Brewery rediscovers its past as upgraded kit heralds launch of new brand

A BREWERY that dabbled with craft beers long before they became in vogue has launched a new brand.

 Utown beers have proven to be an instant success and are created by the team at Lakeland Brewhouse.

 The brand is based on the town in which the brewery is based, Ulverston, and its infamous skate scene back in 90s and 00s

 Four beers have been developed by head brewer Jon Kyme and the team, who have embraced the capabilities of Lakeland Brewhouse’s upgraded brew kit to create them.

 Jon, a brewer of more than 15 years, set up Stringers Brewery in 2008 which became Lakeland Brewhouse in 2020.

 He said: “While we're mostly known for our “traditionally-styled” beers, we've always dabbled. 

 “In the past under the Stringers umbrella, while we were busy making what you might call “local beers for local people”, we also knocked out a double stout (“Mutiny”, a champion bottled beer of Britain according to CAMRA), a white IPA (“Dicky Mo”), a couple of Black IPAs and beers in Belgian styles including “Furness Abbey” which cleaned up at the very first – and final – Global Association of Craft Brewers fest in Berlin.

 “The market for this kind of stuff was small, and difficult to access. Also, the kit we were working with wasn't really suited to the kind of beers that we could see coming.  While we could make them, it wasn't easy or (at the time) good business.

 “Time passes, and things have changed.  Even here. The market for those beers called “Craft” has blossomed. New investment into the brewery has created the opportunity to make and bring to market all the beers we love.

 “So, we're back in the saddle. It might take us a little time to get into the groove again, but you can be sure that there's a slew of interesting beers lined up.”

 Utown was developed in the midst of lockdowns in 2020 when pubs were closed and the team behind Lakeland Brewhouse got creative.

 There are four new beers in the Utown range. They are:

●      Acid Drop, a raspberry ripple sour

●      Casper, a New England IPA

●      Helipop, a helles lager

●      Pop Shuvit, a session IPA

 The beers are all brewed from Lakeland Brewhouse’s new £250,000 start of the art brewery, which is 100 per cent powered by renewable energy.

 Operations director Callum O’Hare, said: “Jon has done an amazing job in creating four very distinct beers that will cater for a wide range of customers.

 “We don’t allow what we have brewed in the past to define what we will experiment with in the future and these four beers are such a great example of moving outside of our traditional comfort zone.

 “This is the first time that we have used the expanded capabilities of the new brewery to their full capacity and we are so pleased with the results. This is just the beginning of the Utown brand and we’re looking forward to building upon the momentum we now have.”

 Jon added: “We crave feedback from drinkers out there. Brewers don't get much of that. We send our babies out into the world and keep our fingers crossed.

 “Please let us know if you enjoy our work. On the other hand, if there's something you think we should be doing differently, we want to hear that too, please give us a shout.”

Jon’s tasting notes on the four new beers

Pop Shuvit

It's what some folks call a Session IPA, 4.3 % ABV, pale gold and a little hazy.  We've aimed for a crisp clean body, but still with a classy malt hit from good ol' Maris Otter.

The hops aren't as forward as some - a relatively low bitterness from early hops and controlled citrus and tropically fresh note from dry hopping at about 6.5 g/L. Not “in your face” perhaps, but a taut and quenching little number all the same. I'll have a pint.

 Casper - New England IPA

Wearing a pronounced haze,  pushing a fruity (mango / citrus) aroma with a touch of earthiness from Mosaic, livened up with a balancing charge of Citra, this one carries a bit of weight to it. There's malt sweetness and a waft of alcoholic warmth (at 6.5% abv). We swerve traditional bittering hop additions, and apart from a small dose of low alpha hops to help with foam control, the kettle gets some only after we've dropped the temperature below 75°C so that we can get the flavour without too much bitterness.  Dry hopped during active fermentation for maximum biotransformation.

Acid Drop Raspberry Sour

It's purple. Of course. Also soured. Raspberries from Scotland tangle with Tahitian vanilla in a lactic love-in. We've used a light hand with the vanilla, since we don't want to overwhelm the delicious fruit. We find that vanilla's complex perfumed sweetness goes a long way in a beer, but set against the acidity, and the milky heft of a few buckets of lactose, it's a fine thing indeed.

Helipop Helles Lager

Refined German hops lightly resting on a fluffy pillow of British pale malt.  Yes, we know we're supposed to use pilsner malt, but taste testing didn't reveal any significant preference. So there you go.  Anyway, about those hops – this is not a hop-forward beer: Light hay-like and floral-spicy perfumes from Hallertauer Mittlefruh & Northern Brewer lead in before sweet malt rolls on.  There's enough of a cleansing bitterness to leave you wanting more. This is one of the few beers in which we use a lager yeast, and while we've deployed all our best “sciencey” tricks, it still takes much longer to make than our regular beers.  Worth the wait.