Elveden Ales

Elveden Ales Ian Hornsey Real ale consumers, and beer enthusi- Brendan's daughter, Frances, who is asts generally, have been fortunate to thus an example of a once common witness the birth of many small breweries species in England, the brewster. over the last twenty or thirty years, some Frances went up to Manchester of them blessed by being situated in University in October 2004 to read extremely attractive surroundings, as mechanical engineering, and whilst she well as producing extremely good beer. is immersing herself in her books in that Few, if any, however, can match the fine city, Brendan keeps the mash-tun grandeur of the setting, and the sense of ticking over in Elveden. For Lord Iveagh history that pervade when visiting the enterprise is the realisation of a life- Elveden Ales on the outskirts of Thetford, time's ambition, his father having been a in Norfolk. The brewery is sited on the 6th generation brewer. Elveden estate, at 23,000 acres, reputed to be Britain's largest farm, and the The ethos of the new brewery is such ancestral home of Edward Guinness, the that only locally-grown raw materials are fourth Earl of Iveagh, known as 'Ned' to used in their beers, and that, as soon as his friends. The estate, together with the is practically possible, these will all be magnificent 70-bedroom Elveden Hall, grown and processed on the Elveden was purchased by the first Earl from the estate itself. Indeed, the trial brews executors of the Punjabi prince, that were conducted at Iceni used malt Maharajah Duleep Singh, in 1894, and produced from Elveden barley, and hops has a wealth of connections with the late- grown by Brendan at his Ickburgh brew- Victorian era. ery. When the estate is eventually able to supply all of its own brewing raw materi- Elveden Ales is the brainchild of farmer als, it will have recreated the situation Ned Guinness, head of the brewing prevalent in Medieval and Tudor times in dynasty, and the redoubtable Brendan England, when all grand houses and Moore, proprietor of the nearby Iceni their estates were self-sufficient in their brewery, in Ickburgh, and is situated in beer and food requirements. The open- brick and flint estate outbuildings, so ing at Elveden was originally planned for typical of the unique Breckland land- the summer of 2003, but, the inevitable scape. Brewing duties are carried out by complications associated with planning 134 Journal of the Brewery History Society consents for listed buildings, meant that remembered that Arthur's initial capacity production did not commence until early at James's Gate was around six barrels 2004, on- and off-licences being obtained per week, the present approximate pro- in January of that year. duction level at Elveden. The brewing equipment was assembled by Brendan, There was much discussion between and is essentially a conventional five- the partners as to the style of their barrel plant, consisting of hot liquor back, inaugural beer, the result of which, unsur- mash-tun with sparge apparatus, direct prisingly, came out in favour of a stout! gas-fired copper, wall-mounted plate Accordingly, the immense brewing heat-exchanger (chiller), and two closed archive at the Guinness James's Gate fermentation vessels. The pale malt used brewery in Dublin was scoured and a is all locally-grown Maris Otter, generally suitable recipe selected. The final trial regarded by brewers as the doyen of brew at Iceni in 2003 led His Lordship to malting barleys whilst the enhanced proclaim of the new beer: ‘There is noth- colour is imparted by a mixture of ing like a bit of choice. I love Guinness coloured malts and roasted barley. and it has an excellent recipe, and there- Boadicea (a new dwarf variety) whole fore my allegiance will now be split leaf hops are boiled for an hour in the between Guinness and the new brew’. It copper, and after a primary fermentation is not without significance that industry period of four days, the green beer is commentators have noted that Elveden matured in oak whisky casks for three Stout bears an uncanny resemblance to weeks before being packaged. The 'the black stuff', a major difference being sumptuous beer is available in cask and that, thankfully, none of it is subjected to bottle-conditioned form, some 75% of the the dreaded 'brewery conditioning', which current production ending up in their effectively means that it is a non-living aesthetically pleasing 500ml. stoneware product. No, the sturdy 5% A.B.V. bottle. Elveden Stout is a live cask ale. In July 2004, a second beer, Elveden Ale, with a As was the original intention, a fair pro- strength of 4.8% A.B.V., was added to the portion of the beer produced is sold via portfolio the adjacent, estate-owned, Courtyard Food Hall and Bistro, where all kinds of As it turned out, the first commercial brew local produce are available to stimulate of Elveden Stout was mashed some 245 ones gastric juices. Indeed, the ideas years after the renowned Arthur relating to the brewery at Elveden were Guinness first commenced his little crystallised just after the farmers' market enterprise in Dublin, and, if there is now had started on the estate, and it had a huge disparity, between the output of become obvious that there was a sub- the new venture and that of Guinness stantial demand for a local beer. Another Brewing worldwide, then it should be major outlet is farmer Teddy Maufe's new Brewery History Number 132 135 Real Ale Shop at Branthill Farm, Wells- Unlike many micro-brewers, Elveden will next-the-Sea, Norfolk, where, like the refrain from the temptation to produce a Food Hall, a wide variety of beers from whole gamut of 'monthly special' beers, the East Anglian Brewers' (E.A.B.) co- and, instead concentrate on brewing their operative can be purchased. E.A.B. was core products, and the occasional, mean- set up in 2002, with the aid of funding ingful, one-off commemorative beer. In from the East of England Development fact, Frances was brewing such a thing Agency (E.E.D.A.), and the aim, in its when I visited Elveden on 9th September own words: ‘That by networking with 2004. The brewery had been commis- farmers E.A.B. aims to produce beers sioned by Colchester & N.E. Essex brewed with local malts, and to make ales CAMRA to brew 'Harwich Charter Ale', a available to local communities through 10% A.B.V. beer, which was to be avail- farmers' markets’. As a consequence, able at the 3rd Harwich and Dovercourt most participating brewers refrain from Bay winter ale festival later that year. The cramming their beers into pubcos at sui- festival was to form part of the 400th cidal rates of discount, and concentrate anniversary celebrations of the Harwich instead on procuring sensible prices for, Royal Charter, and the beer was to be a what are, after all, hand-crafted products. recreation of Samuel Allsopp's 'Arctic Much of the Maris Otter used by Elveden, Ale', originally brewed by the famed and some other E.A.B. brewers, is grown Burton brewer in1852. The original brew by the aforementioned Teddy Maufe in was for a naval expedition that left north Norfolk, and floor-malted specifi- Harwich for the Arctic, under Sir Edward cally for them by Crisp Malting of Great Belcher, in order to search for the famous Ryburgh, near Fakenham. Monthly farm- ‘lost expedition’ led by Sir John Franklin ers' markets, of which there is a substan- in 1845, which disappeared whilst looking tial example at Elveden, have become an for the North-West Passage. The 1852 important facet of rural life, especially in ale was commissioned by the East Anglia, and there is a perception Government, and was sufficiently strong that an increasing number of people are to withstand severe weather conditions, anxious to know more about the origin and a long journey. A chronicler of the and mode of preparation of their food- day described Allsopp's arctic beer as: stuffs; information that only a small ‘mellow as old burgundy and as nourish- number of producers have been able, or ing as a beefsteak’. willing, to supply. In an exciting new development due to commence this summer, On the day of my visit in 2004, Frances Elveden Farms is launching a regional and Brendan were furiously trying to food hub which will assemble a broad attain the required original gravity of range of food and drink from across the 1090º for their version of the brew, and region to service the growing demand for when I arrived, Brendan's first words to fully-traceable quality local produce. me were: ‘What do you know about the 136 Journal of the Brewery History Society use of malt extract?’. Having never used sion of the arctic beer was extremely well the stuff at Nethergate, I had to cast my received, and, given time, might well mind back to the early summer of 1981, round out to attain the characters of an when I was training under head brewer ‘old burgundy’. Watch this space! Wally Pateman at the now defunct Paine & Co., of St. Neots. Then, using malt With a sound business sense, a clear extract, we were trying to achieve an notion of their customer base, and a O.G. of 1100º that day for Paine's Royal determination to be self-sufficient in raw Wedding Ale (Lady Di, and all that). Then, materials, the Elveden brewery would as at Elveden, the landmark O.G.

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