Oakleaf Brewing Co. Ltd.
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It so happened that just after writing this report, and
e-mailing Oakleaf to congratulate them, we were due to visit Gosport.
To our great surprise and delight our Gosport friend Trevor had
contacted Oakleaf to arrange a tour for Jeannette and myself, Trevor and
his wife Tessa. Oakleaf had agreed to fit us in on what was otherwise a
busy day but then generously allowed us far more than our allotted tour
time. The brewery is housed in a small unit on an industrial estate and they have to take some of their gear out into the car park in order to have room to work, then take it all back when they close up at the end of the day. They are planning some building work to provide extra working space; nevertheless, out of this little acorn of a building come some mighty Oakleaf beers! As some of the beers are seasonal we could not try every beer they produce but all the ones we tried were without exception fine specimens of their type and most would rate as outstanding. For a brewery which only started in March 2000 they have an impressive wall display of awards, and our experience showed they were well deserved. |
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Our tour was
conducted by Dave Pickersgill, the Managing Director, after we had been
welcomed at Reception by Dave's daughter, Sarah, who is the Company
Administrator. Apart from the thorough explanation of the brewing techniques, what came through very clearly was pride in having built up such a thriving concern. |
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Dave Pickersgill, Managing Director, shows some of the roasted
malt used, then explains the inner workings of the mash tun |
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Later we met Ed Anderson, Dave's son-in-law, Director, and head brewer, and were again impressed by his enthusiasm for his work. Ed joined us in an Eichenblatt Bitte, and tasting this again confirmed our previous top rating for this beer.
We had previously enjoyed a Nuptu'Ale, a very refreshing 4.2% pale ale, and then topped that with Blakes Gosport Bitter, a dark malty 5.2% brew, which was also something special.
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Dave in the cool store with a |
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In the interests of research we took away several bottled
beers, and worked through them over the weekend. Hole Hearted,
4.7%, the champion beer of several festivals, is brewed with 100%
Cascade hops. In the brewery we had been given handfuls of this hop
to roll in our palms to release the oils and allow us to sniff its
intense aroma. When you try the beer that is exactly the aroma and
taste you get - I've never known a beer to be so true to its hops!
Definitely one to try.
The boxed set of 4 bottles includes Hole Hearted and the excellent Blakes Gosport Bitter mentioned above, together with Oakleaf Bitter (at 3.8% a very easy drinking ale) and Heart of Oak 4.5%, (brewed to commemorate Trafalgar, a traditional ale with chocolate overtones) . 18 and 36 pint containers, and 9 gallon casks of the current beers are obtainable from the brewery, and they can also provide fully stocked bars (indoor or outdoor) for your functions.
Any brewery would be proud to have a line-up of such excellent
beers, and for a brewery only four years old it is an amazing
achievement. I can't wait to try some of their seasonal ales and I'm
sure that with Dave and Ed's enthusiasm being given free rein we shall
see some more classics coming from the Oakleaf Brewing Company Ltd.
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Views of the boiler and fermenting tanks |
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