In search of Number One

Remember the barley wine we made last month? And how we split the gyle to create two distinct beers, one well hopped and the other barrel aged? You do? Then you'll also recall I named it 'Gadds' Number One' - well that was an unfortunate premature designation ("it's never happened before") since I've changed my mind. We're bottling the well hopped version this morning and it's a fairly fulsome taste-bud blowing beer, so way out that it doesn't fit its initial moniker - I think we'll call it 'Oooks'. (Take some time to think about that).

And I've just had a tasting of the barrel aged version with the Beer Merchant - 'awesome' was the considered verdict and who am I to disagree with such a broadly travelled beer expert? We'll be bottling that this coming week too and it ought to be on the shelves by mid-May. Lovely. But an oaky vinous barley wine Gadds' Number One ain't; our style is largely straightforward and since both these beers are heavily complex neither is a true reflection of who we are.

So the hunt for Gadds' Number One continues unabated.