You might have heard already but in just under a month we will be throwing one almighty party at The Beer Merchants Tap, here in Hackney Wick.
The Tap, alongside BeerMerchants.com, is part of Cave Direct – one of the UK’s most established specialist importers & distributors of great beer. Cave was started in 1979, by Brian Gilhespy and his Belgian wife Alice, who opened their first bottle shop in 1984 with great brands such as Liefman’s, Orval, Cantillon, Rochefort & De Dolle all featuring on the shelves. Fast forward to 2019, Cave is run by Brian’s Son & Daughter, Colin & Lou, and we’re ready to celebrate 40 years of Cave alongside 40 of our partner breweries, our trade partners and of course the beer loving public (that’s you!).
We’re calling the event “In Good Company”, because, well, that’s what we are going to be. If you haven’t got your tickets yet don’t worry, we still have some left for each session. The public events will take place on Friday 14th June (6-11pm) and Saturday 15th (12-5pm / 6-11pm). We’re also adding in some very special tastings during each session that you can reserve with your ticket (more info on that below).
So what can you expect from “In Good Company” I hear you say?! Well I’m glad you asked because we’ve been toiling away here at CD/BM Central for a good few months organising what we think will be a truly amazing addition to the UK beer scene. We’re transforming the Tap, as well as the adjacent warehouse that we’re borrowing, into a proper full on beer festival for the weekend, with three different rooms, Brewer led tastings, very special beers and a whole bunch of amazing brewers pouring their beers. It’s pretty much going to be one huge, awesome Tap Takeover / Meet The Brewer, and with some very special brewers.
First off we’re turning our Blendery room into a dedicated Lambic Bar! Yep that’s right, 100% of the beer on the taps is from Lambic Producers. And not only will we have kegs from Cantillon, Boon, Lindemanns, Oud Beersel & Tilquin but we are going to be joined by none other than Jean Van Roy of Cantillon, Karol Boon & Dirk Lindemanns themselves! These Belgian masters will be pouring their own beers for the first time ever in the UK, and the beer list is looking pretty damn special.
Alongside the Lambic bar we’re bringing two full Lambic & Sours fridges from our entire Cave Direct catalogue – we’ve got beer from the five attending breweries plus 3 Fonteinen, Hanssens, De Ranke, De Leite, De La Senne, De Troch, Petrus, Rodenbach and many more.
As mentioned above we’re going to be holding Brewer Led tastings during each session, where we will taste four beers alongside some of the world’s finest brewers & blenders. We’re very excited to announce that the first tasting will be with Cantillon’s Jean Van Roy himself!
We’re going to be continuing on in the same vein with tastings from Lervig, Burning Sky, Siphon, Northern Monk & Wild Beer Co.
If you’re wondering how beer payment at the event will be structured, then let me put you at ease. We decided to go for a low cost entry ticket to ensure the event was inviting to beer fans of all levels. You can drink as much or as little as you desire during your session!
- There will be a handful of our favourite core beers priced at one token / £2.50 for a half, including some crispy lagers & tasty pales.
- The vast majority of beers will be priced at one token / £2.50 for a third. This will include a plethora of specials from all our attending breweries.
- Most Lambics, Imperial Stouts & cheeky Triple IPAs (you know who you are) will be two tokens / £5 for a third. This will still represent excellent value for very sought after beers.
Tickets for one Session are £15 and include your first two tokens. Further tokens can be bought for £2.50 each. At the moment there are still tickets for each session available.
http://bit.ly/InGoodCompany19
Tickets for the Brewer led Tastings are just £5 (four 100ml pours minimum) and will be available from noon on Wednesday 29th May.
The link to these tastings will be made available to ticket holders only, and will be limited in number.
So get your “In Good Company” tickets today to make sure you don’t miss out!
We hope you are as excited as we are about this party! We’ve even got ourselves a giant floating pink elephant specifically for the occasion…
The CD/BM Team!
If you have any questions feel free to contact us – hello!
It’s the start of another bright new year. If, however, you think the beer industry is taking a breather, well you are dead wrong! Beer never sleeps, people! It’s Tryanuary after all!
We’re starting 2019 as we intend to go on – celebrating great beer. We’re also celebrating those souls who toil over their mash tuns every day. We’ve got two great Tap Takeover Weekends lined up as part of this years Tryanuary. Many customers choose to turn their back on bars and pubs at the beginning of the New Year in an effort to shave off all those mince pies pounds. With Tryanuary the beer and hospitality industry encourages people to be more selective with their drinking as opposed to abstaining completely.
With our first Tryanuary Tap Takeover weekend, from Thursday 17th to Saturday 19th January, we will be championing one of our local favourites, Gipsy Hill Brewery. This South London brewery has gone from strength to strength in recent years. They’ve added a diverse selection of special beers to its extremely popular core range. With their extremely recognisable graphics the Gipsy Hill 440ml special cans are becoming more and more available across London and beyond. Joining us on launch night will be the whole Gipsy Hill team, including owners & brewers Sam & Charlie.
Our next Tryanuary Tap Takeover weekend will be from Thursday 31st Jan to Saturday 2nd Feb (just squeezed it in there). We’ll be celebrating not one, not two but three British breweries that we believe are set to take 2019 by storm. Verdant brewery, from Falmouth in Cornwall, really don’t need an introduction. They are the creators of some of the finest hoppy pales, juiciest New England IPAs and stunningly rich Imperial stouts in the UK. Since pairing up with Pressure Drop to open The Experiment in Hackney, Verdant have run an extremely successful Crowdfunder. These guys will be moving to the next level once their new brewery opens. Alongside Verdant we are very happy to be hosting Suffolk’s own Burnt Mill Brewery. Focused on producing fresh, unfiltered beer, head brewer Sophie De Ronde has been turning heads with her perfectly balanced beers.
Finally to round off the Triple Whammy we’ll be hosting Left Handed Giant, one of Bristol’s top breweries in a city of amazing breweries. Also fresh from a successful crowd funding campaign LHG are poised to expand their operation into a brand new restaurant, bar and event space venue. The existing brewery will become a mixed fermentation specific facility with a coolship and an extended barrel and foudre store. Damn yes. We will have four to six kegs from each brewery across the weekend so come and get your fill!
What beer education events have we got going on this Tryanuary?
Quite a lot actually. We’re going to be launching a series of educational events, tastings and training days. These will be open to all and will be focused on furthering beer knowledge, tasting & judging experience and even hands on amateur brewing experience (more on that later on this month).
First up we’ll be hosting the Cicerone training courses once more on Saturday 19th January (Off flavour training) and Sunday 20th January (BeerSavvy Bootcamp). Cicerone is a world recognised beer qualification. Beer Merchants has a number of Cicerone trained staff. There are still places available so get your tickets here.
How about Beer Judging?
We will also be launching a monthly BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Beer Training course. The BJCP gives clear style guidelines and indications on aroma, flavour, appearance & mouthfeel for each beer style. It is a much loved tool of every home brewer. It’s becoming increasingly used as a resource by professionals in the beer industry to increase their beer knowledge and educate palates. This month we will be kicking off proceedings with American Dark Beers (including American Amber, Brown, Porter and Stouts). These events will be ticketed and limited in number. They will include training not just on each particular style but also on more generic beer tasting and judging. Where possible we will be tasting commercial and home brewed examples side by side. Each participant will be encouraged to judge and score beers one or two beers during each session.
The course will run the length of 2019, and the goal will be to encourage as many attendees as possible to join the BJCP, sit the Tasting Exam and join the fast growing pool of amateur UK beer judges. Our very own resident beer dork, Pips, will be leading the course. Pips is founder and director of Brew Con, the UKs first and only home brewing conference and expo and he is pretty obsessed about beer so you’re in good hands.
Anything else?
We’re very excited to bring all these events to you, but just in case that wasn’t enough to sate your appetite then don’t worry there is more…
Beer Merchants resident Yorkshireman, Jack, is bringing his widely successful beer & cheese pairing night to the Tap. Join Jack once a month as he explores the wonderful world of cheese, enhanced by our favourite beverage. Tickets are only £12.50 and include four beer & cheese pairings on the night. Grab your tickets here.
We’re very happy to announce that we have partnered with Foodism Magazine. We’re launching a brand new monthly tasting evening ‘Hop Culture’ on the first Tuesday of every month. This evening will focus on the very freshest, most hyped beers out there. Each session will include six tutored tastings led by Pips and the Foodism team. More info here.
and one more bonus event?
Finally, for something a little bit different, we’re teaming up with some of our favourite beer journalists, writers and photographers to launch a monthly Photography exhibition night, aptly named ‘#Beertography’ (yes including the hashtag). We’re honoured that to kick off proceedings the lovely and talented Theresa Undine will be showcasing some of her best work. All the artwork will be available to buy on the night. Come join us for a slightly more high brow beery evening. You’ll have the chance to snap up the perfect piece to go above the mantelpiece.
See you later on this month, team.
Beer Merchants Crew x
Cave Direct & Beer Merchants would like to invite the entire beer industry down for a jolly old Charity Christmas party, raising money in aid of Hackney Winter Night Shelter. There will be Christmas tunes and festive cheer throughout Beer Merchants and all for a really great cause.
A host of our partner breweries have donated beer to the event and we will be selling them at a festive price of just £4 a pint with 100% of proceeds going to HWNS.
We’ll have Lervig, Gipsy Hill, Tiny Rebel, Pressure Drop, Beavertown, Lost & Grounded, Northern Monk, Wild Beer Co and more!
HWNS work within the community to provide warmth and shelter to homeless guests through the cold winter nights and to support them in rebuilding their lives. Check the charity out here to find out how you can help – https://www.hwns.org.uk/
We’ll also have plenty of mince pies & Christmas snacks to hand out! Hopefully see you there.
Fyne Ales Origins Brewing Showcase
Friday 14th September
6pm-11.30pm
www.fyneales.com/origins
Join Beer Merchants Tap & Fyne Ales for an evening showcasing Origins Brewing – Fyne Ales’ small-batch brewing project creating beers using mixed fermentation, foraged ingredients, wood and time.
There’ll be a handful Origins beers on tap, bottles in the fridges and Iain from Fyne Ales will be hanging out to share some bottle pours from the Origins Brewing cellar and talk about the project and the latest releases – the Summer 2018 Collection.
OKTOBERFEST BIER HALL OOMPAH PARTY
at The Beer Merchants Tap
Friday 5th October // 6pm – 1am
(Oktoberfest Bier Hall – 21st Sept to 27th October)
The Beer Merchants Tap is bringing the Oktoberfest to end all Oktoberfests to Hackney Wick. Our sister company, Cave Direct, has been importing German Lagers for over 40 years and this year we’re bringing them all under one roof!
Our ‘Oktoberfest Bier Hall’ is launching on Friday 21st September and will last for six whole weeks, all the way through October closing on Saturday 27th.
We’re going to be featuring some amazing beers on the bar including:
– Paulaner Munich Helles, Weiss & Oktoberfest
– Hacker Pschorr Keller Bier & Oktoberfest
– Lost & Grounded Keller Pils
– Mahrs Brau Helles
and lots, lots more!
Throughout the event Steins (two pints) of Paulaner & Hacker Pschorr will be available for £12, served with a delicious freshly baked pretzel from The German Deli.
Friday 5th October however will be the BIG NIGHT! We are very proud to have The Bavarian Strollers, one of the UK’s top Oompah Bands, performing throughout the night at the Tap!
YOU MUST HAVE A TICKET TO SECURE A TABLE IN THE BEER HALL WHERE THE BAND WILL BE PERFORMING!
Tickets include your first stein of beer & pretzel, and table service all night long!
We will be reserving tables for parties of 6-8 on the night.
Email tap@beermerchants.com to reserve your table now!
HOLD ME CLOSER, TINY REBEL
TAP TAKEOVER WEEKEND FEATURING THREE BEER LAUNCHES!
To conclude our Tiny Rebel July Residency in style we’re having a huge weekend of Wale’s finest export since Gareth Bale. We will be hosting beer launches each day of the weekend as well as having a plethora of TR beers on the taps.
BEER LAUNCH
Thursday 26th
Imperial Choc Stay Puft 9% Marshmellow Porter
Imagine Imperial Puft with shed loads of chocolate. If you can’t picture that, think about Chocolate Stay Puft, but an imperial version. Tasting notes – boozy Stay Puft with Chocolate!
Imperial? Check. Marshmellow? Check Chocolate? Check. Job done.
BEER LAUNCH
Friday 27th
FIELDS FOREVER – N.Monk x Tiny Rebel Collab New England Strawberry Ipa (keg) 6.5%
We’ve been fans of Northern Monk for a while and we’re chuffed to say we’ve done a collab with them! We love big fruity NEIPAs but everyone’s done a big tropical murk monster, so we started to think in other places. The idea of stawberries cropped up, and then cream was suggested to go with the silky texture of the style. Whack a load of lactose in and what do you get? Fields Forever! Loads of late and dry hopping for bags of aroma and flavour with low bitterness, then the strawberries, vanilla and lactose do the rest!
Two of the UKs best breweries pushing boundaries! Whats not to love?
BEER LAUNCH
Saturday 28th
Strawberry Milkshake Ipa (cask) 4.5%
Part of our single-hopped milkshake IPA series but this one ISN’T single hopped! Ok, well it is, but that’s not the main feature of this beer! Instead of mountains of dry hop we’ve chucked in a few hundred punnets worth of fresh strawberries! The aroma is, as expected, rich with strawberry, with a nice malted undertone. Flavour is very much the same, but rather than sweetened, candy-like fruit flavour, it’s a really fresh, slightly tangy note that really takes you out into the fields for a bit of fruit picking. The lactose smooths it all out and gives it a bit of sweetness to round off the edges. It’s delicious!
Get your Camra pants on and come taste the future!
Rotating Tap List of other Tiny Rebel delights:
KEG
- Lychee Lager 4.2% The floral fruity sweetness of lychee is a perfect accompaniment to the sweet maltiness of a lager, so we’ve gone and done what seems very sensible – and we were right!
- Cwtch 4.6% Probably the best word ever. Cwtch rhymes with butch and can mean either cuddle or cubbyhole. Grab a glass, relax and cwtch up with this untraditional Welsh red ale – a perfect blend of six caramelly malts and three citrussy American hops.
- Citra Milkshake IPA 4.2% TR brewed up a single-hop IPA with one of their favourite hops, Citra, and have drawn out the flavours with a little bit of sweetness.
- The Great Cornholio 8.4% Double Rye IPA with a really full-bodied, thick double IPA, backed full of really multi-dimensional hops. Mosaic and Chinook combine with a pair of South Pacific varieties for a layered amalgamation of citrus, pine and spice.
- Cheeky V 4% Vimmie Sour with punnets and punnets of raspberries, blackcurrants and grapes go into this super delicious kettle sour.
- Clwb Tropicana 5.5% This grown up fruit salad is as colourful as the most hideous Hawaiian shirt you’ve ever seen. It’s super juicy and crammed full of fruity hop flavours that will have your mouth watering. Imagine sitting by the pool in the blazing sun with a cocktail in one hand, but instead of a dainty little glass it’s served by the pint!
CASK
- Cherry Bomb 5% Explosively sour, Cherry Bomb is packed full of sweet cherries that round off this modern take on a kriek. The sourness detonates on your tongue in an explosion barely contained by your cheeks, before the rich flavour of cherry kicks in as the dust settles.
- Fugg Life 4.2% Our Brit PA is wholly hopped using British hops. Rather than the fruity, citrussy flavours imparted by American and Pacific hops we use their British cousins resulting in an earthy, woody flavour that makes for perfect bittering.
- Nelson Sauvin Milkshake 4.2% The third instalment of our single-hopped Milkshake series! This time we supercharge New Zealand’s fruity, musky Nelson Sauvin with lactose!
Check out www.beermerchants.com for more Tiny Rebel goodness delivered straight to your door!
