After Party!

Not content with one beer festival next weekend I had the stupid notion of laying on an after party for you. Andrew from the Bottle Shop is just as idiotic as me and by the time we hooked with Toby from Age & Sons it was a done deal. So rather than relax after Planet Thanet finishes I've just found several days hard work to do instead.

Age & Sons is a rather upmarket, down to earth restaurant in the middle of Ramsgate with a fine vaulted basement perfect for a mini gathering of beery boys & girls. Toby trained under Heston and produces innovative and tasty grub, a perfect match for the innovative and tasty beers we're serving next weekend. Don't expect the usual though - Andrew and I have sourced some weird and wonderful brews from the UK and abroad.

Kick off time is 9pm, just as Planet Thanet has wound down, and we'll be serving until 2am the following morning. Then it's all day Sunday in sun. This will be a relaxed, intimate affair, quite possibly descending into chaos if I don't get some organising down in the next day or two. Do come along, it'll be fun.

Low & Behold!

Our protest brew (the world's first I reckon, though I'm probably wrong) is now in the cask and after a snifter this morning I'm beginning to feel relief, of a sort. Brewed last Tuesday with Wantsum James, Gray the Dray & Little Ruth (safe there - she don't read this) it began its journey to life in traumatic circumstances: unproven malt recipe, way out mash temperature, psychotic temperature probe and untested hopping rates all conspired to dump our baby into a decidedly unpredictable fermentation environment. I've been a little bi-polar all week as a result but I reckon we might just get away with this one.

Come to Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival, taste the results and tell me I'm wrong.

And if you're a ratebeer rater, rate it, please!

Low & Behold!

OK, beers at 2.8% are not renown for their depth of flavour and complexity. Nor are they famous for being stunningly satisfying. 'Refreshing' is about the best it gets. Me and my mate Wantsum James are setting out to challenge these notions - we've been cocky enough to circulate a rumour suggesting that we already know a thing or two, and that Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival is in for a treat.

The sad truth is far from it though: we began test brewing two months ago using ass brewer Mr Stow's garden shed set up to challenge ideas and techniques. It began well and by version 2.83 we were nearing our target of a tasty low strength beer. However, versions 2.84, 2.85 and 2.86 veered off on a tangent and left us further from the bullseye than our starting point. We've run out of time now and have to make a few leaps of faith, cross our fingers and give it a whirl.

I've spoken to various brewers across the country looking for tips and techniques as yet undiscovered. Thornbridge advised on water treatment (crucial in such a delicate beer), Brew Wharf on high temperature mashing (this helps create non-fermentable sugars essential for body) and Redemption on hops (a major player in the flavour game). It's all helped give us direction, and it's great to chat, but we're on our own from 7:30am tomorrow.

Will it work? I don't know - one or two of our test brews almost did, and one or two really did not. I'll know for sure, one way or another, in ten days time and you, dear reader, will know on Friday 22nd April when you hit the festival.

Look out for 'Low & Behold' - it's got to be worth a go, if only to see me fail.

I keep doing this, setting myself stupid challenges in some kind of effort to push boundaries. Truth is it just gets me stressed out. I might have to stop and return to brewing brown bitter, though even that's stressful sometimes. I need a holiday.