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Utopian Brewery introduces two new beers and reveals eco-plans
Utopian Brewery has launched two new beers to its range, showcasing the interplay of English hops in traditionally European styles.
The new beers, which include a 5%-ABV Olicana-hopped altbier made in collaboration with London-based Orbit Brewery, and a 7.5%-ABV doppelbock lager are both brewed with 100% British ingredients have been created all while the brewer has been making big plans to reduce its eco-impact at the Devonshire site.
The beers join the rest of Utopian’s portfolio, with the Orbit collab altbier available in a 440ml can and the doppelbock in a 330ml on account of its higher ABV and it being a “sensible size for a single serve of strong beer”.
Speaking at the launch tasting on 15 February, head brewer Jeremy Swainson said: “I learned how to brew in an altbier brewery…and when I moved to London the only alt I think I tried there was from Orbit…and Adrian’s son [James Tierney-Jones] is now working at Orbit and suggested we brew a beer, so we decided to brew an alt. It’s a dark copper beer style from Germany but brewed with an ale yeast and then lagered. This one was lagered for six weeks and then filtered. It’s really light and drinkable.”
Utopian managing director Richard Archer said: “I’m a real fan of these styles of beers that are crossover beers that will appeal to the best bitter drinker, but are lagered.”
Describing the doppelbock, Swainson explained: “We’ve been talking about doing a doppelbock for the last couple of years and finally decided to do it this year. This is more or less a Vienna lager if you turned it into an 8%-ABV beer. It’s almost 100% Vienna malts with a bit of pale chocolate in there, Fuggles hops, double decoction and a two hour boil. We added a bit of First Gold at 60 minutes. We did all the things we could to give it more flavour, more body and then we just let it sit and hang for the last two and a half months as it slowly comes into form. It’s unfiltered and we packed it right out of the tank and the colour is quite bright. In taste, I get dark fruits and chewy malt.”
Archer described how Utopian has made headway with its plans to be as sustainable and eco-conscious as possible and said: “We’ve talked in the past about always trying to make the beers as good as we can make them, but I also always talk about our ambitions to be more and more sustainable and I’m really pleased that we have now gotten some more support from shareholders and investors.”
He revealed: “Within the next six months we are going to install a bio-waste water treatment plant so we can treat all of our water on-site and hopefully before the summer. The way we are going to power that unit is through solar power so we are adding 70 kilo-watts of solar on the roof. It’s a big ambition for us to, over time, become carbon neutral and so we have made some big steps on the way to that. We are also going to plant some trees and help to make a forest. It has all been a long time coming, but we are really excited about it.”
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