1 Year of the (new) Tap by Trudie, Taproom Manager

In December 2017 we closed the Taproom doors to move the brewery out to our new unit at Deptford. We used this opportunity to expand our Taproom, almost quadrupling the amount of taps and expanding our offer to include more cider, wine and spirits. 2018 was a year of celebration for us as we introduced launch tastings, showcases, created a new exhibition space and celebrated our 5thyear in the local area.

Celebrating the Beer
Expanding our offer coincided with the expansion of the brewery also. In 2018, we upped our specials game with the ongoing Sour Series, and introduced Peck and Blackhorse to our seasonal Framing Range. We have released around 36 Brick specials at the Taproom, some of them exclusives. To put that into perspective it’s like releasing a new beer every 8 days! Nothing beats our core Foundation Range, however, smashing out over 21,000 pints of Peckham Pale, 19,000 Peckham Pils, 10,000 Peckham IPA and over 3,000 pints of Peckham Rye.

With 18/22 taps dedicated to beer we also committed to source a small range of international specials. Our goal is to constantly offer something different, either showcasing lesser-known breweries in the UK like the formidable French brewers Popihn and Mont Salève or seeking out extra specials from established brewers like Prairie Artisan Ales and The Bruery. This is also the way we structure our offering of bottles and cans, having a good balance in style, abv and price alongside our own releases. In April, we introduced a whole shelf of Gluten-Free beer options. This has been loved by many who would like to explore beer styles yet have a gluten intolerance and in December we decided to keep a wider range of low-no alcohol beer to cater to even more of you!

Celebrating the Non-Beer
Our ciders, wine and gin all come from London-based distributors or distillers. The cider comes from Walthamstow-based The Real Al Company and Hawkes in Bermondsey, our wine from Les Vins de Sylvain in Honor Oak and we regularly get gin from both East London Liquor Company and Peckham’s own Little Bird. Square Root, based in Hackney, provide all of our soft drinks including our beautiful Artemesia Tonic which we use for the gin and Serious Pig just a few arches down supply us with most of our snacking offer.
In December, we introduced a selection of 3 whisk(e)ys to our offer, of varying flavour profiles. At the moment we are serving Redbreast 12, Lagavulin 16 (my personal favourite) and Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve.

Celebrating our Staff
Of course, we would be nowhere without our dedicated team of bar staff. These are the lovely faces you see every day at the tap. We value their work immensely and this is why the decision was made in January 2018 to join the Living Wage Foundation, ensuring they are paid fairly and committing to matching the yearly changes. The dynamic we have built over the past 12 months feeds naturally into the service we provide creating a positive vibe all round. A massive shout-out to Jenny, my right-hand woman who joined us in April and who has been a phenomenal addition to the small management team and to Adam, Tallulah, Jesse, Alex, Sam and Will who make working at the Taproom such a pleasure!

 

Celebrating our Customers
Our customers; old and new, regular and passers-by are at the centre of this little patch of Peckham we inhabit. We keep our regular beer launches and tastings at the price of the beer offered to make the events as accessible as possible. We always ensure that a member of either the brew team or management are hosting to keep conversations open and to listen to feedback. Your opinion matters to us and throughout the year we brought a number of Taproom Exclusives from the brewery to you like the Rhubarb & Custard Sour, Beetroot Sour (my favourite!) and the many special beers for our showcases. The reactions we get to these specials sometimes influence our decision-making processes, so keep on chatting to us or posting and sharing your thoughts on social media.

Celebrating our Future
In a constantly changing Peckham our challenge has been to constantly adapt to our customer’s needs. Going forward in 2019 our goal is to make our launches and tastings more engaging and in-depth by the introduction of radar charts. We also want to make our events and exhibitions more dynamic by offering workshops, holding fairs and improving on our celebration showcases and festivals from last year. This year we also plan to research and action a plan to reduce our use of plastic and general waste, and increase the amount of items we recycle, including a plan to recycle any Keykegs that come in for special beers. We hope to keep running with our theme of Celebration for years to come, and we hope you will all join us!

We’ve taken a new and innovative approach to our Sour Series for 2019 with the addition of a new collection, called the Heritage Sour Series. These beers will have added complexities such as wood ageing or inspired by cocktails of old, or both, creating a depth and twist that compliments their Fruit Sour Series.

The first releases in this series are two vermouth cocktail-inspired beers; Manhattan Sour and Martini Sour.

Manhattan Sour: Styled on the classic cocktail, the Manhattan Sour blends sweet cherry with a dash of bitter orange.  Cinnamon and Ginger create a warmth alongside rich, sweet and fruity notes from ageing on cherry wood.  This dark sour harnesses the classic recipe made famous by New York’s speakeasies

Martini Sour: White grape, peach and lemon peel provide a delicate contrast to the dry base of this sour. Added chamomile, coriander seed and cardamom bring a level of complexity that defies expectation.  Classic, balanced, refined.  Olive not required.

Continuing to work with up and coming local artists and creatives, in addition to the different approach to the beers, we’ve also moved our inspiration for the artwork for this series on to the next era. They will follow a Mid-Century Modern influence which came directly after the Art Deco period for which the designs for the Fruit Sour Series are based. Function dictates form, with the flashy designs ditched and stripped down and organic clean lines embraced.

Using a new local artist for these label designs, we sat down with designer and creative Ted Low to find out a bit more about himself and how he approached this new label project for us!

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I’m Ted, 32 years old, and totally obsessed with sports and design. I loved playing basketball competitively but I’m not able to do it anymore due to an Achilles injury. Now instead I go running or surfing whenever I can get to the sea. Best of all, I love watching sports while enjoying a beer. Design is my second love and it’s awesome that I get to do it as my job. I’m always in awe at the breadth of talent in the design industry and the designs people create. I’ve lived in London now for six years after living in Brighton, Switzerland and South Africa.

What is your background and where did you grow up?

I’m originally from South Africa and feel like it was instilled in me from an early age by both my parents to be really proud of my South African nationality and how far the country has come. For my dad this meant making sure we watched all of South Africa’s rugby matches. As a family we left South Africa when I was three and half for Geneva, Switzerland as my dad was offered a new job. Upon arrival I apparently tried to leave the airport terminal bare footed and refused to put on shoes, even though there was snow on the ground. Switzerland was quite an adjustment at first, we really missed our family and friends in South Africa but looking back growing up with my older sister in Switzerland was great.

What does a typical day look like for you…

In September I started a Graphic Design studio with my friend and business partner Ryan Sargent, and shortly thereafter quit my regular full-time job, so I’m not too sure what a typical day looks like yet! Sometimes I’m out meeting clients, working from a coffee shop or I end up going to the office where I do most designing. As a company we just finished a branding project for a local café. Currently I’m working on a community mural and putting together proposals for new jobs. If I’m not too tired I try to get a run in before taking it easy in front of the TV, especially during the winter months.

How do you like to work?

When doing client work, my ideal scenario after getting the brief is to give myself the time and freedom to be creative. It usually gives me the biggest breadth of designs and I get to choose from a ton of designs and just present the best ones. For example, Martini Sour had 38 different designs but I only presented a few. If I’m doing personal work I tend to come up with a concept or idea for a design which challenges me to learn a new program, skill or technique to execute it in the way I envisioned it at the start. Say like learning how to code to create a website or testing out a new technique in animation software. I also can’t stand to work alone when doing design. Where possible, I aim to work in the company of other creatives, so that I can always get a second eye on something.

What/who inspires you and your work?

I’m always curious to see something new from Aaron Draplin, he’s so talented and I love his style of design but what I respect most about him is that he’s such a welcoming and genuine guy. I also hugely admire Saul Bass and Olly Moss design, not only are their designs graphically beautiful but the concepts behind their designs are brilliant. One of my favourite local designers is Rob Lowe a.k.a. Supermundane. And you never forget your first design crush: Tinker Hatfield; shoe designer for Nike.

Where or what is your favourite spot in South East London?

I wish this question was favourite spots plural rather than singular! If I’m forced to pick just one it has to be Marcella in Deptford (Brick: we also loooove this place! If you’re ever in/around Deptford… go!) The fact that I can get some of freshly made pasta that always blows my mind because of how good it is for a decent price is why it has to be my favourite. And if I’m allowed to cheat and add in a few more spots: Brockley Market, Browns coffee, Franks, Peckham Levels and Telegraph Hill.

Find more of Ted’s work here:

www.morethanequal.studio

www.ted8low.com

Instagram:

www.instagram.com/mtestudio/

www.instagram.com/ted8low

 

Taste them for the first time before it is released for general sale at the Taproom in keg or can. Get your tickets here for our brewer-led tutored tasting session to taste both beers, chat to the brewer who made them and find more about the beers’ journey! Ticket includes a welcome pint of Brick Brewery Foundation Range beer (Pils, Pale, Rye or IPA) and tasting quantities of the Martini and Manhattan Sour.

The Taproom is open as usual all weekend to try the beer exclusively too!

We’ll also be pouring them at Craft Beer Rising from 21st – 23rd February – stand 64

The Garden Brewery Collaboration: Rosehip and Wild Sorrel Sour, 3.8%

Our first collaboration beer of the year is with The Garden Brewery… all the way from Zagreb, Croatia!

Our Head Brewer, Pete, worked at The Garden Brewery before joining us at Brick Brewery so this is a collaboration close to our hearts. Pete headed over to Zagreb last November to brew a Rosehip and Wild Sorrel Sour with The Garden Brewery gang. This Rosehip & Wild Sorrel Sour was brewed with ingredients foraged by the brewers from the woodlands around Slijeme, a mountain to the North of Zagreb. Tart and floral with spicy almost lemongrass notes, with locally foraged Croatian herbs and plants.

The label artwork is inspired by traditional Croatian folk art. These particular patterns are interpreted in tattoos and are variations of pine trees and circle motives originating from a sort of circular dance in 19^thcentury Croatian villages, meaning a union and collectiveness.  A true union of 2 breweries.

 

Join us on Friday 8^thFebruary as we launch the beer at the Taproom, with an exclusive free tasting session of the beer with Tom from The Garden Brewery and our own Pete, PLUS a Tap Takeover from The Garden on our guest lines. Get your free tasting session ticket here to taste the beer exclusively before anywhere else, learn more about the beer and a chance to chat to the brewers.

As well as our collab in cans and on tap, there will also be from The Garden Brewery:

– Pale, 5.1%
– Chocolate & Peanut Butter Stout, 6.9%
– Milkshake IPA, 6.7%
– Garden Sour, 3.5%
– Vanilla & Chocolate Porter, 6.7%

Whilst some of The Garden Brewery team are in London we will be brewing a reciprocal collaboration at our Deptford site to be released in can and keg in March, so keep your eyes peeled for that too!