Crafty Brewers: Simon Rose – Rusty Prop

Craft beer is becoming a big thing in the UK at the moment with many breweries launching all the time, big fish such as JD Wetherspoons really pushing it into the public eye and the incredible rise of Scottish beer powerhouses Brewdog. But far away from the bright lights and the big city, many smaller, simpler operations are occurring, more DIY, home-brew revolutions than slick multi-million pound operations.

Step forward one of these such operations, Rusty Prop, a South Coast based duo of brewers named after their day jobs working at airports, whose passion for experimenting and to simply create the best beer possible is what i think helps to make the UK beer scene one of the best in the world.

I managed to catch up with one of the brewers Simon Rose to ask him a few questions about his company, future plans and the craft beer scene as a whole.

 

1. How did you come to start Rusty Prop Brewing Company?

Steve and I had been brewing for a couple of years, starting off with kits from shops and slowly progressing to all grain brewing. We then started to clone recipes such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and London Pride, but were intrigued as to what beers we could come up with. We tweaked the recipe to Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA by adding even more hops, creating what would become our beer “Grass Strip”, to great reviews from our friends. One night after drinking a few of these, we wondered if we could sell our creations. That starts the long and winding road of the creation of Rusty Prop!

 

2. With around 3 breweries opening a week in the UK do you think this is a good thing or something that will lead to market saturation?

I think it’s great that the drinking public have got a taste for something different, and are finally putting their foot down with the situation of bland, tasteless beer. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for a mass produced lager, I’m not completely averse to it. People are, like with food, becoming more interested in the provenance and making of drinks and are craving something different. I fear that market saturation is beginning to happen – with so much variety it’s bound to, but with that comes the perfect situation of being something for everyone. People want to be unique and to explore the world of beer with apps like Untappd becoming every more popular. As long as “the different” can burst into the market and complete with “the mainstream”, it’ll create a better industry for all concerned.

 

3. What future plans are in the pipeline for Rusty Prop?

We want to continue to make beer that is different from what is on offer. There are plenty of breweries that make beers that tastes great, but is instantly forgettable. The overall demographic of ale drinking in the UK is still with the “old men in a country pub” brigade (and I mean that in the nicest way possible)! The culture of alcohol in this country further adds to the issue in my eyes – it’s about drinking lower strength drinks with the sole ambition to get completely wasted. I would like the culture changed more to the U.S. mentality – stronger beer which you take time over, more complex and intricate flavours which are to be enjoyed and not chugged. Rusty Prop has always operated with a more American mind and it’ll continue to stick with that mentality.

 

4. You mentioned in passing a Bacon Smoked Porter that you are looking into, do you think there is a limit on how unusual a beer can be?

(smiles) It really is just an idea that Steve spotted at the moment!! I think there are limits yes. I spotted a beer from the fantastic Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado which was brewed with Rocky Mountain Oysters (bull testicles to you and me!). I think that takes it a bit to the extreme. People want different but not too different. Putting adjuncts into the beer such as fruits and spices means you can begin to create weird and wonderful flavour combinations. Another brewing friend from Crooked Fork Brewing in Chicago, Illinois has a series of tea-infused beers. How about an Earl Grey beer with a malty base, with bergamot notes coming through? We will never push through a beer that’s insane just for the hell of it – thought needs to come into it to control the craziness.

 

5. With craft beer getting more and more popular nowadays, do you think there will be another Brewdog style success story in the future? 

Both Steve and I are Equity For Punks shareholders and have a huge interest in what Brewdog does (and have even become friends with the brewers up there). I think it’s amazing what they have achieved in the space of 7 years, and still they are growing at an incredible rate. They have become the poster boys of the new beer revolution in the UK but again, they’ve stuck with that American model of strong, complex beer that is meant to be enjoyed. To answer the question no, I don’t think we will see another success story on the scale of Brewdog in this country. The large brewers (MillerCoors/AB InBev) are seeing that there’s a market to be exploited and are beginning to expand with the “small batch” style beers. You just need to look at the Guinness Brewers Project releases to see this is happening. Everyone wants a piece of the action and I fear that it will suppress any ability for the smaller breweries to push through the ceiling. There are some great breweries out there (Camden, Magic Rock, Kernel, Beavertown) who will push harder but there is something satisfying about staying small and sticking it to the big guys.

 

 

6. Recently pub giant Wetherspoons have been championing craft beer in their pubs, what do you think to this?

Wetherspoons has actually been extremely supportive for many years, but it’s only recently coming to the fore as the brewing scene becomes ever more popular. I think it’s fantastic news – the more mainstream places that stock smaller breweries and more interesting offerings, the better. Another large brewer, Greene King, even has a Local Heroes program in their pubs allowing landlords to get beers of their own selection behind the bar, moving away from the traditional stranglehold that breweries place on innkeepers. The more this continues, the better for the industry.

 

7. What has the feedback been like for your beers?

We’ve had great feedback from both of our beers so far, Flugtag and Airhead. Flugtag is a traditional English ale recipe but brewed with Bavarian Lager yeast, creating a mashup some known as a California Common. It’s little known over here however and all comes from pure experimentation. Airhead is our 4% session IPA which is a mercilessly continuous hopped American style beer but using exclusively British hops, creating a light & sweet beer that has an intense bitter finish. It’s those unique ideas that get people interested and excited to see what we come up with next.

 

8. With the advent of food pairings with beer, do you think that craft beer can be a viable alternative to wine?

Very much so, and it’s something that’s beginning to be explored. The complexities that can be achieved from proper brewing can link with so many different flavour compounds in food, exactly in the same way that grapes do in wine. There are many restaurants opening up that do exactly that – menus that give beer recommendations alongside their traditional wine counterparts. We have even been working with local chef Mike Aggett to create ideas at how we can pair up our brews to menus. But there are simple things you can learn yourself through learning (the Cicerone program online is very good to teach about beer styles). Spicy foods pair brilliantly with IPAs and other strong beers, not just a cold lager to wash it down. The bitterness of the hops blends perfectly with the heat. Comfort food such as steak and ale pies should always be served with a porter or stout – the malt and richness from the beer will bring out the earthy notes of the beef. But really, just stick with the seasons (light in summer, dark in winter) and whatever you like drinking and you can’t go wrong!

 

9. Do you have any advice for would-be brewers looking to start up themselves?

The best piece of advice that I ever received was from our brewing mentor Steve at Alfred’s Brewery, Winchester. He gave it to us just as we were starting up and it was this: “Don’t start a brewery!”. We thought he was just being anti-competitive at the time but it was genuinely the best bit of advice to give us. The workload involved just in setting up alone is astronomical – the licenses and government redtape involved make it insanely difficult. Then you have the difficulty of brewing on a large scale, which took us nearly 4 months to get somewhere even close to competent. I don’t mean to scare people off from giving it a go with that advice, far from it, but it genuinely sticks in my mind!

On a smaller scale of home brewing, then I would definitely advise people to give it a go. The satisfaction of drinking your own beer and sharing it with your friends is amazing – we still get that buzz despite brewing thousands of pints of our beer! The internet is a mixed bag of advice from people about how to start so it can seem daunting, but stick with it. The best bet is to speak with a local brewery and find out how they started. The industry is incredibly open about how we do things and the processes involved. I always thought that everyone would want to keep their tips secret to stop more breweries but it is in fact the opposite – even the guys at huge breweries like Brewdog were letting me get stuck in and finding out more information. Never be afraid to ask.

 

Find out more about the brewery and where to try some of their beers at http://www.rustypropbrewing.co.uk