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LIMITED-EDITION FESTIVAL PINT GLASS AVAILABLE FOR £1 CELEBRATING with 40 years 40 BEERS wed 9 _ sun 20 oct heers! GUAM ITALY AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA USA ISHIIBREWING CO. festival news HE PERFECT PINT AT TH VE T E PER SER FEC ICH T T H EM W P S E B R U A P T U R R O E F C A S E S S K U M O A H RQ EE UE- FR ACCR OON EDITED J D WETHERSP Contents welcome We are celebrating 40 years of inside this issue Wetherspoon with 40 beers, in the 3 WELCOME world’s biggest real-ale festival, 4–13 MEET THE INTERNATIONAL BREWERS 14 WETHERSPOON – OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH CAMRA for autumn 2019 15 INTRODUCTION TO THE FESTIVAL BEERS 16–19 TASTING NOTES Yet again, we are set to serve up an unrivalled range Ryan Crisp, from AleSmith Brewing Company of beers, sourced from award-winning breweries, (California, USA), brings us Nut Brown (5.0% ABV) to mark four decades since founder and chairman and Stefano Di Stefano, of Birrificio Argo (Parma, Tim Martin opened his first pub. Italy), has brewed Terzo Tempo (4.4% ABV) especially for the event. This special 40th-anniversary celebration festival will feature beers from UK breweries which Our two Australian brewers, Lachlan Crothers, originally supplied Wetherspoon back in 1979… and voted People’s Champion 2018, from Ballistic Beer continue to do so, including Arkell’s, Greene King, Co, in Queensland, and Brad Nolen of Mash Shepherd Neame and Wadworth. Brewing Co (Western Australia), named Best Brewery 2018, bring us Short Fuse (6.5% ABV) and Our 12-day real-ale extravaganza is showcasing Challenger English IPA (4.8% ABV), respectively. a selection of 40 festival beers – from 35 UK BALLISTIC BEER CO. 4–5 ISHII BREWING COMPANY 8–9 brewers, as well as five international brewers, This festival will also feature new, seasonal and some new and some familiar, carefully selected speciality beers, while many of the beers are for your enjoyment. available in the pubs for the first time, having been brewed exclusively for this festival. The international beers have been sourced from breweries in Australia (two), Guam, Italy Our special third-of-a-pint glasses are available and the USA. once again, helping you to sample many of the festival brews, with three for the price of a pint. Our now-traditional international brewers’ visits, As well as this, we will also have a limited where we welcome five overseas award-winning number of festival 40-year anniversary pint brewers to Britain, saw each brewing their festival glasses available for £1 each – get yours, beer at a host brewery right here in the UK. while stocks last! BIRRIFICIO ARGO 10–11 Thanks, once again, to all of our friends at Our beer aficionados have sourced a celebratory Adnams (Suffolk), Banks’s (West Midlands), collection of ales for you to enjoy at this Hook Norton (Oxfordshire), Shepherd Neame 40th anniversary autumn 2019 festival. (Kent) and Wadworth (Wiltshire) for hosting our visitors. Toshi Ishii, from Ishii Brewing Co, is one of our original and most popular visiting international brewers. Originally from Japan and now based in Guam, returning for his seventh visit, Toshi has brewed Minagof Juicy Pale IPA (4.5% ABV) for this festival. MASH BREWING COMPANY 6–7 ALESMITH BREWING COMPANY 12–13 2 FESTIVAL NEWS WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT FESTIVAL NEWS 3 BREWER: lachlan crothers BALLISTIC BEER CO, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA Lachlan Crothers “At 6.5%, it is incredibly characterful, but not THE BREWER: THE BREWERY: THE BADGES: for the faint-hearted – the hop aroma leaps out of the glass.” Lachlan’s interest in brewing comes, quite simply, Ballistic Beer Co is based in the suburb of Just this year, Ballistic Beer Co won the Best from his love of beer. Salisbury used in World War II to secretly in Class trophy at the Queensland Beer Awards, He concluded: “This will be my first time brewing manufacture munitions for the Australian army. for its Oaked XPA. for Wetherspoon, but I am incredibly excited about He said: “As far as I am concerned, there is the opportunity. nothing more satisfying than sharing some stories Lachlan said: “The area around here is incredibly In 2018, Lachlan also won the award for Best and enjoying a laugh over a couple of pints. fascinating, with uncovered bunkers and a Brewer at the local industry awards – The Beeries. “My local pub, when I lived in London, was a lot of the old sheds from that time still standing. Wetherspoon pub, so I have a strong emotional “When I was just out of school, and a bit lost about The brewery has also won gold medals at the connection to the company’s pubs.” what I should be doing, I searched for the word “Our brewery name pays homage to the history Australian International Beer Awards (2017, 2018 ‘beer’ on a job website. After a few weeks, a job as of our area and is also out of respect for the and 2019) – the largest annual beer competition an assistant brewer came up… I applied, and the courageous efforts of the Salisbury community. in the world. rest is history.” We also chose the keg bomb as our logo.” Lachlan has now been brewing commercially for THE BREW: INTERNATIONAL BREWERY: about 10 years, starting at Gage Roads Brewing Co, Fremantle, before spending some time in the UK at Lachlan revealed: “The beer I will be brewing Ballistic Beer Co Camden Town Brewery in 2015. is a version of one of the very first beers I ever brewed for Ballistic. It’s an Australian IPA. He added: “At the end of 2015, my wife was growing FESTIVAL BEER: weary of the London weather, so we began “The beer is unique in that it uses a malt bill which Short Fuse (6.5% ABV) looking for somewhere sunny where I could ply is decidedly English, yet has only Aussie hop my craft! We returned to Australia, and that varieties: Ella, Galaxy and Topaz. We say that it’s was when we started Ballistic Beer Co, with our an Australian spin on an English IPA, with punchy HOST BREWERY (UK): CEO David Kitchen.” new-world fruit characters. Banks’s Brewery, West Midlands Beer No. 40 4 FESTIVAL NEWS WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT FESTIVAL NEWS 5 BREWER: brad nolen MASH BREWING CO, SWAN VALLEY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA Brad Nolen “As well as the English hops, there are some THE BREWER: THE BREWERY: THE BADGES: Aussie hops represented too, which add some tropical fruits on the nose before the more Growing up in Mildura, on the border of the Mash Brewing Co opened in April 2006, Mash Brewing Co has achieved sustained success typically British apricot and orange – plus some outback, Brad started as a cellar hand at Mildura one of several craft breweries operating in the at various competitions across Australia, most caramel malts – join in the fun.” Brewery, when it opened in 2004. During his six Swan Valley. notably winning Champion Australian Beer at the years there, he learned about all aspects of 2014 Australian International Beer Awards with This is Mash Brewing Co’s interpretation of a brewing and packaging – ending up as the lead The brewery is located behind the main bar, its IPA Copy Cat. Challenger IPA also picked up traditional English IPA, brewed especially for production brewer. so the open working area allows customers to a bronze at the same event. this festival. view the brewing activities. He then moved to Perth, to take on a team leader Mash Brewing Co achieved Best Western Australia position at Gage Roads Brewing Co. While there, Mash Brewing Co boasts a core range of eight Brewery, two years in a row (2014 and 2015), at he oversaw the brewery through great expansion, beers and a cider, while constantly pushing Perth Royal Beer Show. before moving on to Clare Valley, South Australia, the boundaries with new and interesting speciality as head brewer at Pikes Beer Company. and seasonal beers. THE BREW: Brad said: “After three years of missing the The brewery’s motto is ‘seriously unserious’, INTERNATIONAL BREWERY: beautiful Perth weather, I headed back to Western which shows in the design for its labels and when Brad explained: “The clue is in the title… Mash Brewing Co Australia to take over Mash Brewing Co, where it develops concepts for new seasonal beers. Challenger hops are a classic variety when I have implemented all of my brewery knowledge brewing English-style ales, and this is just that, from the past 14 years.” an English-style ale brewed with lots of hops thrown into the whirlpool, then more used for FESTIVAL BEER: dry hopping. Challenger English IPA (4.8% ABV) HOST BREWERY (UK): Hook Norton, Oxfordshire Beer No. 26 6 FESTIVAL NEWS WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT WED 9 – SUN 20 OCT FESTIVAL NEWS 7 BREWER: heers! toshi ISHII ishii BREWING CO. ISHII BREWING CO, TAMUNING, GUAM Toshi Ishii “Do I represent Japan or the USA? It doesn’t matter, “On the basis of this style, Juicy IPA will be THE BREWER: I guess I am a (borderless) samurai craft brewer!” THE BADGES: re-created for Wetherspoon at 4.5% ABV, using US-typical tropical hops.” Toshi’s interest in beer began after tasting his first Toshi reported: “I’ve won gold and silver medals craft beer in Los Angeles. In 1998, he had the THE BREWERY: at the Australian International Beer Awards This is a golden-coloured beer with a light haze opportunity to work at Stone Brewing Co (California), and gold at the Monde Selection during my career in appearance, with juicy, fruity flavours and a where he learned brewing and cellaring, as well Toshi said: “Since Portuguese navigator Ferdinand in Japan.