This weeks Meet The Brewer comes from Jon over at Stringers Beer (or Stringers – no apostrophe), who are based over in beautiful Cumbria and make some cracking beers.
They have some great branding and their casks are bright yellow and purple so what’s not to like!
What is your brewery capacity?
A minuscule 11 barrels or so per week. But we’re prepared to expand a little. Or even a bit more.
What is different about your brewery?
All the power used in our brewery is 100% renewable electricity, from wind, wave, small scale hydro and solar power. Oh, and muscle power.
How long have you been brewing for?
Commercially, since July 2008.
How did you get into brewing?
I started out as a home-brewer, after a pal gave me all his home-brew stuff when he went off the booze. I was brewing in the kitchen for about 3 years.
What beers do you brew regularly?
We always have the “No.2 Stoutâ€, the “Best Bitterâ€, “West Coast Blond†and “Dark Countryâ€. We had been doing a light ale called “Goldenâ€, which we were trying to retire, but some of our customers are missing it, so we’re probably going to bring it back.
What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
We try to have a low abv special and a stronger one on all the time. So this summer we’ve had “Sunbird†(pale, 4%) and “Victoria†(IPA, 5.5%). We’ve also done the 6.5% extensively hopped “Hop Priestâ€. Starting in November we have the sparingly hopped, lightly spiced, but dry, “Genuine Stunning†again, and we have a strong stouty thing on for the depths of winter – last year it was “Black Flag†(8.8%) – this year we topped that a bit with “Mutiny†(9.3%).
Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
More of the same. The big operations must carry on doing what keeps their shareholders happy – which probably requires product be secondary to marketing. The independent sector will produce hundreds of interesting beers, but apart from one or two, they’ll remain more-or-less secret – as far as the mass market goes. And that’s mainly down to issues with market access.
What is you proudest moment in brewing?
That would be when we got the 2nd gyle out of our current little plant. That was the first “No. 2 Stoutâ€. We knew then that we could make a beer good enough to stand up against anything else on the bar. Of course, it doesn’t always work first time.
Do you have any brewing regrets?
I wish I’d got into it sooner.
What was last beer you drank?
Yates XB.
What is your favourite hop?
Northern Brewer. It’s our “go-to†bittering hop. And it leaves a nice herbal note all the way to the end.
What is your brewing ambition?
To make more beer. I’ve got a list of beers I can’t find time to make.
Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
No. We’re all heroes.
If you could brew one colab beer what would it be and who would it be with?
I’d like to brew at Furness Abbey in the 15th century. I suspect it would be something strong and strange. And heavily contaminated with lead.
Which beer do you wish you had brewed?
I don’t wish I’d brewed any beer that someone else has already done. I want to make my own beer.
Favourite hobby outside of brewing?
No time for hobbies.
If you had one superhero superpower what would it be?
Super-human liver.
Anything else you want to tell us?
Buy more proper beer. All of you. Do it now.
Thanks To Jon for filling this in, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did when it arrived in my inbox, you can visit the stringers website here (where you can also buy some beer), follow Stringers on twitter here or read their rather good blog here.
