Casks, clubs and Christmas

Hello All,

Well, despite 2022’s best efforts to outdo 2020 in awfulness, we’re still here and still producing fabulous beer to soothe your soul and make it all better. As some of you have noticed (and judging by sales, quite a lot of you have) we’ve released a new beer this year - Barrique. A 5.8% amber ale aged for 3 months in Speyside whisky casks, and yes, it’s exactly as lovely as it sounds. Our second batch just hit the shelves in time for Christmas. We have about 1200 bottles and 40 minipins, and batch 3 won’t be ready until the February, so don’t delay, it’s going fast! We also have The Premium IPA and Saison available in bottle and minipin for Christmas, so you could get all of the Premium range for the festive sideboard, which should put a smile on anyone’s face…

In other news, we’ve just launched a beer club to meet any Untapped brewery needs you might possibly have. There are 2 levels of membership - Core and Premium - in each you get 6 bottles of beer, wearable merch, a very funky pint glass and, crucially, access to exclusive online discounts and brewery events. For the events, we’re going to be holding brewery tap days, link ups with other producers and tour and tasting events, starting in the New Year when the worst of Winter is over. Perfect if you want to spend more time with us (and why wouldn’t you?) or as a Christmas present for the beer lover in your life. Just saying. You can find details under the ‘Store’ dropdown.

As ever, we’ll be open right through December up to and including Christmas Eve, and we’ll also be here between Christmas and New Year in case of sudden shortages! If you want to order online, we’d recommend ordering early if you can to ensure delivery and the widest selection of beers. We always run out of something by Christmas week!

Looking forward to giving you a warm welcome.

Take Care,

THE UNTAPPED TEAM

 

 

Keep calm and keep brewing.

Well, 2022 is well under way, and, safe to say, hasn’t been the post pandemic celebration we were all hoping for, thanks to evil Russian Dobby. Amidst all the horrific news coming out of Ukraine, telling you about latest happenings in the brewery feels trite to say the least, but we will keep trying, as we have for the last 2 years, to provide a small window of normal and hopeful during very bleak times.

We’ll start off with both bad and good news. It’s with a heavy heart that we’ve decide to drop Crystal wheat beer from the range. Despite its excellence (a firm CAMRA favourite), its sales slowed as our Belgian style Saison took off, and it’s just too expensive to make to just sit there looking pretty. The good news is that we’re replacing it with a whisky barrel aged ale! It’s a rich British hopped light amber ale that is maturing as we speak in Speyside whisky barrels in our cold store. The aim is to get it out in time for Easter, but you’ll need to watch this space, as we won’t put it out until we think it’s ready to go.

The photo above is of the barrels being filled a few weeks back. We haven’t tasted it yet (these things can’t be rushed), but if it tastes as good as it smelt when filling, you’re in for a treat!

The new bottling line we bought last year is doing a grand job, meaning that we can bottle more than twice as fast as before. The upshot of this is that we have good stocks of everything in bottle for the first time since, well, before the pandemic and can brew more into cask as the pub trade recovers. We’re staring to see old pub friends, such as the Three Tuns in Chepstow and the Brecon Tap, return as things become increasingly normal, and we’ll hopefully have more outlets selling our beer as the weather, and hopefully the news, improves.

With our , new storage unit in place, we’re going to expand the shop over the spring and summer, hopefully bringing in some other local producers that we like. We’re also thinking of running a mini brewery tap on a Saturday, now that we have the space to have some seating inside. Please let us know if this is something you would like / use!

We’ll post again soon with more news.

Take Care, Stay Safe,

THE UNTAPPED TEAM

 

The Gang’s all here. Almost.

You’ll be glad to hear that after a brewing and bottling schedule of sheer joy during September and October, we’ve finally got the whole core range back on the shelves! Hopefully, this is good news for any of you that were thinking about shopping early for Christmas, as all our mixed / variety packs are now available. (I know, I’m not that organised either, but I thought I should mention it)

The even better news is that we’re going to be able to hold our current prices until Christmas. The likelihood is they will be going up in the New Year, for reasons that I’m sure you’ve all seen on the news on a daily basis, as our suppliers are already warning us of further increases.

Also, just in case you were worried, we have plenty of our 5 litre mini pins available across the range and we’ll be keeping them well stocked over the coming months. We know how you love them, especially when friends and family are visiting! And, even though they’re not on our web shop as yet, we can send them anywhere in the country via courier. Send us a message on the contact form if you’re interested.

The only thing we’re unlikely to have is our Premium Crystal wheat beer. It’s proving impossible to crowbar it into the brewing schedule before Christmas, although if we see an opportunity, we’ll take it. I’ll keep you posted!

Our new automated crown capper is working brilliantly, and is speeding things up considerably. It’s even better now that we’ve found a lovely quiet compressor to use with it that doesn’t deafen us all!

As ever, we hope you’re all doing well during another weird, trying year. Here’s to an easy winter and some proper human contact.

Take Care,

THE UNTAPPED TEAM

 

Sorry we haven’t written, but it’s been a big year.

Yes, I know this is the first post in a long time, but it’s not like we’ve just been sitting around. We’ve been going flat out trying to keep up with demand, and just about managing. The brewery shop is still incredibly busy, and it’s lovely to see our favourite local pubs back open and thriving, even if we’re brewing like maniacs to provide them with beer!

A quick point about availability - All our blond core beers are available in bottle and minipin, as well as the IPA and Saison. I’m afraid the dark beers have been pushed aside for a while, as Whoosh and UPA dominate the brew schedule. Monnow best bitter will be back this weekend, however, and we’ve finally managed to squeeze in a brew of Triple S stout today, which will be available the second week of September. Still trying to find a slot for Ember, but we promise it’ll be soon! One consequence of things easing has been the popularity of casks and pins for home parties and weddings. Sorry to say that everything we have is now booked up for Bank Holiday weekend, and if you do want something larger for a party, PLEASE contact us as soon as possible as they’re being booked up as soon as we make them.

We’re sure you’ll be glad to see from the photos that we’re expanding our operation, with a new storage unit and cold room (very welcome earlier this year) and we’ve just had our new crown capper commissioned, which should speed production up quite a bit! Longer term, we have plans to expand the shop and get back into brewery based events, but that’s going to happen in the new year, as we have a lot of beer to make before then!

As always, we hope you’ve all come through this incredibly difficult couple of years healthy and happy, and we hope to see you at the brewery soon.

Take Care,

The Untapped Team

 

News, updates, and… Christmas?

Well, just over a month since our last post, and everything is different whilst staying exactly the same. We’re in the middle of Lockdown II (in your bubble, up to 6 people of your household can hear you scream) and it seems to have been raining since the DAWN OF TIME! Sorry to go all caps there, but when a Welshman tells you it’ s been too wet recently it’s probably one of the signs of the apocalypse.

So, here’s some good news for a change. We’ve managed to source some more Citra hops, so have decided to keep Diolch, our organic 4.4% pale available for the rest of the year. We’ll only have a couple of hundred cases and mini pins, though, so order early to avoid disappointment!

In more good news, we’ve managed to get (just about) our full range back in stock after a few weeks of mammoth brewing and bottling sessions. Including, finally, Premium Crystal! Hopefully the threats of violence will stop now…

And, just to remind you, despite the lockdown, the brewery shop is still open for safe shopping 6 days a week, and we can always deliver direct to your door via courier, brewery van and, surprisingly often, in the back of my car on the way home. You can order through the website, or call us on 01291 690074 if you’d like to talk an actual person.

Now, Christmas. At this point, we don’t know how or in what form Christmas will look or take place. We’re going to try and cover all the possible contingencies. If restrictions are eased, we’ll be here right up to Christmas Eve and between Christmas and New Year to fulfil all your beery needs, including our ever popular 36 pint pins. If not, we’ll still keep the brewery shop open to the same hours, and we can deliver to you and presents to kith and kin right up to December 23rd. Whatever the situation, we’re going to make dam’ sure lack of beer is not an issue.

Finally, some of you lovely lot have been kind enough to let us know that we’ve helped keep a smile on your face during this horrible year. You should know that all our customers have helped do exactly the same for us.

Take Care, Stay Safe,

The Untapped Team

Brewery news, new lockdown, new beer, new job opportunity.

Well, as we all deal with the disappointment that the virus is still with us and the possibility of a further lockdown, we thought that we’d remind you that we’re here for all your beer needs. We’re still delivering all over South Wales personally, and we can, as always, courier cases and 5 L minipins anywhere in the country.

We’re managing to keep stocks (and our spirits) up, with Whoosh, UPA, Monnow, Sundown and Premium IPA all available, with Triple S, Premium Saison and the glorious return of Ember at the end of next week. And, finally, we’ve managed to squeeze in a brew of Premium Crystal (brewing behind me as we speak) that will be available for all you wheat beer fiends from the week of October 12th.

As we promised last time, we’ve brewed a special beer for everyone who’s supported us over this year. It’s called, appropriately, ‘Diolch’ and it’s a 4.4% pale made with organic barley and a pure Citra hop bill. It’s £25 a case and £20 a minipin. It’s not available in the shops, and not on the website. To get some (and it’s rapidly disappearing) you have to come to the brewery shop, or call us for delivery on 01291 690074. Due to very high demand, we’re doing one more brew of it, but that’ll be it!

Also, after being joined by Matt and Ed in August, we have another part time job available. It’s for 10-15 hours a week, principally helping us with bottling, labelling and our lovely customers. If you’re interested, please contact us on the above number or through the website contact form.

As ever, with things still very much in flux, you guys are keeping us, and our industry in general, going and helping make sure we’ll still be here whenever normal decides to reappear. So when we say ‘Diolch’, we really mean it!

We all hope you and yours are well, and bearing up in this difficult year.

Take care, stay safe,

The Untapped Team

 

Brewery update, job done.

Just a short update today, as another busy week in the brewery continues with the boys manically bottling again.

First up, we’ve hired our new assistant brewer. Matt joins us on Monday for a fun filled week as Martyn is taking some well earned holiday. The phrase ‘in at the deep end’ springs to mind… Thank you to everyone who applied, the quality of applicants was very high.

Slight disappointment as we’re out of Whoosh briefly. We had a huge bottling day yesterday, so Whoosh minipins will be back on Monday, and bottles on Tuesday. All the other core beers are available, with Monnow, Border and UPA in minipin. Given the weather, we’re likely to run out, so don’t delay!

For those of you heading out for a socially distanced pint this weekend, you’ll find us on at The Clytha Arms, The Beaufort Arms in Raglan, The Bell at Redbrook and The Globe Inn at Berry Hill.

Take Care, Stay safe,

The Untapped Team

 

Brewery news, job opportunity

Yes, I know, it’s been way too long since the last post. In our defence, we’ve hardly had a chance to take a deep breath since the last one. The shop has been incredibly, wonderfully busy, and we’re still working flat out to keep stocks up. Talking of which, current stocks are pretty good. Whoosh, UPA, Sundown, Triple S and Monnow are all available in bottle, with Whoosh, Monnow and UPA in mini pin as well. We’ve run out of Ember, but making a glorious comeback is Border, our session Bitter, in both bottle and mininpin! I’m sorry to say that the Premium Crystal is still struggling to find its way onto the schedule, as it keeps getting shoved aside by the pale ales, but the Saison and the IPA are with us still.

On a sad note, our assistant brewer, Ethan, has decided that he wants a career that involves more zoom meetings and business double speak and is leaving us to work in marketing. We have warned him that he’ll have to shave and not wear board shorts, but he’s still going. This does mean, however, that we have a JOB VACANCY! The job is for 20 - 30 hours a week as required, and involves all aspects of brewing with us, from mashing to labelling, as well as looking after our lovely customers. If you’re interested and want more details, please contact us through the contact page on the website, or call us on the landline.

Finally, we are, as ever, hugely grateful to everyone who has and still are supporting us. We’re planning something special as a thank you, so watch this space for more news… (We promise to post more often…)

Take Care, Stay Safe

The Untapped Team

June brewery news and updates

It’s been a little while since our last post, as we’ve been flat out trying to keep up with demand! Thank you all so much for supporting us and all the local artisan producers who are relying on your backing to stay in business. Speaking of which, you can order more fabulous products from www.wyevalleyproducers.co.uk (including us!) for click and collect every Friday or courier delivery. If you want more details, visit the website or take a gander at Countryfile from 24/05 for a lovely little piece on it.

You’ll be glad to hear that bottle stocks are pretty healthy, with all the core range available at time of posting, and IPA and Saison back in the Premium range. I’m afraid Crystal has been punted further down the road as the core pales and golden ales are riding roughshod over the production schedule. We will get round to it when we get a chance!
Unfortunately, we have sold out completely of the 9 pint pins. With the weather being so good, the shelves were cleared out last week. Whoosh and Monnow will be back in large numbers, but not until Monday 8th.

As ever, we hope that all of you and yours are well during this weird, unsettling time, and that we’ll all enjoy a pint in the near future.

Take care, stay safe,

The Untapped Team

More May brewery news

After a monster week of processing and bottling, I’m very pleased to say that Whoosh, UPA, Premium IPA and Saison are all back in stock this week, both in bottle and mini pin.
First off, this means that we’ll be able to get out all outstanding online orders this week- thank you all for being patient while we restocked. Also, we’ve got a full crew working (safely, obviously!) which means we’re finally getting ahead of ourselves on the brew schedule for the first time since March!

Again, being so busy has been a lovely problem to have at this very uncertain time, and we so appreciate the support we’ve had from you. It looks as though pubs are still no closer to reopening, however, so we’ll keep you stocked with fine ales at home until they do. If you’re local, we’re delivering from Chepstow to Cardiff to Abergavenny (please call the brewery to arrange) and our excellent couriers can get cases to you anywhere in the country.

As ever, we all hope that you’re surviving in good form, and that we’re helping in a small way.

Take care, stay safe.

The Untapped Team