A collaboration between Norfolk and Belgian brewers has brought four new beers into the world.
Moon Gazer Ale, of Hindringham, Poppyland Brewery, of Cromer, Grain Brewery of Alburgh and Tindall Brewery, of Seething, have all teamed up with Belgian counterparts from the northern region of Flanders as part of this year’s City of Ale event in Norwich.
The beers were showcased at the annual British Guild of Beer Writers awards ceremony at The Big Penny Social in London.
Norwich and Leuven twinned as ‘beer cities’ back in May this year.
David Holliday, co-owner of Moon Gazer Ales said: “The original idea for the ‘twinning’ of the cities through beer was the brainchild of acclaimed beer writer Roger Protz, who saw the synergies between Norfolk and Flanders as beer regions, and particularly the two regional cities.
“By bringing the eight brewers together and creating new beers it was hoped to create new relationships and ties between the two regions and help promote our shared love of beers.”
The collaboration saw the four Norfolk brewers showcase beers at the world-renowned Leuven Innovation Beer Festival in May, followed by a return visit to the City of Ale by the Belgian brewers in the same month.
Mike Tindall, owner of Tindall Ales, attended the London event on November 29 to convey the story to beer specialists and writers and further promote the two regions.
“It was a great honour to have our beers at the event, to promote Norfolk and Flanders and to show how by collaborating we can all make beer more exciting and inclusive,” he said.
The collaborative beers created were:
Dark Hare (Donkere Haas) (ABV 4.5%) was created by Moon Gazer Ales and the Adept brewery, whose aim was to take a very old Belgian-style beer and fuse it with a more traditional British-style beer.
Coffee Pale (ABV 4.2%) is a fruity beer created by Michael Green from Tindall Ales Brewery and Jef Janssens from Hof ten Dormaal, two young brewers working in their family breweries.
Strangers No More (ABV4.8) is a Belgian-style dark beer created as part of a collaboration between Grain Brewery’s Phil Halls in Norwich and Braxatorium Parcensis’ Joris Brams located in Leuven.
Strangers WitBier (ABV 5.5) is a Belgian Witbier and is a creation from Poppyland Brewery fronted by David Cornell and Bart Delvaux from the De Coureur brewery.
The brewers plan further collaborations and events in the coming year.
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