Festive greetings!
We want to thank everybody who supported us this year, and we’re wishing you a fabulous Christmas and a strong start to 2025.
Highlights
- Most brewers would be showing off their upscaled kit – new gigantic pieces of shiny stainless steel. Not me! I’ve gone smaller by purchasing a tiny Brewzilla all-in-one brewing system. Despite how small we are as a business, my itch for brew experimentation doesn’t get scratched, so I’ve bought a tiny kit to make even smaller batches of experimental one-offs. The idea is I have fewer cans to sell, so I can justify moving on to the next recipe faster!
- Thanks to Meldreth & Orchard Manor, we pressed another batch of early Laxtons and decided to release this seasons’ cider earlier than usual. The split fermentation between S-04 ale yeast and S-189 lager yeast produced bright, sharp and clean ciders. We recommend you compare a can of each, side by side, to pick up on the subtleties of fermentation character imparted by the different yeasts.
- A visit to Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry company was a real treat. This farm cultivates more than 60 varieties of apple and pear and offers unprecedented opportunities to taste the personalities of single-varietal ferments, as well as various blends. Their business and way of life is a national treasure and I look forward to returning on future travels.
Headaches
- I have nothing to complain about. What! Luke doesn’t have anything to moan about?
Horizons
- Our outlook for 2025 is toned down compared to previous years. Between work and looking after the (brew) dog, Rachel and I have limited capacity to stay on top of brewing activities. Keeping the business small suits our lifestyle for the time being.
- Designing another tea-infused recipe has been on my mind for a while. Showcasing an unflavoured tea (Camellia sinensis) is challenging because their flavours are so subtle, but I can think I can make it work again, this time with a fully oxidised, strong black tea. I really like the idea of having a light beer earlier in the day that has an appreciable caffeine content for an afternoon pick-me-up. I’m thinking of using a barley and rice base with a cold lager fermentation to provide a clean canvas for layering in the tea at a couple stages in the brewing process. Now on to choosing which variety of tea to brew with!
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Thanks for reading. If you have any thoughts on the above, I would love to hear from you. Write to us at biochemistbrewery@gmail.com.
Best,
Luke & Rachel