The gang's all here

Well, our fifth and final beer of the year is now out.

Ember has made its triumphant return after lying fallow for 6 months. And if you’ve missed it, just think how we feel. Not being able to get your favourite seasonal beer is frustrating, but doubly so when it’s a self imposed drought and you have the means and ability to make it if you WANT to…Don’t talk to me about willpower…

Anyway, it’s back now and this year I’m going to make sure there’s a secret brewer’s stash to get me through the summer months. It’s tasting as gorgeous as ever - the depth of the roasted malt and the wonderful richness starts making me wish for the weather to get even colder so I can enjoy it all the more.

Boy, I need to get out more.

And all this after the launch of our new stout Triple S last month. A bevy (sorry) of dark beauties for those of us who love ales that could be categorized as a food group. So why did we go for stout? Well, when I was doing some research (and by that I do mean reading, not just filling a supermarket trolley with bottled beer) I found this description of stout by Welsh brewer Dr Michael Lewis, which sums it up perfectly:

‘Stout is a wonderful beverage that has been enjoyed for some 250 years by Irishmen, Englishmen, soldiers, mothers and monks alike. Perhaps no other beverage in the world has such a calming way and the universal ability to warm on a cool night, refresh on a hot afternoon, and heal a wounded soul.’

I’m sorry for any copyright infringement, but that’s just too lovely a sentiment not to share.

Now for some potentially distressing news. That will be the last new Untapped beer for quite a while. We think that these five represent the range of variety in real ale pretty well. It’s not exhaustive, and I’m sure that some or all of you will say- ‘but how can you not have a (fill in name of favourite beer here) in your range?’. But it does go across the spectrum from light and golden to dark and brooding, and we’re happy that the range, like the beers themselves, is nicely balanced.

Don’t panic, though, we are planning to create more wonderful beers; it’s just that from now on we’re going to concentrate on more seasonal and truly specialist beers. They’ll be made in limited runs and only available for a short time. We’ll keep you updated on the trials and work in progress on our facebook and twitter pages. That’s also where we’ll give the first heads up on release dates, so if you’re not signed up…

‘But is that it?’, I hear you cry, ‘Aren’t you going to give us a hint?’ Well, it’d be cruel to not at least give you a teaser trailer, so, if I told you that before being a brewer I was (and still am, actually) a winemaker and I mentioned the word… ‘Champagne?’…

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