Meet the craft beer brewer
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Version 0 of 1. Music and beer have always come hand‑in‑hand for me, and I was surrounded by both from a young age. I grew up in the Midlands' Black Country, where there's an established brewing tradition. But it wasn't until I was a bit older, in a band singing and touring the US, that my eyes were opened to craft beer. Touring inevitably meant as much drinking as playing – I tried quite a few different craft beers from across the US, but I remember the lightbulb moment clearly. We'd played a show in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York and, afterwards, went into a bar called Fette Sau, where they served amazing barbecue food with home brews. To me, that combination of smoked meats and fruity beers designed to match them was absolutely perfect. I decided to create something similar back home. Shortly afterwards, I left the band, bought a load of books and started experimenting in my kitchen, developing my own brewing style by trial and error. I set up a brewery – Beavertown, named after the old Cockney nickname for De Beauvoir Town in east London, home of our first premises were. And we set up an American-style barbecue joint where we'd also serve the beers – which became Duke's Brew and Que in Dalston. My taste in beer has changed dramatically over the past three years. At first I was really into British cask ales, but when we opened the restaurant it wasn't quite what I wanted with the food, so I drew more on Belgian and US styles. The scope for recipes is limitless – we've tried all sorts of crazy combinations, as well as herb and fruit infusions. I love aroma and a residual fruitiness in beer. We've got a core range of about five that vary in style, but I'd say that the one thing that ties them together is that juiciness. I really couldn't choose which Beavertown beer I like best – they are like my babies! But I am fond of our two originals, the Smog Rocket, a smoked porter; and the 8 Ball (named after the pool ball I used to weigh the hops down with), designed to complement the Duke's beef and pork recipes respectively. We also have a few seasonal beers, too, such as a blood orange-infused IPA called Bloody 'Ell, and Quelle Saison, a peachy yellow Belgian-style creation. I've gone from making enough for 23 bottles in my kitchen to brewing eight times a week, with about 1,500 bottles in each batch. We are about to move from our current premises in Hackney Wick to Tottenham Hale, where we will expand even further. I'm lucky that as Beavertown has grown, so has Duke's; I think the restaurant works well as a platform for both, simply because it's the kind of place I want to hang out. It's not contrived, it's just a vision of something I have a load of love for.Reader offer: You can get 10% off a pint of draught beer at Duke's Brew and Que with a printout of this page on the weekend of 12-13 April 2014. |