January sunshine, a comprehensive real ale menu and the chance to sample new beers had visitors flocking to Brentwood Brewery’s Winter Beer & Food Festival (Saturday 18th January).

Aimed at encouraging real ale fans to try something new in the new year, the theme of the festival was Tryanuary. Something new and certainly different was the brewery’s latest product range, Milkshake IPAs by Elephant School Brewing, which was launched at the festival. In three flavours, Key Lime Pie, Lemon Cheesecake and Strawberries & Cream, Milkshake IPAs are the creation of Head Brewer Ethan Kannor.

“I wanted to brew a beer style that we hadn’t brewed before. I also felt that Elephant School had been playing it too safe lately, so I had it in mind to create something a little more bizarre.”

Head Brewer Ethan Kannor

Not everyone shared Ethan’s enthusiasm for being bold and trying a Milkshake IPA with whipped cream and sprinkles but some beer fans did try a glass of the beer on its own.

“The general consensus was that people liked the Milkshake IPAs. It is a sweet beer and the reason for that is I used three times more lactose than ever before.

“My favourite is the Strawberries & Cream and actually the cream works really well with the beer. The sprinkles are just a bit of theatre.”

Ethan Kannor

Also new on the drinks list and proving popular with festival goers was a sparkling mead brewed by Dave Golding. Dave’s Mead went into production thanks to a sizeable donation of local Doddinghurst honey from Dave’s dad.

Tempted by a choice of hearty winter stews, made by chef John at The White Horse, Coxtie Green and served by Lynn, hungry festival goers enjoyed some warming comfort food with their pints. Among the dishes’ fine ingredients list were Brentwood-brewed beers Brentwood Gold and Marvellous Maple Mild, adding richness to the gravy.

Entertaining the brewery crowd with live music all afternoon was Essex acoustic guitarist and singer Dan Fraser. Whilst it was his first gig at Brentwood Brewery, the Colchester-based musician has more than 140 gigs to play in the UK and Germany this year, so far. See www.facebook.com/danfraseracoustic.

Festival goers enjoyed the choice of a dozen or so different draught and cask Brentwood and Elephant School beers.

“Holding a beer festival in January can be quite a risky thing to do so we are delighted that so many people turned out to enjoy an afternoon at the brewery. I’m sure the sun shining, helped.

“As always, despite the excitement of trying new beer styles and flavours, the vibe at the festival was a very chilled one with people enjoying a pint or two, good company for a chat and great food, cooked at our brewery tap, The White Horse. ”

Brentwood Brewer MD Roland Kannor

Brentwood Brewery’s next event is a Beer & Pie Festival on Saturday 28th March.

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