My Saturday brunch started with the arrival of that beautiful rainbow of tiny glasses of beer stacked on the sampler board. The sight of shimmering gold and that roasted black shades spark my appetite. Over the years my love for craft beer has been beyond liquid. I enjoyed a bright, airy Saturday with Beer Sommelier Derek talking about the art of brewing. Derek who started English Craft Brewing company with Abishek with a dream, to create fresh and unique beers, with an English touch.
Breweries are mushrooming in Bangalore over the last couple of years. But again we all have our favorite place to get that exact sense of flavor. Beer, like any fermented food, is an immutably microbial product.English Craft Brewing Co. brewing some fragrant beers in different parts of the city.
English Craft Brewing
Abi Reddy after his fifteen years of experience in London started this brewing company with Derek, a renowned Master Brewer from London. ![English Craft Brewing]()
- Derek Orford started brewing at home at age 16. He qualified as a Master Brewer in 1991, winning the James Hough award for outstanding performance.
- Since his early days making traditional cask-conditioned ales in the middle of the Kentish hop gardens in South-East England. His brewing career has taken him around the world, in breweries in the Americas, Europe, and Australasia.
- Derek has worked for world-renowned brewing companies: Whitbread, Heineken, and Lion.
- In more recent years he joined the craft beer revolution, brewing his own versions of famous beer styles on a small scale.
- He has supported a number of start-up breweries. He masters in recipe development, through to commissioning and troubleshooting.
- He is both a technical and hands-on brewer. He is now bringing his passion for beer and brewing to India.
Soon Bangalore will be a Craft Beer hub. Brewing Beers on a small scale is an art where brewmaster can create different flavors and colors of beer with just four key ingredients: malts, hops, wheat, and yeast!
Derek says “Some hops are bred to be bitter and some are to have a nice aroma. While some hops can do both jobs. So the brewer selects the hops what he wants to achieve in the final result.”
I loved the Hyde Park Wheat, a Belgian-style wheat beer with spicy coriander and orange notes. The fresh orange zest added during the brewing honed the flavor of the beer to the perfect.
BILLINGSGATE PORTER
Porter was originally a relatively low alcohol dark beer drunk by the porters in the various produce markets in London to help sustain them during and after their working hours. This porter is more robust, with bags of roasted malt to provide clear notes of coffee and chocolate, with a mild bitterness in the background.
I paired Porter with a slice of chocolate cake which turned out to be a perfect post-lunch treat. It was a wonderful Saturday spending with Derek who is on a spree of creating some amazing beer for Indian palate. I am looking forward to tasting some more fragrant beers from English Craft Brewing in the future.
Have you tried their Beers yet?
If not check here to know where they brewing fresh Beers in the Town.
