In the latest episode of the Hop Forward Podcast, we are thrilled to have Toby from RedWillow Brewery as our special guest. RedWillow Brewery is a small independent brewery based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK, that has been making exceptional beers since 2010.
During our conversation, founder Toby McKenzie shares with us the story behind their renowned Heritage Porter and how they incorporate heritage malts to create unique and complex flavours. We also dive into their approach to brewing different beer styles and how they stay true to their ethos of producing modern cask beer.
We explore the importance of creativity in the brewhouse and how something has been lost in translation from the early days of the craft beer boom when people were making a wide variety of beer styles, in comparison to today where Hazy IPAs rule the roost.
We also speak to Mike Benson from Crisp Malting Group at SIBA Beer X, discussing the application of their range of heritage malts.
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At Crisp Malt we have lived and breathed malting since 1870. With our passion and expertise, we produce and supply the finest UK malt to the brewing and distilling industry across the globe.
We combine traditional and modern malting techniques at our sites in England and Scotland to create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts; such as Chevallier Heritage Malt.
The process of discovery is often a happy accident. In the case of Chevallier barley, a combination of an itchy toe, some good soil and a keen eye, turned a single ear of barley into a worldwide phenomenon and established the flavour of English beer for a century.
It’s with similar serendipity that our heritage malt range came about. Our friends at the John Innes Centre were searching for an old variety that could combat the disease, fusarium head blight and happened on Chevallier. Not only did it successfully resist this disease but the malt it produced made for a beer laced with a richness of flavour we hadn’t encountered before in modern varieties. From just a handful of seeds, we have spent the past decade re-discovering the flavours of Chevallier and have been spurred on to uncover the stories and flavours of two more barleys that made brewing history, alongside our beloved Maris Otter.
