The date of the first MASHED! Homebrew tournament is within sight. All 32 places have been filled, and we’re really excited to taste the brews they have created on April 27th. Take a look at some of the entries. Who do you reckon will win the trophy?  

Meet Some Contestants! 

Homebrewer: Stuart Betts 

Beer name: Purple

Beer style: Infused Milk Stout

Mackeson & Vimto was a shandy popular in the Black Country when I was young. It was favoured by pregnant women as it was low alcohol, but the milk stout also reportedly gave you strength! This version is higher in alcohol, while still capturing the age old taste that is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Homebrewer: Matt Everard

Beer name: Red Sky (at Night)

Beer style: Irish Red Ale

This beer is the first brewed using hops grown by our local ‘hop co-op’. A few of my neighbours expressed interested in growing hops to contribute towards my homebrewing (they grow hops, I brew beer, they drink the beer). After successfully growing, harvesting and drying the hops, we got together for a brew day in November. I’ve never entered a brewing competition before, but I was really interested by the format and the opportunity to get honest and constructive feedback.

Homebrewer: Mark Roberts

Beer name: Liquid Onyxity

Style: Stout - Imperial / Double

I just love brewing big impy stouts, and this is my biggest yet, weighing in at 10% ABV. I maxed out my brew kit with lots of chocolate and roasted malts, to make a super roasty imperial stout. The bitterness comes from Centennial and East Kent Goldings. Some of my fav beers are fruity impy stouts, so I wanted to recreate these and added bucket loads of blackberries to the secondary fermentation. The blackberries were supplied by a friend from his garden in Shrewsbury. The result is a rich dark stout, with stewed berry tartness and a great depth of flavour.

Homebrewer: Brian Tomlinson

Beer name: Pyjama Game

Beer style: Fruited White IPA

I wanted to try brewing a white IPA just because I haven’t before and it’s a beer I like to drink, a marriage of 2 styles: the witbier and the American IPA. It needed to be bold, to stand out to give it the best shot of it going through. So I thought the addition of a complementary fruit could bolster the appeal, flavour and drinkability.

Homebrewer: Aled Murphy

Beer name: Rising Sun

Beer style: American Amber/Rye  

I thought of something that would be a great springtime beer: a rye beer brewed as an amber ale. I brew Scottish heavy as a mini rye beer, so this wasn’t a stretch. Orange themed hops and a load of kumquats at knock out should lighten it a bit and make it more seasonal and more orangey!

Homebrewer: Ed Collier

Beer name: Just Ask This Scientician

Beer style: Dry Hopped Lager

Cut the grass, and washed the car? Refreshing lager with tropical flavours.

Homebrewer: David Clough

Beer name: Duke

Beer style: Black IPA

Black IPAs are an intriguing beer style that I enjoy drinking, so I was interested to research and design a recipe and attempt a brew. In line with the style, my brew features hops bitterness and aroma alongside a dark malt flavour. Maris Otter and Munich (plus some oat and wheat) malts provide a base, with Carafa 3, Rye and Crystal Rye malts for complexity. Also, Midnight Wheat malt for depth of colour. For hops, Target provides a bittering base, while Galaxy and Azacca showcase tropical and pine notes. 

Homebrewer: John Hands

Beer name: Super Freek

Beer style: NEIPA

I love NEIPAS: the colour, the aroma, the taste, everything! I’m inspired by brewers who really push IPA / NEIPA style beers, my favourite being Verdant. Big American hops that push aroma and big malt bills that have a good mouthfeel is my go-to beer.

Homebrewer: Richard Hill

Beer Name: Unhopped Ale

Beer style: Unhopped Ale - Gruit?

I have an interest in old style brewing, especially with regards to country house brewing. So thought I would go back in time and try to brew a beer without hops. I don’t ever follow recipes to the letter, so this brew is a mix of various ones. In fact, I have changed it again since my first time brewing it - hopefully it is still good! I have used a ‘sour’ producing yeast as I thought an old ale would be sour, however I have since found out this is wrong. Next time a different yeast will be used!

Homebrewer: Andy Bradshaw

Beer name: On the Lash-oof!

Beer style: Strong Belgian Blonde

I love the Belgian Blonde style, but everyone associates it with Leffe Blonde, which is great, but I wanted to push the alcohol and esters to turbo charge it a little. I think La Chouffe has a lot more of that Belgian character than Leffe and so this brew has pushed much more into that space (hence the name). I have it on tap in my home bar at the moment, and at 8.4% it creates a real talking point and a sense of trepidation. 

Homebrewer: Lucky Cat Collective (Andy Owens, Sam Henderson,Tom Maynard and Liam Sparkes)

Beer name: Garage Passion

Beer Style: Contemporary-Style Gose

After an initial experimental brew, which saw us brew a base gose that we split it up into 4 separate batches, we experimented with adjuncts. The first was to be kept as was to let us know how well our original fared. The next had a lime and lemongrass tincture added to it. The third had a raspberry puree and hibiscus tea addition. Finally, the fourth had an addition of passion fruit puree with a healthy Galaxy dry hop. The initial brew went well but ended up short, and the original gravity too high for the style we wanted to achieve. After a good tasting session, we landed on the passion fruit example.