Celebrating 6 Years of Brick Brewery: Our Collaborations

Continuing our celebration of 6 years of Brick Brewery in the lead up to our birthday party on Saturday 7th December, this week we are looking back on the collaborations we’ve been part of over the years and led us to exciting endeavours that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise!

Collaborations are so commonplace nowadays with a new collaboration release out every week, epitomising the industry’s desire for sharing ideas, innovation and experimentation. Brick first dipped into collaboration beers in July 2017 with the release of Melange Imperial Stout, a collaboration with Peckham-based Melange chocolatier. They Using their dark chocolate cocoa nibs along with 7 malts and vanilla pods for a creamy and rich mouthfeel, plus a wrapped square of chocolate around the neck of the 660ml bottle.

Since then we have released 18 collaboration beers, plus collaborated with 7 breweries at their sites. With each collaboration, our aim is to push our own creative and brewing boundaries by releasing a style we might not have previously, using a new ingredient or collaborating with a different trade to combine their knowledge to produce an innovative final product that we all want to drink! We’d had on the brewing wish list to explore jerk smoking techniques and flavours within a beer for a while, so when we collaborated with 1251 Restaurant in November 2018 we used owner and Head Chef James Cochran’s we used James’ knowledge of Jamaican flavours to create a Jerk Spiced Stout using his famous secret jerk spice blend and smoked malt that James took to Whitstable, where he grew up, to smoke in a traditional smokehouse. The result was a subtly smokey, mildly spiced but full-bodied stout with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and sweet scotch bonnet, encapsulating each collaborator’s heritage and expertise to create something unique yet big on flavour.

This mantra to collaborate on beers that are more experimental and fun has continued throughout many of our collaborations. When we went over to The Garden Brewery in November 2018 to brew a Rosehip and Wild Sorrel Sour, Pete foraged the ingredients with The Garden team from the woodlands around Slijeme for a truly Croatian-centric beer.

Another great example; our Combined Harvest brewed in collaboration with Hawkes Cider. The Brut Graff, a hybrid between beer and cider, was made using 1.5 tonnes worth of Braeburn apple juice which Hawkes brought along to the brew day and was added to the whirlpool and then co-fermented with their house yeast and London Fog Ale yeast to create a beer that is super dry with hints of sweet spice and gentle cider tartness from the Braeburn apple juice. This release challenged some tasting notes… was it a beery cider? A cidery beer? As shown so eloquently on Untappd by some drinkers; “Like a London farmyard snakebite”. It split opinion but definitely challenged our knowledge and shifted our comfort zone.

2019 saw us approach some collaborations with breweries in a slightly different way by creating opportunities to add a charity and fundraising element to our collaborative projects. When we started putting together ideas for our 3 Peaks Challenge Collaboration Beers at the start of the year, being able to give something back to each community was an important part of the planning process. Born from our love of escaping London for the countryside and fresh air whenever we can, pushing our boundaries and collaborating with like-minded breweries we collaborated with 3 breweries all located within close proximity of the 3 highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon). Those 3 breweries were Fallen Brewing, Hawkshead Brewery and Wild Horse Brewing. Breweries of different sizes, locations and brewing styles but like-minded all the same, the 3 beers were inspired by each peak. Released in 440ml cans for the first time, a % of sale was donated to each collaborative brewery’s chosen charity; Start Up Stirling, Fix The Fells, Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation and Peckham Platform. Alongside these 3 Peaks inspired beers, we completed the 3 Peaks Challenge itself on 14th July 2019, with at least 1 member from each brewery taking part as we climbed all 3 peaks in 24 hours. We had so much fun collaborating all together to create 3 very special beers, travelling to new places and generally being inspired by the stunning surroundings these breweries are situated. Read more about that collaborative project here.

Our charity and fundraising-focussed collaborations have continued in 2019, with releasing Preferred Pronouns in collaboration with The Queer Brewing Project for the official London Craft Beer Festival beer, with 10% of sales going to Galop; the UK’s largest LGBTQ anti-violence charity. Our involvement in The Skyline Project, which saw us collaborate with Brooklyn-based KCBC to release Boysen Was The Cure, an Imperial Sour, contributed to £1 from each box being donated to Trees for Cities.

Our collaboration beers brewed at our site also gives opportunity to work with a new local artist for each label design. The most ‘free’ of all our beer labels, our collaboration labels gives each artist a lot of freedom to interpret the beer in their own unique way and showcasing their artistic style. This freedom has seen our collaborations go further than just creating the beer, with the label design being produced by our collaborators also. For our ‘Je Ne Saison Quoi’ Apricot Sour Saison release with Clapton Craft Forest Hill, then-manager Ben Weetman used his graphic design skills to translate the summer holiday inspiration with fun graphics and heady, summery colours onto the label. Lily of The Queer Brewing Project is also a talented artist who transformed a digital painting of hers, in a project exploring gender through art, from when she was a student at Camberwell College of Arts into a vibrant label design.

All of these collaborations over the years have set us new challenges, taken us to different parts of the world and made some great new friends. A big thanks to everyone who has collaborated with us over the years, these beers and projects have been a real highlight of our journey so far. We have big plans for 2020 and can’t wait to play host to some amazing new breweries, visit new places and brew even more beers. Stay tuned! What’s been your favourite collaboration we’ve done?

Our 6th birthday party is on Saturday 7th December at our Taproom in Peckham, more details on what we have planned here. Free entry, everyone welcome!

 

Celebrating 6 Years of Brick Brewery: Our Taproom

Continuing our celebration of 6 years of Brick Brewery in the lead up to our birthday party on Saturday 7th December, this week we are looking back on the many chapters that have made up our beloved Taproom (and of course original brewing site) in Peckham.

Transforming the small arch way under Peckham Rye station into a commercial brewery in 2013 soon also turned into the perfect site for Ian to test out his latest brews on the public and get immediate feedback. The spare space in the brewery was filled with a small bar, benches and malt sacks for seating and the original Taproom was born!

However, by April 2015 the brewery had expanded to fit in 3 more 30HL tanks (followed by 4 x 16HL in July 2016) and there was no more room for the bar so it went the only place it could… outside! Ian took delivery of a bright red shipping container and built an outside seating area from pallets… and of course who can forget (as much as we try!) the urinals made from old kegs. A surprising amount of you regularly reminisce fondly to us about those keg urinals, by the way… you strange bunch! It was all a bit rough around the edges, but it was cosy and busier than ever.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2017 we were at full brewing capacity with no space left unused in the brewery. By October 2017 we had begun our transition over to our new, much bigger, production site in Deptford.

Taking most of the equipment with us left us with all the space for a new bar space, indoor seating, sheltered outside space, improved accessibility and proper toilets! A month long renovation at the start of 2018 transformed the arch into the Taproom it is now…

We now have 22 lines, allowing us to have a great range of our Foundation Range permanently pouring, all of our latest specials and putting on beers from our favourite breweries. Our dedicated exhibition wall invites different local artists and creatives to display their work for 2-3 months on a rotating residency. We love having the freedom and opportunity to use the Taproom to test our small-batch and experiemential brews (anyone remember Rhubarb and Custard Sour?!), as well as hosting free and open tasting sessions for every new beer on our Friday launch nights.

Of course, we can’t reminisce about the Taproom’s various changes in the past 6 years without mentioning Slow Richie’s. We first met brothers Alex and Richie in summer 2015 when they took on the outside kitchen residency, serving up their infamous beef burgers topped with their homemade hot sauces, and they’ve been with us ever since! Taking over our red shipping container when we renovated meant they could make themselves more at home and in March 2019 transitioned to juicy pulled pork buns and given their hot sauces a fresh rebrand.

The Taproom has seen a lot of changes over the past 6 years but one thing that remains is our amazing customers. This celebration is dedicated to every single one of our customers; the loyal ones who have been around since Day 1 and continued to enjoy our beer as we have grown, the ones who come in for that much-needed pint of Peckham Pils on the commute home, the ones who come in for Slow Richie’s and get a beer simply to wash it down with, and the ones who come in thinking we are Peckham Springs/Bar Story and can’t be bothered to walk across 20 feet quite yet. And everyone else in between… you’re all fantastic! Thanks to all and hope you continue to enjoy the Taproom way into the future as much as we do.

 

Our 6th birthday party is on Saturday 7th December at our Taproom in Peckham so keep your eyes peeled on our social media for more details on that soon…

Textures of Time

Last week we welcomed a new exhibition to our Taproom wall. Curated by Helen Johannesen, a local ceramist, the wall installation pieces showcase how she explores solidifying liquid clay through casting, mark making with coloured slip clay using screen printing or other methods that all contribute to the on going development of her work. The pieces displayed make up an installation called Textures of Time, evoking a sense of place or journey. It’s so fun having another different medium on the wall, Helen’s pieces truly change throughout the day depending on how the light is hitting them through the window and we encourage you to get up close to fully appreciate the intricacies and detail of each piece… just no touching, please!

We sat down with Helen to find out a bit more about her and her work…

Helen, tell us a bit about yourself…

I graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017 with a Masters in Ceramics & Glass and was then awarded a scholarship to study in Konstfack Art School Stockholm in 2018. This year I have received the Zsuzsi Roboz Schlolarship at Morley College where I will be developing new work for a gallery installation exhibition in September 2020. Previously I ran a ceramic design business Yoyo Ceramics for 15 years. I’ve lived in Peckham for 8 years now, I have a studio at Cockpit Arts, Holborn so it’s a bike ride through the park and over the bridge.

What is your background and where did you grow up?

I was born in Croydon, my father is Norwegian and my mother was born in Bow and brought up in the Isle of Dogs – so two contrasting backgrounds! As a family, we then moved all around the U.K; the West Country, the east and the Midlands before I settled back in London 1991 when I studied at Middlesex University Ceramic BAHons. I’ve worked in the film industry as a model maker and have taught creative subjects in Universities since 1999 part time.

What does a typical day look like for you…

I have no fixed routine really, other than when I teach. I enjoy being a free spirit and changing my plans of a day or having them changed because that’s how life can be. It’s the benefits of working for yourself. I’ll probably either hop on my bike to my studio or to teach, or walk to gain a different perspective on life and slow the pace down a bit – London can feel a bit frenetic for me sometimes it’s its’ charm – and occasional drawback if you’re not in the mood for it!

How do you like to work?

I share my studio space which I enjoy, if I worked on my own I’d probably never switch off! I enjoy the sociability and community nature of my studios. Despite my work being usually clean lined and minimal, I work in a bit of a chaotic state, ceramics is messy and I am too . Weirdly, I like it that way, if everything is in its place I feel distant from it. My mind whirs best in an energetic surrounding.

What/who inspires you and your work?

I’ve always admired Brigit Riley and her ability to displace you with her paintings. The huge ceramic of Jun Kaneko for their graphic and sculptural qualities. I enjoy light and the natural shift throughout the day, especially on the bridges when I cycle over them.

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

Always a view, so up a hill or Franks rooftop bar, I enjoy the the varying views around Peckham and Camberwell, just dipping down streets and seeing all the amazing buildings and architecture. The South London Gallery is also a lovely place to visit regularly, having fun exhibits on. 

Helen’s work will be displayed until mid-October.

See more of her work here: helenjohannessen.co.uk and helenjohceramics