Meet the Brewer

On Tuesday 25th March, The Vaults in Knowle hosted a visit from David Waller, head brewer at Adnams Brewery in Southwold, Suffolk, who gave a "Meet the Brewer" talk and guided tasting session.

The pub was understandably busy for a Tuesday night, with standing room only as David started his talk. Fortunately several CAMRA members had arranged to meet up a good hour before the start time, but even then we had been beaten to the best tables for the talk and had to make do with one right next to the bar. Life is tough sometimes! Nick, our host, had two Adnams beers on that night, Explorer and The Bitter, but the selection wasn't entirely their beers.

David gave us a potted history of brewing at Adnams, telling us that they have been brewing in Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, since 1872 when brothers George and Ernest Adnams bought the Sole Bay Brewery. This was exactly 200 years after the Battle of Sole Bay (1672), a date commemorated by their Broadside ale that was first brewed in 1972.

He talked us through the brewing process in surprising detail, informing us about how polymers of starch molecules are broken down into monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccarides; how mash tun temperatures affect this breakdown; and how hops added to the copper at different times during the boil add different characteristics to the beer.

During this part of the talk we tasted samples of malt and hops that were passed around. The malt, a pale malt only lightly kilned, was the typical flavour found in Horlicks and malted milk biscuits, just a bit crunchier. We experimented with the hops by rubbing them between finger and thumb. This releases hop oils - the smell that can be found in many beers - and hop resins that impart the beer's bitterness. With a slight stickiness on our fingers from the resins, we were asked to lick one sticky finger, a few centimetres back from the tip of the tongue. Initially this had almost no effect, but as the resins were slowly dissolved by saliva, a strong bitterness was released.

We were then shown a full cask of ale, which sounds quite uninteresting except for the transparent ends on the cask. He shone a light through one end and the contents could be viewed from the other end. The ale appeared a deep, red colour and the remnants of hops and yeast were visible where they had settled at the bottom. He then spiled the cask. causing an eruption inside as the settled solids were sent spinning around.

David finished his talk by introducing us to the range of 3 regular and 8 seasonal ales that Adnams produce and provided samples of the two draught beers. We were guided through the distinct smells and flavours of each.

Finally, there was a question-and-answer session - with a difference. David asked the questions and we provided the answers. Prizes of shirts, bottles and cans were given to those who answered correctly.
"Can you name one of our seasonal beers?" asked David.
"Regatta," called out someone, rewarded with a T-shirt and bottle.
"How long is the wort boiled?"
"An hour and a half," responded a number of people, now getting the hang of the game. The winner was the person who would best fit the shirt in David's hand.
"What is the ABV of Explorer?" he asked.
"4.3%," chorused the entire pub. David was stumped. One of our party smiled at him and was handsomely rewarded. So the session continued until his large stock was gone.

And so ended an enjoyable and informative night, thanks to Nick Worral at the Vaults and David Waller from Adnams Brewery.

Gordon Clarke