British students revive antique beers

Modern Brewery Age, June 30, 2003

Students at the Brewlab Brewing Technology course at the University of Sunderland in the U.K. are investigating and test brewing 100-year-old beers. Tariq Khan, a student from Montreal, recently bottled a revival of a Yorkshire strong ale called Old Tom. The beer was made from a recipe in a 1903 brewer's log from the Hammond's Brewery in Bradford England. "The brewery closed in 1963, so the beers haven't been tasted for at least 40 years," Khan says. "Some of them possibly not since the First World War."

This is the seventh year for the unique practical brewing course. "the work is part of a wider investigation but forms part of the course assessment where students have to translate a historic recipe and recreate the beer," says course teacher Dr. St. John Usher. "In addition, students produce novel beers and sell them in local pubs to allow a marketing assessment and gain customer feedback. We do get unusual comments when students launch unusual beers. A 5% coffee stout caused a mixed response recently, but a British Colombian bitter was a big success."

Usher said students receive valuable feedback on their beers, as well as perfecting theoretical knowledge towards their professional qualifications. He said that 80% of the students obtain employment in the brewing industry.

Matt Letki took the course in 2000, and is now the head brewer at the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. in Ontario, Canada. "The BBT course gave me much more than a qualification," he says. "Practical experience in a variety of breweries allowed me to develop myself far more than I could have done at the home brew shop I ran. Breweries now seem more realistic and secure in their future, and keen to hire brewers with training and experience."

Dr. Keith Thomas, director of Brewlab, noted that the course provides practical experience in international brewing, with British techniques as a specialist subject. "Interpreting brewing history provides novel skills," he said, "which can be used elsewhere m the world to enhance product ranges and increase customer interest. The Hammond's Brewery project aims to recreate the full portfolio of beers from that brewery's 1903 log, and assess how well these suited the local demand."

The Hammond's project is supported by specialist craft brewers from London, and uses authentic ingredients, including a yeast resurrected from brewery archives. The seven Hammond's beers revived for the project include a 4.2% a.b.v ale, a 5.6% a.b.v porter, and a 10% a.b.v. barley wine called Stingo.

Dr. Thomas said that the Hammond's yeast is particularly interesting. "We are always keen to investigate original yeasts and match them to beers," he said. "Our yeast bank covers 130 different yeasts which we culture for local and international brewers. A brewery's yeast is often the first casualty of closure, so it is particularly exciting to see a new strain used after such a time"

Yeast analysis is a specialty of Brewlab, and the school will support similar studies in the future. The current session will focus on the Hammond's beers, but Dr. Thomas said that future students "may well uncover other novel beers for their own developments."

For information on the Brewlab and the Hammond's Brewery project, check Brewlab's web-site, located at www.brewlab.co.uk.