Meet The Brewer: Phil Saltonstall (Brass Castle Brewery)

Meet the Brewer returns again this week wtih another Yorkshire Brewery and not just any brewery it’s a NanoBrewery.

What is your Brewery name and where did it come from?
Brass Castle Brewery – it’s located on Brass Castle Hill in Pocklington, East Yorks

What is your brewery capacity?
1 bbl nanobrewery.

What is different about your brewery?
We are an all-cask ale nanobrewery based inside a listed building in the heart of Pocklington..

The most significant novelty is that all of our cask ales are vegan/vegetarian. No fish in our beers!

How long have you been brewing for?
About 17 years – but only 2 of those ‘professionally’.

Phil enjoying an Ale

How did you get into brewing?
I was a long time homebrewer, worked for a time at a brewery in Princeton USA, and finally took a course at Brewlab in Sunderland to ready myself for brewing commercially.

What beers do you brew regularly?
Our ‘Best’ beer is what they would term ‘ordinary bitter’ in the US, although we’ve twisted the malt bill around a little.

Our ‘Cliffhanger’ is a hop-forward golden ale, dedicated to the work of volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams.

What special/seasonal beers do you brew?
At this early stage, just a vanilla robust porter – brewed for hallowe’en and called ‘Bad Kitty’. (We have a few of those in our brewery.)

Where do you think the future of brewing lies?
Not sure, but I hope in the celebration of flavoursome local ales.

Do you bottle/keg/cask your beer?
All cask. Though we hope to join with local off-licences to allow our beer to be sold by them on draught into 4/8 pint containers.

What is your proudest moment in brewing?
Any time someone says they like my beer – and more importantly, goes back for more.

Do you have any brewing regrets?
Not yet.

What is your brewing ambition?
To find our beer in a bar where I didn’t expect to see it.

What was last beer you drank?
White Horse – Village Idiot. Last night, and it seemed appropriate.

What is your favourite hop?
Amarillo. Just amazing aroma.

What is your favourite beer/food combo?
Pale ale with onion rings. Or Russian Imperial Stout with vegan vanilla ice cream.

Do you have a Brewing hero/inspiration?
Any other small-scale microbrewer.

If you could brew one collaboration beer with someone who would it be with and what would it be?
An IPA – with the original inventors of the type.

How do you spend your time when you aren’t brewing?
I’m a full time Coastguard. And I go sailing.

If you could have one superhero superpower what would it be?
Time travel

Thanks to Phil for completing our meet the brewer, please visit his website at www.brasscastlebrewery.co.uk  and follow him on twitter using @BrassCastleBeer

If there are any brewers reading this who want to take part them please drop me a line.