We’ve been brewing craft beer in Blackheath since 2000, before that term was much in use in fact, if at all in this country at least. In that time, millions of pints of beer have been created in out tanks before being piped straight to the tap and on to thirsty folks. The majority of these have of course been our core range – black lager, pale ale, pilsner and the other favourites which you can always find at the bar here. A percentage though has been our special brews – beers we thought would be a great idea and wanted to make as a limited-edition thing. Some of them have been so good that they come back again and again – in the case of our Mango beer it went on to be a part of the core range and these days it’s hard to think of a time without it.
Brewing Craft Beer In Blackheath
The last few months have been an exciting time at Zerodegrees – we’ve been brewing up an absolute storm of specials every month, not just here but at all four of our breweries and these have been travelling around. This means that instead of one new special craft beer at Blackheath each month, we have at least four – not bad, eh? As with all beers, it takes time to make these specials though so what have we been crafting for October? Brewmaster Troy has just paid the malt bill for a 5-grain ale which we’re thinking going to be a proper autumn brew and ready for the middle of October. As well as a base of spicy rye malt, Troy has included lager malt, wheat, oats and crystal malt to make a complex but balanced brew – rich, spicy flavour from the rye, smooth and silky body from the wheat and a slight caramel sweetness from the crystal. Just a small application of hops balances the sweetness with some bittering and allows the complex malt flavour to take centre stage. This doesn’t make it heavy though, the body has been kept medium to light to allow it to work well with some of our earthier dishes – porcini mushroom pappardelle for example. We’ll have other specials on as well, brewed up by the other brewmasters, but for October that’s what craft beer is brewing in Blackheath.
