Pastore's Sour Stunners, Mother Rock Cult Faves, Time & Tide Return!
H E L L O
C L A P T O N C R A F T
F A N S !
What a week! It's been an absolute joy experiencing a partial return to normality in reopening our taprooms in Finsbury Park and Balham, in addition to our Wood St Depot finally make it's full debut. There's no reservations across the board, extended hours, and with some absolute delights pouring we reckon they're the place to shelter from the storm this weekend. On to proceedings, and there's the much anticipated comeback of sour sorcerers, Pastore. There's also our hottest natural wine drop of the year with cult favourites including Liquid Skin from Johan Meyer's Mother Rock project. That's not forgetting a mega restock on Time & Tide, plus picks from Pressure Drop, Cloudwater, and Signature. So, the pints might be flowing, but there's no let up on some glorious deliveries - keep on scrolling for the full low-down!
B R E W E R Y
O F
T H E W E E K
Mixed fermentation and sour specialists from Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, Pastore were last on our shores nearly a year to the day. Set up by father and son team Chris and Ben Shepherd (Pastore in Italian), Ben completed a Master's degree in brewing at the prestigious Heriot-Watt University where he aptly wrote his thesis on Brettanomyces. Loosely defined, their mixed ferm beers see traditional brewing yeast (Saccharomyces) replaced with wild yeast, usually native to the area, or a combination of another yeast such as Brett and/or Lactobacillus and Pediococcus bacteria. With an emphasis on funky, fruit-forward flavours in this realm Pastore go toe-to-toe with the complexity, and rewarding nature of other UK sour greats like Burning Sky or The Kernel while retaining the drinkability and juicy joy that Brick, Vault City, BBNo and more have so keenly honed in their Triple Fruited Goses and Pastry Sours.
As such we're delighted to have five of their finest puckering showpieces, with a bready, crispy Pilsner - Taverna thrown in for good measure. Their Limone is the ideal place to start, a low abv, refreshing radler-esque mixed culture sour beer conditioned on Sicilian lemons. With a small addition of mandarin and pink grapefruit, this is ideal hazy summery supping. Following up are a trio of vibrant, juicy efforts, the unique Sea Buckthorn (blood orange meets mango goodness), plus two Waterbeach Weisses, the tropical Passion Fruit & Guava, and jammy Blackcurrant. Finally, Pastry Sour Budino Estivo is a sunny smoothie in a glass, with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, redcurrants and vanilla coalescing for maximum five-a-day flavour.
As always we have double loyalty points across our Brewery Of The Week, and we thoroughly recommend you get to know Pastore with these dually accessible, and experimental bangers!
M O T H E R
R O C K
M A S T E R P I E C E S
A collaboration between cult winemaker Johan Meyer and lauded wine importer, Indigo, Mother Rock have blown us away time and time again, so much so that they're probably our most hotly anticipated drop of vino, all year round. Meyer aka 'Stompie' is a star of the new South African wine scene, and having developed strong relationships with some of the best grape growers across the Cape over the years, he's gained access to some of the region's best fruit. We hosted him in our Finsbury Park tasting room a year or so ago, and it's fair to say he's the real deal, with a beguiling, brilliant set of terroir-focused, minimal intervention efforts.
We're thrilled to see tangerine triumph Liquid Skin return in full force! Made from whole bunch Chenin Blanc left on skins for a ludicrous 9 weeks, this pours a deep golden yellow hue with a kaleidoscope of funky aromas from pineapple and lychee to apricot, honey and nuts. There's plenty of freshness and minerality on the palate too, with a touch of grip and a long citrus finish. Favourite Brutal! is back, a collab with the cult Barcelona natural wine bar of the same name, and one of the elusive Brutal style wines (no intervention, with zero sulphites). Here dry-farmed Chenin Blanc with 10 days skin contact offers zippy citrus, spicy pear, wild flowers and pithy grapefruit notes. Completing the set is a wine that lasted all of two days over Lockdown #1. His Force Celeste Rose from a sister project is full of vivid aromas of ripe raspberry and currants overlaid with dried herbs and lavender. In all a pretty outrageous natty trinity we'd like to think...
T I M E & T I D E
F I N A L L Y
R E T U R N !
Quite simply we didn't have enough Time & Tide to keep us afloat last time, so we're back with an even speedier restock on those South Coast suds. Bestseller Spratwaffler returns alongside the crispy clean Lighthouse Lager and quaffable Pils, Wanderlust. Following the success of their OG Sprat and the sublime Super Sprat... comes Jacked Sprat. A pillowy soft, balanced IPA packed with citrus, grapefruit and a hint of spice, this marries crushability with pure juice form factor. Lastly, we have SIPA slugger Urban Goose and the peachy, dank NEIPA newbie Timeball - rounding off another delectable drop from the Kent stars, destined for a fridge near you...
M A N A G E R
P I C K S
T H I S W E E K
ELLA - WOOD ST
🍷 CHATEAU LE PUY 🍷
Emilien - Legendary Natural Red w/ meaty, concentrated dark fruits & deep savoury depths.
Duc Des Nauves - Fresh, fruity Red made largely w/ Merlot for plum, blackcurrant & oaky spice.
FRANKLIN - KENTISH TOWN
💯 UNBARRED 💯
Bueno Shake - Choc layered with wafer, vanilla & hazelnut. Dessert heaven!
Casual Pale Ale - Smashable, clean Pale Ale with a soft, citrus spritz.
IPA - Bitter West Cost wonder loaded with grapefruit glory.
HANNAH - FINSBURY PARK
🔢 BBNO 🔢
Solero Gose - Like if your favourite juicy ice cream melted in the sun, but fun.
Organic Lager - Crisp, rustic lager with a satisfyingly malty complexity.
IPA West Coast - Bright, refreshingly bitter IPA with clean citrus & pine notes.
OSCAR - CLAPTON
🎤 SIGNATURE 🎤
Stage Diver - Their heaviest hopped beer ever. A wave of DIPA juice.
Pink Vinyl - Crisp, saline Sour full to the brim with black cherry & raspberry.
Lo-Fi - Hazy, tropical & continually impressive Alcohol Free Pale.
MEL - WALTHAMSTOW
🍸 MOTHER'S RUIN 🍸
Damson Gin - Luscious floral & citrus-driven Gin made with rose geranium leaf.
Sloe Gin - Tart & sour sloes create a complex plum-flavoured Liqueur.
Bitter Orange Rum - Burnt caramel meets Seville Oranges & dark, marmaladey Rum.
DAVE - BALHAM
💦 PRESSURE DROP 💦
IDA - Tart, yet easy drinking Raspberry Berliner Weisse made with basil & locally foraged elderflower.
Lunar Park - A soft, stone fruit & citrus crowdpleaser, making for yet another unmissable IPA from the team.
LARA - FOREST HILL
🍫 HAMMERTON 🍫
City of Cake - Deep, rich, fudgy & utterly indulgent Milk Stout.
Little Ant - Full bodied Micro IPA bursting with tropical tangerine peel.
Prunus King - Fresh, bright & zingy Gose - a pure peach bonanza.
W E B S H O P
H I G H L I G H T S
T H I S W E E K
☁️ CLOUDWATER ☁️
Apple Blossoms - Dank & vibrant pale, supercharged with NZ & US hops.
The Shoreline At... - Clean NZ Pilsner, saturated in malt & hop flavour.
Nature Is An Upgrade - A new yeast strain allows citrus-packed Mosaic & Citra to shine.
🥇 THE KERNEL 🥇
Biere De Saison Apricot - Mellow, refreshing sour fruited at a barmy 500g/l of beer!
London Sour Raspberry - Tart, refreshing, fruit-forward sour. Juicy, yet complex.
👊 FIRST CHOP 👊
JOE - Silky & smooth Gluten Free Stout made with luscious cold brew coffee.
IPA - Hazy, handsome GF NEIPA. Drinkable peach notes to the max.
MCR - Rich & malty GF Bitter, a throwback of the finest kind.
🍹 VAULT CITY 🍹
OJ IPA - Spiked orange juice brilliance, backed up by punchy Mosaic & Simcoe hops.
Blackcurrant Kir Royale - Elegant, yet stupidly succulent pastry sour made w/ white grapes.
Thanks for reading - enjoy your week & just maybe we'll see you for a drink!