A special brew day for a special fathers day beer at Sadler's
This year for Father’s day (Sunday 16th June for those who need a friendly reminder!), Sadler’s are releasing a special edition cask Pale Ale. This pale, American Golden Ale has been brewed from the start with family in mind, using three generations of one hop variety; Fuggles, the Grandfather and OG of the hop world, was originally selected as a seedling in 1861 and was finally introduced into commerce in 1875 by Mr Fuggle himself. Cascade, the Father and one of America’s most popular varieties, was developed in Oregon in the early 1970s and is the result of open pollination of a Fuggle seedling crossed with the Russian Serebrianker variety. Jester, the Son of the family, was brought about as part of Charles Faram’s Hop Development Programme and is a seedling of Cascade, which emulates a lot of the characteristics of its US father. And to match this little hop family tree, it is also brewed using Pale Malt, Caramalt and Oats. This special brew was all set to go into production, but there was just one problem… The Sadler’s crew were at their wit's end trying to think up a name for it. After a long, lacklustre contemplative session they decided to risk the Beery McBeerface and take it to social media to give this Golden Ale the honourable name it deserved.
After a tough competition and a final heat of 4 top notch names, Gaz Duckhouse, from Bewdley won the competition with his awesomely devised name Nathaniel's Gold, paying homage to Nathanial Sadler, Founder of the brewery in 1861.His prize included a brewery tour for two, a couple of pints of the finished beer and best of all actually helping brew it!So on the 24th of May, Gaz brought along his father Geoff, to brew Nathaniel's Gold, and we caught up with them just as they were digging out the mash tun!
“I love real ale and I’ve looked into brewing beer before but have never actually done it. From what I’ve learnt so far today, I may explore that idea a little further. The guys made us feel very comfortable and it’s been a good day.” Said Gaz, shovelling a pile of malt.“Nice to see how it arrives in your glass,” Added Geoff, happily getting involved with the hard labour as well.
Catching both Headbrewers halfway through the day; Steve Robinson commented, “It’s great for our guests here who obviously have some emotional attachment to the beer after naming it.”Sam Pegg also seemed pleased with the team’s new additions, “We used to do specials but since we moved onto the new kit we stopped doing it, but this is the first brew that’s kicking that back off again!”
Steve and Sam also gave us a quick tour of this new 60-barrel kit, which they invested in a couple of years ago, and it looks fantastic. Sadler's still brew their small batches on the 30-barrel kit, which is where Nathaniel’s Gold was being brewed. But Steve also informed us that they are due to be getting a 5-barrel kit for even smaller batches and collabs with other breweries, so watch this space!
Just before we left, Gaz and his father were presented with a Nathaniel’s Gold pumpclip and the looks on their faces was fantastic.The brew will be available in the taproom and all of Sadler’s venues across the midlands. We can’t wait to head down and try it. One thing's for sure, Gaz and his father can definitely say that this one’s a well-earned pint!
