Steel yourself… for a right riveting Norfolk ale!
By: JimOldfield
April 3rd, 2012
Norfolk brewers are producing an astonishing pre-Iron Age strong ale, by using… steel rivets!
The rivets – from a forge near Dereham – were heated to 1,600C in a furnace, before being used to heat the wort for 15 minutes.
The result is the 7.8 per cent A Terrible Beauty is Born – which takes its unusual name from a William Yeats poem.
Main ingredient for a right riveting ale… 18 kilos of red-hot rivets, as A Terrible Beauty Is Born!
And just 100 stoneware bottles of the rare ale are up for grabs – on sale from California to Italy, and with closures fittingly made from rivets!
The beer has been created as part of the Extraordinary Ales project led by the East Anglian Brewers Co-operative of 43 breweries.
It is the first to be brewed in the series and is also the first to be produced using sun-dried malt from the Barley to Beer project.
Co-operative chairman Brendan Moore, who owns the Iceni Brewery near Swaffham, explained that using steel rivets was similar to the use of hot stones to brew beer, before the Iron Age.
He said: “The rivets will produce some very intense, caramelised sweet flavours. There is a lot more to beer, just as there is to wine”.
A 500ml bottle of the ale will set you back £30 – but only 30 bottles are being sold in Norfolk.
A further 70 will go on sale in San Francisco, Rome, London and… Sunderland!
UK stocks can be pre-ordered now, from the project’s Real Ale Shop, at Branthill Farm, near Wells-next-the-Sea.
For more information, ring the shop on 01328 710810, or visit the websites below.
The brewers are about to post a YouTube video regarding their endeavours – more details will appear on Hand-Pumped when it is released.
