Blackpit Times - Early 2020

Volume 3 - Early 2020
Stick ‘em up punk
Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ front-man, Huey Morgan,
hits the decks at The Festival of Beer. Review inside.
Collaborations: Duncan reflects on our collaboration
brew with Rivington Brewing Co. from Lancashire
Plus pub reviews, delis and much more!

Top: Duncan, Oly & Ben give a talk on ‘How not to start a brewery’ at this year’s The Festival of Beer
Right: Duncan, Oly & Ben in a school photo, circa 1996

Welcome!
With more than eighty years of friendship
between us, we’ve shared a memory or two.
A few of which may have started with a pint!
For us, the art of ‘going for a pint’ has so many
benefits: relaxing, laughing, talking problems over
with friends, ignoring work and forgetting the
ubiquitous smart-phone.
With pubs shutting at an alarming rate and the
conversation around mental-health becoming
ever-so prevalent, isn’t it more important than ever
that we head out and pick up our pint glasses in
order to relax, forget our troubles and enjoy one
another’s company? Well, at least that’s a good
excuse for a pint anyway!
Cheers!
Duncan, Oly & Ben
BUILT BY HAND,
MADE WITH FRIENDS.
B L A C K P I T

A lovely country pub
The Green Man
Earlier this year, Oly and I had the
pleasure of visiting The Green man
in Eversholt. The reason? A meeting
with Tin Pot Theatre company to
discuss ideas for this year’s bonfire
night at the brewery! Not needing
a second excuse to visit a pub we
headed over after work with the
comfort of knowing the pub had
Cloud Nine as a permanent beer.
They say it’s the people that make a good
pub and that is certainly the case with The
Green Man. Upon entering we were greeted
by a group of familiar faces sitting at one of
the tables enjoying an early dinner. There’s
no better feeling than bumping into friends
unexpectedly especially when you’re a fair
distance from home!
After a quick catch up, we made our way to
the bar and were greeted with a warm and
friendly welcome from Becks the bar manager
and her team of staff. The scene was set
before we had even looked at the food menu
and had it not been a Tuesday night there
would have been a strong chance Oly and I
would not have been seen at home again until
the morning!

Candice Brown, winner of
the Great British Bake-Off,
pours a pint in her pub, The
Green Man, that she owns
with her brother, Ben.
Candice is a proud
supporter of the ‘Long Live
the Local’ campaign to help
keep Britain’s locals open.
She also has Blackpit on
permanently!

Oly opted for the
minted lamb steaks with
butternut puree, whilst
Ben had a fillet steak.
The pub is owned and run by Candice
Brown, winner of The Great British Bake-off
2016 and her brother Ben. Both have an
active and hands-on role with the running
of the pub and it really shows. There’s a real
community feel to the pub and given it was
a Tuesday night it was hugely warming to see
it so busy!
The place is billed as serving great pub grub,
however this is almost an injustice to the
creative and tasty menu on offer. We kicked
things off with a portion of pork belly bites
to share which had been recommended to us
earlier in the evening by Candice’s husband
Liam. I am not exaggerating when I say
these were the best bites I’ve ever tasted!
Seasoned perfectly and amazingly tender.
Oly then opted for the minted lamb steaks
with Butternut squash Puree whilst I kept it
simple with a fillet steak. I have to admit I
was a little jealous when Oly’s plate arrived
and this jealously only intensified when he
confirmed that the dish was pretty special!
My jealously did subside however when I
tasted the steak. It was cooked beautifully
and the other flavours from the blue
cheese stuffed mushroom and garlic butter
complimented the steak brilliantly.
All the desserts are inspired by none other
than Candice herself and it doesn’t need me
to tell you how good these are!

The Green Man from
outside - it’s a lovely
looking pub!

We’d thoroughly
recommend these
pork-belly bites
Whilst we didn’t have a bottle
of wine, a quick glance of the
wine list demonstrated a well
thought out and extensive
range of wines from all the
popular regions. Sauvignons
from Marlborough and
Malbecs from Argentina
with the odd belter such as
a Beaune 1er Cru from the
Burgundy region.
In summary, this is a pub you
can see yourself stopping at
for a quick half and bite to
eat at lunchtime only to find
yourself there many pints later
ready for dinner; Something
Oly, Duncan and Myself have
all enjoyed doing on more
than one occasion!
Ben,
Director
Left to right:
Oly, Candice & Ben pose for a
photo, at The Festival of Beer,
following Candice’s talk about
growing up in pubs and baking
with beer!
Visit:
The Green Man,
Church End, Eversholt,
Milton Keynes, MK17 9DU.
01525 288111
greenmanpub.org
longlivethelocal.pub

B R E W E R Y
MEMBERSHIP
Brewery memberships include lots
of perks but it’s really about being
part of something, especially at the
beginning of Blackpit... members
can truly say “I helped build this”.
What’s in the presentation box:
12 months membership
£20 off events
£5 joining / renewal gift
3 x Members’ nights for you +1
10% off in the taproom
Blackpit pin badge
Membership Card
Annual Cost:
£50 (auto-renewal)
Joining Gift
To give you a warm welcome,
when you sign up or renew, you’ll
recieve a £5 gift voucher to spend
on merchandise in the taproom.
We aren’t specifying what to buy,
you’ll look dapper regardless!
Members’ Evenings
There are 3 members’ evenings
per year with free beer for you
plus one. Oh, and we’ll put on
some nibbles too! Evenings vary in
content: we’ve had cheese & beer
pairing nights, other breweries
talking about their beer and nights
where we’ve released our new
beers.
Money off Paid Events -
Members receive £20 worth of
vouchers to use towards tickets
at The Fireworks or The Festival
of Beer.
10% off in the taproom
The taproom is open most Fridays
and, as a member, you’ll recieve
10% off any drinks you order and
pay for. Just show your member’s
card!
Giving as a Present?
Memberships are great presents for
beer lovers; they come in a slick
black presentation case with the
gift voucher and pin-badge inside,
plus the all important Blackpit
member’s card!
Buy online at:
blackpitbrewery.co.uk

HOW TO BUY:
Available as individual bottles,
cases of 12 or in gift-packs. Order
online at blackpitbrewery.co.uk
and collect from our taproom or
from one of the regular stockists.
Also available for trade, please
contact sales for more info:
sales@blackpitbrewery.co.uk
REGULAR STOCKISTS
Beerfly
Bedford
Beer Guerrilla
Northampton
Buckingham Garden Centre
Buckingham
Duncan Murray Wines
M. Harborough
St Giles Cheese
Northampton
T.E. Brown Butchers
Rushden
The Deli at Castle Ashby
Castle Ashby
Wild Leaf
Olney

WHICH BEER?
Cloud Nine - Zesty Blonde Ale, 3.9%
Great served chilled from the fridge.
Light & slightly fizzy, great with seafood.
Loosehead - Golden Ale, 4.2%
A very easy drinking ale; great with
almost anything... especially rugby on
the TV!
Goshawk - Chestnut Ale, 4.4%
Deliciously dark and malty; great with
any hearty meal or for cooking stews.
Day Tripper - Pale Ale, 3.8%
A deliciously easy drinking session beer
that packs a fruity punch.
Sky Rocket - Modern English IPA,
5.0% - Dangerously quaffable; perfectly
paired with red meat and great in a
steak & ale pie.

Deli-icous
Ever felt like you’ve stepped back in time? Drive
through Castle Ashby and you’ll definitely feel like
you have! It’s a beautiful place for a day out with
a lovely stately home (that includes a menagerie!)
and now, the recently re-vamped Deli.
The Deli offers everything from artisan sweets
to cheese, even locally sourced meat. There’s
delicious homemade sausage rolls and you can
‘eat-in’ with a cup of tea… or they serve beer too!
New owner, Helen, told us their scotch-eggs aren’t
made in-house because she can’t make them as
well as her supplier; sound defeatist? Well, he also
supplies Blenheim Palace as well as Fortnum &
Masons! Now, there’s a reason to pop out, if ever I
heard one... especially as they stock Blackpit!
Take a visit:
The Old Farmyard, Castle Ashby,
Northampton, NN7 1LF
A few more Delis we recommend:
St. Giles Cheese House, Northampton Wild Leaf, Olney The Shop, North Marston

The Deli at Castle Ashby
is full of delights. Have a look
at their website and Facebook
page for special events.
www.thelarderdeli.co.uk

Oh what
A LOVELY DAY WEEKEND
This year’s Festival of Beer
saw everything from canoeing to a
cricket match with a pitch invasion of
T-Rexes... not really a ‘normal’ festival.
The campsite opened on Friday afternoon and
festival-goers started arriving in anticipation of
The Festival of Beer getting into full swing on
Saturday & Sunday.
We upped the ante this year with two full days
of programming; a strong music line-up that was
punctuated with lots of nuggets of fun. Pig racing
kicked off proceedings on Saturday morning
whilst a few brave souls went swimming in the
lake to remove their hang-overs from having a few
too many in the taproom on Friday Night!
Voted 17th best thing to do in London, by
Timeout, is The Bullsh*t Tour, where comedian
Reuben takes you on a walking tour, reciting sitespecific
facts that may or may not be complete
rubbish. So, we thought it only apt that Reuben

Clockwise from top left: freshly made coffee, festival-goers getting into the swing with leder-hosen, the brewery courtyard saw a variety of beer from local
producers and the busking stage, Warner’s Gin was on offer in their Gin-Tipi, laughing in the courtyard, and watersports on the lake.

Clockwise from top left: handmade signs adorned the event, enjoying the gin, Huey Morgan mid-flow of his DJ set, YES! it’s the busking stage in the courtyard,
the Bull Sh*t Tour, Chilli eaters feeling the heat. Opposite top to bottom: Loco-Cricket at the foot of the Ferris Wheel and crowds enjoying the chilli eating.

came and wrote a tour specific
to the Beer Festival and got
everyone laughing whilst
meandering through the site.
Alongside this, on Saturday, was
the Tin-Pot Theatre Company
with their interactive piece, in
the woods, not to mention a
Chill-Eating Competition at the
same time that Candice Brown
(Winner of the Great British
Bake-Off) made a speech on the
‘Beer Talks’ Stage. We danced
into the night, at the Woodland
Stage, until 2am… then it was
time for a short sleep!
Bloody Marys nursed everyone’s
heads whilst the Blackpit XI
took on Buckingham in a game
of Loco-Cricket, complete with
pitch invasions from Gorillas
and comedic commentary by
David Botham, love child of
David Gower and Ian Botham –
or at least that’s what he told us!
For the super early-birds, there
was yoga in the woods (with
Asha Yoga) and canoeing on
the lake. Music curated by
Whispering Bob Harris adorned
the main stage and the last
set, to end the event, saw The
Ouse Valley Singles Club get
everyone dancing in the brewery
courtyard.
Warner’s provided gin lovers
with expertly made G&Ts and
cocktails as well as gin-tasting
sessions on the Talks Stage
whilst cider lovers where given
some very special local cider by
Saxbys.
Oh, and there was beer too!
Brookyln shipped in some very
special beers, from their cellar in
New York, that had never been
tried in the UK and St. Austell
gave us a taste of Cornwall with
their Korev English Lager plus
paddle boarding on the lake.
Plans for 2020 are already
underway. It’s going to be bigger
and better, so best grab your
tickets quick!
More info & tickets:
thefestivalofbeer.co.uk

- Z E S T Y B L O N D E A L E -

The Core Range
Always available in cask;
perfect permanent-pump beers!
GOSHAWK
CLOUD NINE
3.9% ABV 4.1% ABV
Zesty Blonde Ale
Premium Ale
Light, bright and blonde - a
seriously refreshing beer which is
quintessentially quaffable!
There’s lemon zest and pine kernels
mingling with the barley grains and
brightly flavoured hops, all you have to
do is take yourself there!
A Chestnut Brown Bitter which is
dark and earthy, broad and brooding.
A real block-buster built on a solid
platform of earthy hops and dark
chocolatey roasted grains. Malty,
mysterious and muscular - a big
mouthful and immensely satisfying.
“making beers we all love to drink”
There’s nothing better than walking into a pub for a quick pint and
leaving having had a few more! Our Core Range is a nod to just that;
seriously great tasting session beers that are easily quaffable, leaving you
with a real thirst for one more!
Ben - Director

bb-pump clips-170603.indd 4 08/06/2017 11:27
Seasonal Cask Range
Grab them quick! Our new seasonal beer menu
celebrates all that’s going on in the coming months...
LOOSEHEAD
Golden Ale
SKY ROCKET
Modern English IPA
5.0% ABV
DAY TRIPPER
Pale Ale
3.8% ABV
4.2% ABV A modern pale ale that packs a
Rugby and beer’s a great
combination! Loosehead’s a
clear winner with Rugby fans
especially whilst the season’s in
full swing!
A real wow! This beer won
two stars at the Great Taste
Awards. Our take on an
English IPA - at 5.0.% it’s
dangerously quaffable!
fruity punch with a suprisingly
low ABV for such a full
flavour beer. A easy drinking
session ale.

bb-pump clips-INDIAN INK colours 2.indd 1 25/04/2018 13:41
bb-pump clips-FOOLS GOLD v2.indd 2 28/11/2018 15:57
bb-pump clips-NEW LEAF.indd 3 02/01/2019 14:19
INDIAN INK FOOLS GOLD NEW LEAF
6.0% ABV 4.5% ABV
4.1% ABV
Black IPA
Golden Ale
Modern Dark Mild
This Black IPA is alarmingly
refreshing, with a good wallop
of hops, layers of roasted malt
and a depth of flavour that’s
hard to resist!
First released last Christmas,
Fools Gold sold out in 2
weeks. Hoppy and easy
drinking; a breath of fresh air
in the winter beer scene.
Rethink your perceptions of a
mild during; this is a modern
and seriously smooth beer that
anyone can get the taste for!
indian ink
- b l a c k i pa s i m c o e -
w i t h
a l c 6 . 0 % v o l
FOOLS GOLD
- G O L D E N S E A S O N A L A L E -
A L C 4 . 5 % V O L
NEW LEAF
- M O D E R N D A R K M I L D -
A L C 4 . 0 % V O L

BLACKPIT
X
RIVINGTON
COLLAB’
x

Fancy spending the day
with like-minded beer lovers,
conjuring up a brand new brew
to excite the taste buds?
Don’t mind if we do!
‘Collaboration brews’ (as they are
referred to in the post-craft beer
revolution) are now as commonplace
in the beer scene as beards on brewers.
They present the perfect opportunity
to share ideas & expertise and explore
new concepts utilising different
ingredients, techniques & brewing
styles. When brewers come together
because of shared ideals or common
interests, there is never a shortage of
ideas for new beers to be explored.

Back in late July, the Blackpit
team got together with our
friends at Rivington Brewing
Co to create an exciting new
beer to showcase at this year’s
Festival of Beer. For those
that are not familiar with
Rivington; these guys really
are experts in their craft.
Based out of the family dairy
farm in Lancashire, their
philosophy is about brewing
exciting modern styles of
craft beer, without taking
themselves too seriously.
Their beers are ace and they’ve
earned serious respect on the
craft beer scene.
Our focus at Blackpit has
always been on producing the
best quality session ales; beers
you can enjoy a few of, down
the pub, with your mates or
your dad! That being said,
craft beer is great and we’ve
always been keen to broaden
our horizons and experiment
with alternative styles.
So, what to brew? Firstly,
we needed to design a beer
to bridge the gap between
Blackpit and Rivington’s
brewing styles. Rivington
are experts in modern
‘hop-forward’ beers and the
Blackpit team were keen
to experiment with a new
style of Pale Ale. After a few
weeks of batting ideas about,
we finally came up with a
recipe that both teams were
really excited about… Enter
Blackpit / Rivington Festival
Pale!
Everything begins with water
and hop-forward beer styles
lend themselves to much
Duncan adds the aroma
hops, to the copper, at the
end of the boil.
Blackpit & Rivington at
the Festival of Beer 2018.
Left to right: Oly, Ben
Stubbs, Mick & Duncan...
Blackpit Ben was probably
at the bar buying shots!

softer water than our natural
water here at Blackpit. After
some research, we designed
a water profile using a range
of mineral supplements
to ‘soften’ our water. This
would allow the bold hop
flavours and aromas to really
shine through in the finished
product. Softening our water
is something we’d never tried
before and has produced
amazing results in subsequent
brews. Cheers for the headsup,
Team Rivington!
Next came malts & hops. We
settled on a base grist mix of
Maris Otter and Extra Pale
malts, with speciality malts
including Vienna, Crystal
150 and Carapils. This beer
was always going to be all
about the hops and we really
went to town; Columbus
(USA) to bitter, Amarillo
(USA), Centennial (USA)
and Columbus (USA) for
flavour/aroma, followed by
an absolutely massive bag of
Citra (USA) for the dry hop.
This hop mix gave us the
citrus and juicy tropical fruit
flavours we were going for.
We used a different technique
when adding the aroma hops
by re-circulating the wort to
cool it slightly before adding
the hops. This stopped too
much bitterness being stripped
out of the hops, allowing the
flavour and aroma to really
shine though.
Those familiar with Blackpit’s
beers will know that we
normally package our beer
into casks, rather than kegs.
Kegs are cask’s younger (and
slightly more technologically
advanced!) brother. The keg is
we’ve always been
keen to broaden
our horizons and
experiment with
alternative styles.
a vacuum whereby, even once
tapped, the beer never comes
into contact with oxygen
and therefore has a much
longer lifespan. The beer
is carbonated and kegs are

filled at -1 celsius to prevent
fobbing (foaming up). We
even had to add antifreeze to
our water coolers to make this
possible; it’s fair to say our
first foray into kegging was a
learning experience!
All in all, we think it worked
out ok… Festival Pale was the
biggest selling ‘craft’ beer at
the Festival of Beer this year
by quite a margin; not bad for
a first attempt! Hopefully you
got to try it at the Festival, if
not pop into the tap room as
we kept a couple of kegs back
especially!
We’d like to say a big
thank you to our friends at
Rivington. With 6 of us in
the Brewhouse all day and
beers the night before, we
had a great time whilst still
learning new techniques and
broadening our knowledge.
They say many hands make
light work and clearing up
after the days brewing was
no exception; we even had
time for a quick swim in the
lake to round off the day!
Safe to say we can’t wait
for the second ‘away’ leg
once the guys have finished
installing their spanking new
brewhouse and tap room in
the new year! To track their
progress or learn more about
Rivington Brewing Co, head
to rivingtonbrewing.co.uk
or follow them on social
channels.
Duncan
Blackpit Director
Further reading:
rivingtonbrewing.co.uk
thefestivalofbeer.co.uk
blackpitbrewery.co.uk
The Festival Pale, in all its
glory, being served at
The Festival of Beer

- How to buy -
Option
1
PUBLIC
Option
2
Option
3
Visit our online shop at:
www.blackpitbrewery.co.uk
Our shop’s online 24/7 with
home delivery or the option
to collect from the taproom
Come into our taproom
Open Fridays 4 - 8pm
Come in, try our beers and see
the brewery! Try on some merch
or buy bottles to take away
Pop into a pub or restaurant
serving one of our beers
Check out our social feeds
to see who’s selling what
Blackpit and when!
Step
1
Have a look at our beer
range in this magazine
TRADE
Step
2
Email our sales team:
sales@blackpitbrewery.co.uk
Step
3
Before you know it our van
will deliver to your door!
GET MORE
Facebook:
@blackpitbrewery
Instagram:
@blackpitbrewery
Email list, sign up at:
blackpitbrewery.co.uk
Find out who’s serving our beer, what events we’ve got coming up
and generally get more involved! Follow us on social and make sure you signup
to our email list for exclusive offers and first release of event tickets!

DAY
TRIPPER
O
3.8 O
PALE ALE
A deliciously easy drinking session beer that
packs a fruity punch. Available in cask & bottle.