Available from Friday 17th May.

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Hop’s'Quad is brewed with Premium Pale Ale, Rye and Crystal malts to produce a rich and dark chestnut beer in which to showcase four of the finest British hops – Challenger, Bramling Cross, First Gold and Goldings. This beer is full of spicy and fruity aromas with hints of blackcurrant leading to a refreshing bitter finish.

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Available from Monday 6th May, Dissolution will be available in keg in a selection of our pubs.

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The Brains Craft Brewery

We will increase the craft brewery’s capacity with the addition of another fermentation vessel and extra cold storage tanks which will enable us to increase capacity.

Ian Beattie, Brand Manager at Brains, explains: “Since we launched the craft brewery last year we have been struggling to meet demand and have been overwhelmed by the positive consumer reaction for our craft brewery beers. Our brand is connecting with the target consumer and it is fundamental that we remain at the forefront of the emerging craft beer market in the UK. In order to achieve this we need more capacity and the investment will ensure that we are able to meet the increased demand.

Since the craft brewery commenced production we have brewed 22 new beers. Some have sold out in less than 40 minutes and two – Barry Island IPA and Boilermaker – have gained national distribution with Morrisons and Tesco.”

Last year we ran ‘The Ultimate IPA Challenge’ with beer writers and bloggers, which was won by Boilermaker, a collaboration beer with Tom Sandham and Ben McFarland of Thinking Drinkers. This year ‘The Ultimate Continental Beer Challenge’ will see Pete Brown, Robyn Black, Sophie Atherton, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Des De Moor and Glenn Payne battle it out to be crowned the brewer of the ‘Ultimate Continental Beer’ in December 2013.

Bill Dobson, Head Brewer at Brains, added: “Since we opened the craft brewery last year we have concentrated on adding variety to our portfolio and engaging with consumers who are demanding quality beer from a brand they know and trust. Look out for a number of new beers that we will be taking to the Great Welsh Beer Festival in June and the Great British Beer Festival in August. ”

Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival - www.gwbcf.org.uk
Great British Beer Festival - www.gbbf.org.uk

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Dr Rudi is a New Zealand hop named after Dr Rudi Roborgh, the ‘Father of New Zealand hops’. Dr Rudi is added at three different stages of the brewing process to provide bitterness, aroma and flavour and gives flavours of lemongrass, tropical fruit and the freshness of pine needles to this golden ale.

Sent to our pubs from Monday 29th April.

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Dissolution is the first collaboration Continental Beer from the craft brewery. In our second Annual Challenge, we’ve invited writers and bloggers, including Robyn Black from The Publican’s Morning Advertiser and Adrian Tierney-Jones, to develop their ‘ultimate Continental Beer’. There are a range of styles planned including a Schwarzbier, a Marzen and a Saison.

Pete – author of Shakespeare’s Local – chose to brew a 6.0% abbey-style dubbel traditionally brewed by the Trappist monks of Belgium. The result is a dark, full bodied and complex beer full of rich and fruity plum flavours with a sweet raisin aroma and a spicy, warming finish.

Bill Dobson, our head brewer, said: “The craft brewery has given us the opportunity to brew with a number of guest brewers as part of our annual challenges, which last year resulted in an eclectic mix of IPAs. This year’s continental theme is turning out to be similarly exciting, and Pete’s beer is a great style to start the Challenge.”

All seven Continental Beers, including the Brains entry, will be independently judged at an event in December. The winning beer will become part of our beer festival programme.

The first Annual Challenge was the ‘Ultimate IPA’ and saw the likes of Melissa Cole, Simon Martin, aka Mr Real Ale Guide, and Tim Hampson brew their take on an IPA. Crowned the Ultimate IPA was Boilermaker, which was brewed with Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham from Thinking Drinkers.

Dissolution will be available in selected craft beer houses from Monday 22^nd of April in cask and from the beginning of May in keg. For a full list of stockists visit www.brainscraftbrewery.com/dissolutionstockists

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Available from Monday 22nd April, Dissolution will be available in a selection of our craft beer houses.

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Boilermaker, a collaboration brew with Thinking Drinkers (aka Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham) is now available in 60 Tesco stores across the country.

Thinking Drinkers, award-winning beer writers and writer-performers of Edinburgh-fringe ‘The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol’, came to the Cardiff brewery to brew as part of our Ultimate IPA Challenge. The Penderyn whisky based India Pale Ale was crowned the winner of the Challenge by a panel of independent judges at an event in London in December.

Boilermaker is the second Brains craft beer to gain a national listing. Barry Island IPA, a 6% American-style IPA, is available nationwide in Morrisons and in Tesco.

Boilermaker is a copper-coloured IPA brewed with Ben and Tom from Thinking Drinkers. Brewed with Chinook, Simcoe, Cascade and Willamette hops and matured with Penderyn whisky infused oak chips in casks from the distillery, the arts of distillation and brewing combine to create an epic Welsh IPA adorned with a fragrant citrus aroma, a touch of spice with hints of vanilla and a warm whisky finish.

Paul Harvey, head of retail multiple groups, said; “We are delighted that our major customers can see the opportunity that our craft beer range offers the beer category, and celebrate our fourth listing for our craft beers in under a year. We are looking forward to working together to give new and existing consumers more and more variety underpinning our 130 years of brewing credentials.”

For a full list of stockists visit www.brainscraftbrewery.com/find-our-beer

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Available from Monday 15th of April in a limited number of cask pubs. Click here for a full list.

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Boilermaker, a collaboration brew with Thinking Drinkers (aka Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham) will soon be available in Morrisons stores throughout the UK.

Thinking Drinkers, award-winning beer writers and the brains behind the acclaimed comedic show ‘The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol’, brewed the Penderyn-whisky based India Pale Ale with us in 2012 in the craft brewery as part of the Ultimate IPA Challenge. Boilermaker was crowned the winner of the Challenge by a panel of independent judges at an event in London in December.

This latest Morrisons deal will see the beer stocked in over 320 stores nationwide.

Boilermaker is our second craft beer to gain national listings. Barry Island IPA, a 6% American-style IPA, is available nationwide in Morrisons and in Tesco.

Paul Harvey, head of retail multiple groups, said; “We are delighted that our major customers can see the opportunity that our craft beer range offers the beer category, and we are looking forward to working together to give new and existing consumers more and more variety underpinning our 130 years of brewing credentials.”

For a full list of stockists visit http://ow.ly/jQLTC

Read what Thinking Drinkers had to say about their beer being listed nationally here  http://ow.ly/jQLXf

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