Search for the Perfect Pint

For those who didn't attend the last Homebrew meeting allow me to introduce myself, I'm Andy Hamilton not the short comedian or the larger darts player but a beer writer from Bristol. At present I am writing a book called The Search for the Perfect Pint and I am touring the country drinking beer in the name of research. I gave a talk at the last meeting as I must say it is always a pleasure to drink good beer and an even bigger pleasure to drink it with enthusiastic brewers and drinkers. I'd like to extend my thanks to all of you Leeds Homebrewers for the warm welcome and to Zak for the invite to come and talk at the last meeting. I left that night hugely impressed (and hugely pissed after carrying on into the small hours with Seb).

Impressed as almost every brew that we drank was above the quality of many of the commercial beers I’ve tried in the process of searching for the perfect pint. It seemed daft to walk away from that evening without any homebrew recipes, sadly I can be pretty daft so that’s exactly what I did.

On the way back to Bristol I had plenty for time to think as the megabus driver (who regaled us all at the start of the journey with a story of how he got brain damage in the megabus toilet) decided to take us via Barnsley on an epic 8 hour journey back home. I thought I should ask the brewers of Leeds if they wanted to share any of their amazing beer recipes, well to be honest I thought that on the night but I was too busy enjoying myself.  After d a quick chat with Zak we decided that this post would be the best way to come cap in hand.

What I am looking for are tried and tested homebrew recipes that exemplify various different styles of beer and/or recipes that subvert styles in order to give a truly magical brew. In many ways this leaves the field wide open for anything that you might wish to share as long as you think it’s pretty good as I know you all to be pretty good judges of beer.

I will of course brewing all of your recipes myself, but if you felt like sending  any tasters down then that will make my life a lot easier for the selection process.  I can’t guarantee that every recipe will make it as of course I’m aiming for quality rather than quantity in this book. But I really don’t think that will too much of an issue with you lot if the last meeting has anything to go by. If you wish you may send me more than one recipe, each one will have your name published alongside your brew along with your blog or website (if you have one). Every recipe will be most gratefully received.

It would be impossible to say at this point how many copies will be sold and how many people will read your work, but I can be guarantee that there will be a copy of my book in the British Library with your name in it until the end of time (or until the end of the British Library, whichever is first). Hopefully too you’ll get that fuzzy feeling from knowing that brewers all around the world are brewing beer to your recipes.

I’d also like to extend an invitation to all for the piss up book launch next September (2013)  and I’d strongly advise against the Megabus as a means of transport down to Bristol. I’ll send exact details nearer the time.

If you have any questions or want to get in contact then please email me at Andy@theotherandyhamilton.com and cheers!

July Meet - Wednesday 25th July

Apologies if this is a bit of a snap decision, but the next meet has been called for Wednesday 25th July, with a room being kindly provided by Leeds Brewery at The Brewery Tap, New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 5DL.

With good fortune and a following wind, we should have a beer on the bar that night brewed by members of the group. My suggestion is that Matt brews Possession under the supervision of Alex on the kit at The Brewery Tap, although of course this is an open invite for people to come along, get involved, throw in hops, dig out spent grain, and generally see what it's like to brew on a large stainless steel plant rather than in plastic buckets in the kitchen! Mash in will be at 7am on either Tuesday 10th or Wednesday 11th.

Our guest on Wednesday 25th will be Andy Hamilton (not the stand-up comedian, but "the other Andy Hamilton", as even he is forced to describe himself). Andy will be giving a short talk and Q&A about the idea of "booze for free", and will be in Leeds for a couple of days while he researches a book about beer and homebrewing. Please do come along and show him some proper Leeds hospitality (that sounds much more menacing than it's meant to).

The meeting will follow the usual format:


18:30 Arrive and get a beer
19:00 Welcome / Talk / Q&A
20:00 Tasting of members' beers
21:00 Meeting adjourned. Carousing optional.

Running Order - Thursday 12th January

Some info about this Thursday's meet-up [edit]AT MR FOLEY'S ALE HOUSE IN LEEDS[/edit]. The hour slot from 19.00 to 20.00 is going to be filled by Dominic from Thornbridge Brewery, who will be making a presentation on how to brew barley wine, answering any questions thrown at him, and should time permit, performing some live kitten juggling.

There will also be a special announcement about a collaboration between the Leeds Homebrew group and Revolutions Brewing Co. Please try to be "in da house" by 7pm for this.

The 8 - 9 slot will be for panel tasting of members beers. We will be limiting this to 6 x 10 minute slots, so if we have more than 6 people wanting to present to group, we will draw lots on the night. Please bring enough beer for a dozen or 15 samples - maybe a couple of litres? There is always the option to share and critique after the structured part of the evening is over.

So in summary:

18:30 Arrive and get a beer
19:00 Welcome / Talk / Q&A
20:00 Tasting of members' beers
21:00 Meeting adjourned. Carousing optional.

January Meet: Guest Speaker Announced

Ladies and gents, we're pleased to announce that for our second meet on Thursday 12th January, Dominic from Thornbridge Brewery will be joining us. In fact, not only will he be throwing himself on the mercy of the group, and hopefully passing polite but constructive criticism on the brews offered up by the attendees, but he will also be giving a short presentation on how to brew barley wine.

Given Dom's CV, having worked at Thornbridge and Marble, and the fact that he's just achieved a Distinction in his Institute of Brewing and Distilling exam, we're expecting nothing less than a night of penetrating analysis and forensic pedantry - in a good way, of course.

We have four people able to bring beer so far - if you'd like to bring something, or just come along and be dazzled by Dom, please can you let us know on this post.

Until the 12th, then. Have a good Christmas, everyone!

Guest Speaker Announced

Ladies and gents, we're pleased to announce that for our first meet on the 20th October, James from Summer Wine Brewery has agreed to come along and say a few things about, well, whatever he wants really, but hopefully about beer and (home)brewing.

We're especially delighted as we know that James was a keen, nay, fanatical homebrewer before founding Summer Wine Brewery with his business partner Andy. Should you need any further proof of his credentials, please see the picture below, and the accompanying comment! (twitpic link here)



"this is what my kitchen looked like when i knew my hobby had got out of hand!!"