the apple ale ... well, it wasn't for me.

Anyhow, guess what! Turns out I'm really not off the drink at all whatsoever. Thursday I headed down to Stereo which was once a top pub in the west end that did a fabby night called Dub and Grub, which was just that. This Stereo's near Central Station but has a cool, hipster vibe. I noised up the poor barman and tried some naff celebrity I-Ken-You chat with boardgame geek and comedian Rab Florence.

And guess what! Turns out I ain't off the homebrew either. Right now I'm drinking my very last Reflection, the third beer I ever made and until V for Victory, the best. I think it's gone off a bit but it's still a solid pint. Bit twangy, yet still carries loads of flavour. Reflection was the brew that made me realise how easy it is to brew it yourself. And I kinda love it for that.

Anyhow, guess what! Turns out I ain't off the homebrewing at all. As I'm writing this I've a can of Cooper's Light Malt Extract bubbling away with a whole load of Cascade hops. Have been for almost 45 minutes. Once done I'm going to cool it quickly in a cold bath then add it to a Cooper's Premium IPA, my first (flawed) kit. I'm going to throw in some Liberty hops for the fermentation too. That'll (hopefully) give it plenty of flavour and aroma, while the boiled up Cascade will (hopefully) have upped the bitterness substantially. Wasn't the original plan, but I stumbled into the homebrew store Inn House Brewery and met Scott Williams, gave him some naff celebrity I-Dinnae- Ken-You chat then nodded sagaciously while he talked about isomerisation, the meaning of which I know not. Also got to see the very, very funky labels from the Drygate brewery I mentioned at the start of this post which brings me nicely to the end of this post cause that's my 45 minutes up.