IBD NEWS
Midlands section visit to Mount St Bernard Abbey trappist brewery
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On a Saturday afternoon in September some 17
members of the UK Midlands section were privileged to visit the brewery operating within the Mount St Bernard Abbey: we were hosted by Father Joseph, a senior member of the order of Cistercian Trappist monks who live and worship within the monastery. Also, on hand to help guide us during the visit were Fr Joseph’s colleagues Brothers Timothy and Robert. Located in the heart of the Leicestershire country-
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Southern section distilling seminars On a breezy Thursday in late June the IBD Southern section gathered for the latest of our technical seminar days. This time the focus was to be on distilling, and we were very fortunate to be hosted at the Adnams brewery and distillery in sunny Southwold. The rst speaker was one of Adnams’ own. Electrical engineer turned Head Distiller John McCarthy gave a fascinating insight into the setting up of a new distillery, including some of the more obscure pitfalls to be avoided, apparently the labelling of pipes is a key concern in distillery design. Next up was David Fitt, Chief Distiller at the English Whisky Company. In 2006 the company became the rst distillery to be opened in England for over 100 years. Production takes place on 18hL Forsyth stills, the smallest legally allowed at the time. Importantly David had also brought a sample of the company’s Virgin oak spirit for us to taste. Finally, we had a fascinating talk from Matt Burgess of Diageo, who gave an exhaustive talk covering the aging of spirit as well as the ner points of barrel construction and blending. He clearly has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject and I would recommend anybody with questions to seek him out. Following the seminars we were given a guided tour of the Adnams Distillery by John McCarthy and Fergus Fitzgerald, quite the power cou- ple! To conclude our day, we sampled spirits from Adnams in the cellar bar below the distillery. The perfect end to an informative afternoon. The IBD southern section would like to thank all those who spoke as well as the Adnams Brewery for hosting the afternoon. Andrew Paterson side, the abbey and surrounding grounds offer an idyllic retreat from the hurly-burly of the 21st century. This community of 26 monks was founded in 1835 as a self-suf cient enterprise, but in 2013 was forced by economic pressures to move away from dairy farming as its main commercial outlet, and start developing their ideas on beer brewing as a more viable option. For just over 12 months the 20hL brewhouse has been produc- ing a monthly 40hL batch of ‘Tynt Meadow Trappist Ale’, a bottled product of 7.4% ABV, with a very clean, fruity, nutty character and a total absence of astringency. All delegates were mightily impressed with the very modern German-built plant and the spectacular level of plant and environment cleanliness, both key to the success of a process that takes beer ex-FV directly to a six-head bottler without the need for stabilisation, ltration or pasteurisation, thereby yielding a bottled product with over 12 months of shelf life. The entire operation is certainly a quality template for any prospective craft brewer! Colin McCrorie
ASIA PACIFIC Kerstin Wahlqvist kerstin.wahlqvist@ibdasiapac.com.au T: +61 402 088 303
GREAT NORTHERN Jayne Hewitt IBDGNS@ibd.org.uk T: +44 7943 176988
INTERNATIONAL Michaela Appelbee-Miedl michaela.miedl@ab-inbev.com T: + 41 792429798
IRISH Louise Hawes IBDirish@ibd.org.uk T: +353 1 802 6206
MIDLAND Jane Kershaw Jane.Kershaw@Joseph-Holt.com T: +44 1789 488007
SCOTTISH Duncan Kellock IBDscottish@ibd.org.uk T: +44 7808524172 SOUTHERN Pete Channon IBDSUKS@ibd.org.uk T: +44 7771 933091
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october 2019 I BREWER AND DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL ● 55
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