Meet The Quaffer and Kissingate Brewery at the Jubilee Oak, Crawley

Meet the Brewer, Gary Lucas of Kissingate, and brewery historian David Muggleton (The Quaffer). Join us for an evening of great beer, banter, nibbles and a fascinating insight into the history of at least four 19th century breweries in Crawley. Quiz & prizes too! Wednesday 5th March from 8pm at the Jubilee Oak (JDW), 6 Grand Parade, Crawley, RH10 1BU, 01293 565335

'F' day for Firebird

'F' day for Firebird Brewing Company was 27th July 2013, when Bill King and Richard Peters started their first brew of their new venture at the Brickworks Brewery in Rudgwick, West Sussex. Originally friends from the Birmingham University School of Malting and Brewing, Bill and Richard met up again years later and the idea of Firebird soon rose from the ashes over a pint in a local pub. The name is in a nod to the continual regeneration of Bill King’s brewing heritage in the King & Barnes and, then, W.J. King breweries. Richard was originally a brewer with Courage. The new ten barrel brewery was constructed from a range of plant purchased, refurbished and assembled by Bill and Richard.

Firebird celebrates the traditions of the world’s great brewing centres. The 2013 launch beers were Heritage XX Best Bitter (4.0%), Paleface American Pale Ale (5.2%), Old Ale XXXX (4.5%) and Bohemia Pilsner Lager (4.8%). The New Year will see Richard and Bill brewing a pale beer using New Zealand single hop variety Pacific Gem, as well as a Weissbier, complete with the yeasty, zesty tones so typical of this Munich speciality. They'll follow this with plans to produce many seasonal ales and world classics including Porter, Alt Bier and Belgian Pale Ale.

Bill and Richard are already investing in new capacity with two new fermenters scheduled for delivery in January. The beers have been on sale locally at Rudgwick Social Club; The Mucky Duck, Tismans Common; The Sir Roger Tichbourne, Alford Bars; and The Chequers, Rowhook. They will also be available at the North Sussex CAMRA Spring Equinox Beer Festival, Horsham, 22nd-23rd March and, hopefully, at the Sussex CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival, Hove, 6th-8th March.

Firebird Brewing Company Ltd, Old Rudgwick Brickworks, Lynwick Street, Rudgwick, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 3DH, 01403 823180. www.firebirdbrewing.co.uk

 

Ale and Hearty: Ale Tales Book and Exhibition

 

Project Update #9: Ale Tales book and exhibition

We haven't yet got our Ale Tales book back from the printers but we thought we would let you see the book online in the meantime to pique your interest. We really hope you like it!

You can see it here, and it is available in downloadable form too if you want to share it with friends:

http://issuu.com/strikealight/docs/ale_tales_full_doc_with_covers

You can also see some of the images from our Ale and Hearty exhibition which took place in the autumn, but which will be on display at our event next Saturday 18th January 2014.

http://strikealight.org/projects/ale-and-hearty/ale-and-hearty-exhibition/
 

 

Star Behind the Bar

Star is a doubly appropriate description of Lorna Brothers, for she is pictured behind the bar of the Dark Star Brewery Shop, Partridge Green, West Sussex.

When Lorna is not behind the bar she is most likely relaxing at home in her new log cabin. Not many people know that Laura is a keen mountain biker. She is a member of a mountain biking club that meets on Tuesdays.

Lorna never drank until she worked at Dark Star!

http://darkstarbrewing.co.uk/