Blackpit Times - Late 2018

Volume 1 - Winter 2018

Built by hand;
made with friends

Welcome!
In June 2017, after years of thought and months of
planning we finally poured our first pint of Blackpit; what
a great moment!
Blackpit is built by hand, our own hands. From knocking
down the original partition walls in our now open-plan
brew house to painting its walls.
We design our artwork in-house and each brew is lovingly
batch-brewed, by hand.
Visit our taproom and you’ll see walls clad with boards
we salvaged from an old barn and up-cycled wood tables,
built using re-purposed railway sleepers found on Blackpit
Estate.
For us Blackpit is made with friends; a slight play on
words but both sentiments are true... we went to school
together, and have 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!
So, please enjoy our first ever Blackpit Times; a little beeriodical
to let you know what we’re up to.
Cheers!
Ben, Oly & Duncan

Experiment-ale
As the old addage goes ‘nothing ventured nothing
gained’. We catch up with Duncan to discover what
the new ‘experimental series’ is all about...
Easy drinking session beers is
what we love to brew; these ales
are the staple of our range and will
continue to be so.
However, it’d be boring to rest on
our laurels; we need excitement,
energy and bigger ideas to push
the brewery forward.... this is
where the experimental series
comes in!
Previously we’ve been brewing
small-batch experimental beers on
our little 50 litre ‘Braumeister’ (a
German pilot plant) and these brews
have served us well... we (the closer
team) would all have a try of the
latest batch, discuss its merits and
whether the recipe was good enough
to scale-up to become our next
‘commercial brew’.
Then we thought; why are we just
trying these beers? Surely we should
be giving a voice to you, the folks

who are already drinking our
‘refined beers’... The Experimental
Series was born!
So far we’ve experimented with lots
of different beer styles, ranging from
Double IPAs to Blackberry Pilsner
plus a full range of different Wheat
Beers and even Dark Mild.
The 50 litre batch size means we can
experiment freely, without wasting
too many ingredients, but there’s
still plenty for our Tap Room locals
(aka…our guinea pigs!) to enjoy.
Earlier this year we set about
perfecting brews of dark Porters
& Milk Stouts. These beers
went on to form the basis of
our recent London-style Porter,
Night Vision and some of these
darker experiments featured at the
Banquet with Beer back in August.
Due to the size of each batch,
the beers we make as part of the
experimental series aren’t available
for sale to trade, but that’s more
reason to plan a visit to the
Taproom on a Friday to come and
have a taste!
Duncan

Wild Ones
We’d heard rumours of
hops growing wild, close
to Blackpit, and we’ve
finally found them!
Wild hops seem to have an ability to wrap themselves round
anything meaning harvesting can take a while!
Camera stops play as Lucy, Chief
hop collector, strikes a pose
Yep, just one mile from the
brewery, we’ve found hops
and not just a couple... a
whole bunch of them taking
over a hedgerow!
When our farming neighbour
first heard we were starting
a brewery, he remarked that
he knew there were hops
somewhere on his estate.
Well, with the great weather
they’ve really come out to play
and we’ve been out collecting
them in force!
Dan (our brewer) has already
put a whole heap of them
into a series of small-batch
‘experimental’ brews which
will be available in the
taproom between now and
Christmas.
We’ve also sent the hops
off for testing, to find out
their heritage. Rumour has
it that the pasture-land next
to the hedgerow (where
we found our hops) was
originally a hop-garden for
Luffield Abbey; you can still
see ground-markings where
monks would have flooded
the field to protect the hops
from frost. Luffield Abbey is
now long gone but remains
are rumoured to be found at
our neighbour’s, Silverstone
Circuit, hence their famous
‘Luffield’ Corner.
This is an experiment but,
if it works well, you’ll see a
lot more local hops in our
brews... we’ve just got to wait
for the next hop-harvest!
Lucy

Have you got the bottle ?
Bottled beer’s great: drink it at home, take it to
your friends or sup it after a hard day’s work!
Either which way it’s there when you want (or
need) it!
NEW
Available as individual bottles, cases of 12 or
in gift-packs of either 3 or 4 bottles. Buy online
at blackpitbrewery.co.uk and collect from the
taproom on a Friday to save on postage. Also
available to trade customers - please contact
martin@blackpitbrewery.co.uk for more info.
Cloud Nine - Zesty Blonde Ale, 3.9% ABV
Great served chilled from the fridge. Light &
slightly fizzy, this bottle is great with fish.
Goshawk - Chestnut Ale, 4.4% ABV
Deliciously dark and malty; great with any
hearty winter meal or for cooking stews.
Loosehead - Golden Ale, 4.2% ABV
A very easy drinking ale; great with almost
anything... especially rugby on the TV!
Sky rocket - Modern English IPA, 5.5% ABV
Dangerously quaffable; perfectly paired with red
meat and great in (or with) a steak & ale pie.
Night Vision - Porter, 4.7% ABV
Night Vision sold out instantly at the Festival
of Beer; a highly drinkable dark ale! Fantastic
when drunk with strong cheese, like Stilton.

Festival Feeling...
August saw our first ever ‘Festival of Beer’ hosted at
Blackpit; from secret woodland bars to a genuine Baravian
drinking lodge, Oly explains more...
Relaxing over a drink with your friends and
family; what could be better!
We wanted to start an event that encompassed
great quality beer, delicious food with a hint of
music festival; this is everything we love and
it turns out so did the fifteen-hundred revellers
who attended our inaugural ‘Festival of Beer’.
We invited a selection of breweries from our
nearest neighbours (Towcester Mill Brewery)
to friends from further afield; Bath Ales came
with a slick aluminium airstream to serve their
new lager, Sulis, and Erdinger (Germany) built
a traditional Bavarian drinking lodge complete
with Lederhosen and Steins!
The idea of this ‘open’ format, inviting other
breweries onto our patch might seem like
commercial suicide, so why bother? Well, we
love beer and this event is about beer... we’d
be lying if we said we weren’t fans of all types
of beer, including beer from other breweries!
Rather than racking endless barrels in one
bar, we invited a selection of quality breweries,
so attendees could meet them (and their
staff) face-to-face at a bar that reflected their
personality... you could ask them about their
beer and hear their story. For us, this is far
more interesting as an event format, one that
we’d want to attend; a real celebration of beer!

Candice, Great British Bake Off Winner & ‘Beer
Drinker of the Year 2018’ headlined a series of
15 minute talks, on our ‘Beer Talks’ stage
Whispering Bob Harris entertained the crowds by
introducing music on his ‘Under The Apple Tree
Stage’, located on the scenic lake field
Schöfferhofer (Germany) brought an ice
cream van to serve their Grapefruit beer

Huge thanks to our partners:

Not just beer! Warner
Edwards served up their
beautiful gin to the
masses!
Erdinger built a
Bavarian drinking
lodge
We were delighted that (for the non-beer drinkers)
Saxby’s Cider and Warner Edwards Distillery
came with members of their team, serving their full
range of ciders & gins.
A popular part of the day was the ‘Beer Talks
Stage’ headlined by Candice Brown, winner of
The Great British Bake Off and Beer Drinker of
the Year 2018. This stage saw five talks, including
Phil Saxby talking about cider making and Peter
& Robert Gunning (aka the Beer Barons) talking
about their adventures in home-brewing.
There were two music stages, one curated by
Whispering Bob Harris and his ‘Under the Apple
Tree’ brand. Bob came to introduce the acts on
his stage…. no doubt lured by the prospect of the
perfect pint!
It was a cracking day start to finish! By sharing
your stories, we can grow this event together to
become a mainstay in the national beer calendar!
Cheers!
Oly
Dates for 2019 are likely to be 17th / 18th August

WINNING
GOLD
Day Tripper, our seasonal
pale ale, won GOLD at the
Peterborough Beer Festival, the
second largest beer festival in
the UK, in the standard beer
catergory.
Sky Rocket & Cloud Nine
both won two-star Great Taste
Awards this year, putting them
in the top nine-percent of the
competition! Goshawk also
won a Great taste award.
Blackpit Brewery Taproom
won the CAMRA Chairman’s
Award 2018 for ‘Contribution
to the Local Beer Scene’.

Banquet Blues
Our first ‘Blackpit Banquet’ saw 30 guests feast
on a delicious five course menu, in late September.
From squid-ink risotto, paired with
carbonated Cloud Nine, to ‘melt-in-yourmouth’
beef fillet, with burnt-onion gravy
and tender stemmed broccoli, the menu was
simply scrumptious!
Chef Jonathan Duff (Bandit Street Food) and
the rest of the crew poured their hearts into
making this such a memorable & enjoyable
evening for everyone.
More banquets are in the pipe-line, so if you
missed out, don’t worry, get your name down
for the next one!
To keep up to date with all our new events,
why not subscribe to our email list? We won’t
spam your account, we just send out a short
weekly email with three bits of Blackpit news.
Lucy & Josh

Core Range
Always available in cask;
perfect permanent pump beers!
BLACKPIT BEST CLOUD NINE GOSHAWK
3.4% ABV 3.9% ABV 4.4% ABV
Refreshing Best Bitter Zesty Blonde Ale
Chestnut Ale
This beer slips down a treat.
With the lowest ABV in our
range, it’s great whatever the
occasion! Well balanced, midamber
in colour and seriously
satisfying.
Light, bright and blonde;
refreshing and 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.
- Z E S T Y B L O N D E A L E -

...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

bb-pump clips-TRAP DOOR.indd 7 09/10/2018 10:47
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New Seasonal Beers
Grab them quick! Our new seasonal beer menu
celebrates all that’s going on in the coming months...
TRAP DOOR
Ruby Red Beer
4.5% ABV
Available:
October / November
LOOSEHEAD
Golden Ale
4.2% ABV
Available:
October / November
SKY ROCKET
Modern English IPA
5.5% ABV
Available:
November
Spookily good! Trap door’s
a progression of our awardwinning
Goshawk recipe...
easy drinking with a subtle
punch!
Rugby and beer’s a great
combination! Loosehead’s a
clear winner with Rugby fans
especially whilst England play
at Twickenham.
A real wow! This beer won
two stars at the Great Taste
Awards. Our take on an
English IPA; at 5.5.% it’s
dangerously quaffable!
TRAP DOOR
- R U B Y R E D B E E R -
A L C 4 . 5 % V O L

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NIGHT VISION
Porter
4.7% ABV
Available:
December
FOOLS GOLD
Golden Ale
4.5% ABV
Available:
December / January
NEW LEAF
Modern Dark Mild
4.1% ABV
Available:
January / February
Cuddle up to a pint of Night
Vision this winter. One of
our highest rated beers on
UnTappd; it sold out on our
first release... grab it quick!
When dark, spiced ales seem
to dominate the market we’ve
developed Fools Gold, a
refreshingly strong seasonal ale
to enjoy at Christmas.
Rethink your perceptions of
a mild during ‘TryAnuary’...
this is a modern and seriously
smooth beer that anyone can
get the taste for!
NIGHT VISION
- P O R T E R S I M C O E -
W I T H
A L C 4 . 7 % 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 . 1 % V O L

Dear Father Blackpit...
Some of the Blackpit Crew give us a run down on what
they’re buying (or wishing for) this Christmas!
CRAIG
Beer serving machine
I’ve got a lot of Blackpit merch, so this
Christmas I’m hoping for another white
Blackpit ‘Vintage’ t-shirt... I spilt ketchup
on my first one!
BEN
Beer dispensing guru
I never know what to get my brother-inlaw;
he’s the guy who’s got everything!
So, this year, I’m giving him Blackpit Gift
Vouchers... that way I can take him for a
pint in the taproom and he can choose!
LUCY
Hop collector extrodiniare
I’m buying my brother a case of
Night Vision bottles... he’s a Craft
Beer geek, so I thought I’d get him
our newest ale to get bottled!
OLY
Colouring-in Dept.
Last year I bought my dad a
membership; he loved the Beer &
Cheese members’ night and even
brought my mum along too. He
loved it so much I thought I’d get
him the same membership again! ”

- How to buy -
PUBLIC
Option
1
Option
2
Option
3
this should
really be beer
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!
TRADE
Step
1
Step
2
Step
3
Have a look at our beer
range in this magazine
Email our sales guru:
martin@blackpitbrewery.co.uk
Before you know it our van
will deliver to your door!
GET MORE
Facebook:
@blackpitbrewery
Instagram:
@blackpitbrewery
Email list, sign up at:
www.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!

Get more
than beer.
Members’ nights, tickets to large events, money off in
the taproom, free beer and the feeling of belonging to
a club; why not become part of it in 2019?
Starting at just £30, memberships are the perfect
present for you, your friend, or a loved one.
Buy today at:
www.blackpitbrewery.co.uk