Ape ale, Guerilla Porter (a stout), BG Sips, Red Baboons, and Evolution
Name
Type
Blue Monkey Brewery is a 20 barrel microbrewery located on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Founded in Ilkeston in 2008, the company doubled its capacity and moved to Giltbrook in 2010. It produces award-winning beers, including Ape Ale and Guerrilla Porter. It currently has four outlets; The Organ Grinder Nottingham, The Organ Grinder Loughborough, The Organ Grinder Newark and The Coffee Grinder Arnold
Blue Monkey Brewery was founded in the Manners Industrial Estate, Ilkeston on 8 October 2008 by John Hickling, with a capacity of ten barrels.[2][3] Prior to the brewery venture, Hickling worked in an IT role for ten years, for HBOS banking and insurance company.[3][4] He was well-paid, and considered it a "job for life", but found it unsatisfying.[5] He considered various alternative career paths, but the idea of running a brewery stuck with him, and when he reached 30 years of age, he decided to try it,[5] and quit his job to start the brewery.[3] He attended the specialist Brewlab faculty at the University of Sunderland for a course in brewing,[3] and then offered to work for free at breweries to gain experience.[5] He began working for Jarrow Brewery.[3]
In 2008, Jarrow Brewery ceased beer production at the Robin Hood pub in Jarrow, South Tyneside, moving operations to the Maltings pub in South Shields.[6] The Robin Hood was retained as their corporate headquarters, storage and distribution.[6]
Hickling purchased the brewing plant apparatus from Jarrow, to set up his own brewery in a unit in the Ilkeston industrial park.[3][6]
He tried out 22 brews, before selecting one for the launch.[5] The first beer, Original, was the best-selling beer at a Nottingham beer festival, selling 1,224 pints in under three days.[3] It was a modest 3.6% ABV.[4]
Initially, they brewed beer once per week.[3] Working 12-hour shifts, Hickling said that his new career was "a real contrast. I've found I've had jobs in the past which were nice, comfortable office jobs. There was a point last year where I was down on my hands and knees scrubbing a drain thinking 'hang on what have I done with my life'?"[4] However, the business grew quickly, with demand outstripping the supply capabilities.[2][4]
Their first public appearance was at the 2008 Robin Hood Beer Festival in Nottingham.[7] The following year, at the same festival, the company unveiled Guerilla Porter, exactly one year to the day after the company launch.[8] It was declared the annual champion beer by the Midlands in the Society for Independent Brewers, after winning in the porters, strong milds, old ales and stouts categories.[7] Ape Ale was awarded a bronze medal in the strong bitters category.[7] The festival is sponsored by the Nottingham branch of CAMRA; Spyke Golding, the chairman, said of Guerilla "Unlike some stouts it's not overly heavy and it's not cloying."[7]
By mid-2009, they had delivered beer to over 100 establishments.[4] An extra fermenter was installed in 2009, raising production to around 9000 pints per week.[4] By the end of 2009, they were shipping 40,000 pints per month,[1] and expanded production capacity to 20 barrels.[2] The company needed larger premises, and in 2010 it relocated to the Giltbrook Industrial Park, in Pentrich Road, just behind the Giltbrook Retail Park, a £70m shopping complex which opened in 2008.[2][9] The site is capable of producing approximately 100,000 pints per month.[2] The new location is very close to the site of the former Kimberley Brewery, which was the last independent brewery in Nottinghamshire before its closure in 2006.[10][11]
Blue Monkey Brewery is a member of the Derbyshire Brewers' Collective.[12]
Beers
This section reads like a review rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve this article to make it neutral in tone and meet Wikipedia's quality standards.(August 2015)
Original, the first beer, is a 3.6% ABV amber or copper coloured session ale, "packed full of flavour".[13]
Beers include Ape ale, Guerilla Porter (a stout), BG Sips, Red Baboons, and Evolution.[2][14]
Organ Grinder, 4.6% ABV, and Guerilla, 4.9% ABV, were both launched at the Robin Hood festival in October 2009.[16]
Organ Grinder is a "copper coloured ale, with a duo of unusual hops from New Zealand to give it an interesting twist."[16]
99 Red Baboons is 4.2% ABV, and described by CAMRA as "An unusual combination of fruity hoppyness with a dark, malty side."[14]
99 Red Baboons has been described as hard to definitively categorize as either a porter or a mild, being an "unusual combination of fruity hoppiness with a dark, malty side" which is [13]
Simians Summer, 3.6% ABV, is an amber bitter, and was on sale in September 2010.[17]
Amarillo is 3.9% ABV, and according to CAMRA it is a gold coloured beer with a white head. Citrus aroma with fruity, hoppy notes. Hints of orange & peach".[14]
Ape Ale has an ABV of 5.4%, described by CAMRA as "A complex and sophisticated IPA, using assertive American hops. Aromas of resinous pine & orange."[14]
Ape Ale contains American hop varieties, including Simcoe and Chinook.[18][19]
It has "Aromas of resinous pine, orange and just the right level of citrussiness. A dry finish and moderate bitterness".[18]
BG Sips, at 4% ABV, is a "Pale, intensely hoppy bitter with a peppery bitterness" according to CAMRA.[14]
BG Sips was awarded a gold medal at the 2009 Peterborough Beer Festival in the category 'best beer from a new brewery'.[7][16] Peterborough beer festival is the second largest in the country.[16] The beer is described by Hickling as "pale, hoppy and weak enough that it's not going to knock you out".[4] Peterborough beer festival is the second largest in the country.[16]
The "BG" stands for "Brewers Gold", which is a variety of hops. The beer contains other hop varieties, giving it "tropical fruit aromas and peppery bitterness".[18] It has a pale golden colour.[18]
Evolution was produced in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.[4]
Evolution is pale ale, and has a light golden colour.[18]
It contains Northdown, Goldings and Styrian Goldings varieties of hops.[18]
It has a "pronounced citrus aroma that leads onto a lingering bitterness and dry finish".[18]
Sanctuary is brewed only for two specific establishments—the Hand and Heart and The Roundhouse, both in Nottingham town centre.[1]
Their beers are sold in local pubs, with one of the first regular customers being The Waggon and Horses in Bleasby.[20] Other customers include the Three Tuns in Eastwood,[2] the Larks Nest in Nuthall,[2] and Guitar Bar in Sherwood Rise,[4] the Flowerpot in Derby and the Dewdrop in Ilkeston itself;[3] it is also distributed nationally.[2]
For the opening ceremony of the new premises in Giltbrook, a special stronger version of Evolution was produced, called Revolution.[2]
Name
Hickling says he spent months trying to think of a name for the enterprise,[5] and then the idea of "blue monkey" came to him in a dream;[3] however locally the term "blue monkeys" used to describe the blue flames produced by the nearby Stanton Ironworks factory, which were once visible in the area .[21] Hickling's grandfather, Tom Hickling, worked at the factory throughout his working life.[3] Hickling believes this to be purely coincidental.[3]
The 'monkey' in the logo is, in fact, not a monkey, but a chimpanzee which is an ape.[7][22]
Awards
Guerilla: Supreme Champion Beer of the Midlands, 2009 SIBA Midlands Competition[23]
BG Sips: Gold (in category), 2009 Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival[16]
Ape Ale: Bronze (in category), 2009 SIBA Midlands Competition[23]
Guerrilla: National Champion Stout, 2010 SIBA National Competition[24]
BG Sips: Gold (overall), 2010 Maldon CAMRA beer Festival
99 Red Baboons: Gold (overall), 2010 Hinckley CAMRA Beer Festival[25]
BG Sips: Silver (overall), 2010 Devises CAMRA Beer Festival
99 Red Baboons: Beer of the Festival Hinckley CAMRA Beer Festival 2010[27]
Related Research Articles
Daleside is an independent brewery founded in 1988 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
The Titanic Brewery is an independent producer of bottle conditioned and cask ales in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. One of the owners, Keith Bott MBE, was formerly the chairman of SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers.
Bitter is an English style of pale ale that varies in colour from gold to dark amber, and in strength typically from 3% to 5.5% alcohol by volume.
Victory Brewing Company (Victory) is a brewery founded in 1996 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States. The main brands are HopDevil, Prima Pils, Headwaters Pale Ale, Golden Monkey, DirtWolf, and Storm King, which are distributed in 34 states and nine countries. Victory Brewing is located at 420 Acorn Lane Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Beer is a major part of German culture. German beer is brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, which permits only water, hops, and malt as ingredients; and stipulates that beers not exclusively using barley-malt, such as wheat beer, must be top-fermented.
Beer in the United Kingdom has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions. Historically the main styles were top-fermented Bitters, Porters, Stouts and Milds, but after World War II lagers took over half the market by volume. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 and has encouraged the preservation and revival of traditional styles of ale. In particular CAMRA has promoted cask conditioned beer, which completes its maturation in casks in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery. As of 2014 the UK drank 634 million imperial pints of cask ale, representing 60% of ale in pubs and restaurants and 17% of all beer in pubs. In total 42.42 million hectolitres of beer were produced in 2013 of which 48% was sold in the off-trade.
The Thornbridge Brewery is an independent brewery founded in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall in Ashford-in-the-Water near Bakewell, Derbyshire, England.
The Otley Brewing Company Limited, colloquially Otley Brewery, is a brewery located in Pontypridd, Wales. Established in 2005, it has won several awards, including the Champion Beer of Wales in 2006. The head brewer is Charlie Otley. In October 2016, the brewery was put up for sale by its owners. In February 2018 the brewery ceased trading.
Wye Valley Brewery is a brewery in the village of Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire, England, in the Wye Valley. Founded in 1985 by Peter Amor, it has become "one of Britain's leading independent breweries". In 2002 Peter Amor's son, Vernon Amor, became managing director.
Abbey Ales is an English brewery located in city of Bath, England. It was founded in 1997 by Alan Morgan.
Cheddar Ales is an independent, artisanal brewery located in the village of Cheddar in Somerset, England, which produces a range of regular and seasonal beers. Its owner and head brewer, Jem Ham, previously worked 15 years at another local brewery before going out on his own.
The Leeds Brewery is an independent brewery established in June 2007 in Leeds, UK by former local radio presenter Michael Brothwell. The company uses a 20 barrel brewing plant located in a trading estate on the outskirts of the city; it is capable of delivering 150,000 pints of beer a week, and produces five regular brands, including their flagship Leeds Pale Ale at 3.8%, a 4.3% best bitter Leeds Best and the award winning mild ale Midnight Bell. The company also produces a series of monthly specials. The company had seven pubs in Leeds, with a microbrewery upstairs at The Brewery Tap and two pubs in York but these were sold to Camerons Brewery in 2016.
The Brew Company is an independent award-winning craft brewery located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It produces a permanent range of cask ales as well as seasonal specials and house beers for pubs in the Sheffield area.
Andwell Brewing Company was started by Adam Komrower in 2008, and was based at Lodge Farm behind Newlyns farmshop in North Warnborough, Hampshire, England. The brewery's beer is supplied to pubs within a 30-mile radius of the brewery, and to farmshops, off-licences and beer festivals.
Beer in Scotland is mostly produced by breweries in the central Lowlands, which also contain the main centres of population. Edinburgh and Alloa in particular became noted for the export of beer around the world in the 19th century.
Peerless Brewing Company is an independent microbrewery based in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, producing cask brewed beers by combining traditional techniques and fine ingredients with a modern tang.
Penpont Brewery is a brewery established by Joseph Thomson and Stephen Medlicott in 2008. It was built in converted farm buildings just outside Altarnun, up on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. The beers are brewed using their own spring water near Penpont Water hence the name.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
