Blue Monkey Brewery

Blue Monkey Brewery
Type Brewery
Location Manners Industrial Estate, Ilkeston, UK Border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Opened 8 October 2008
Key people John Hickling
Annual production volume 2,700 hectolitres (1,600 imp bbl)[1]
Active beers
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

History

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 a IT 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

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]

Guerrilla Porter is 4.9% ABV.[15]

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 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]

B. G. 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
  • Evolution: Silver (overall), 2010 Derby CAMRA Beer Festival[26]
  • 99 Red Baboons: Beer of the Festival Hinckley CAMRA Beer Festival 2010[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Nottingham Drinker (PDF) (95), CAMRA, December 2009 – January 2010, retrieved 2010-10-16
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Micro brewery opens up new Giltbrook premises, Eastwood and Kimberley Advertizer, 18 August 2010, retrieved 2010-10-12
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Martin Naylor (13 November 2008), Beer fans are going bananas for Blue Monkey's Amber Ale, Derby Telegraph, retrieved 2010-10-12
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Erik Petersen (19 June 2009), Food and Drink: Blue Monkey Brewery, Nottingham Evening Post, retrieved 2010-10-12
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Erik Petersen (9 October 2008), Blue Monkey Brewery at Robin Hood Beer Festival, Nottingham Evening Post, retrieved 2010-10-16
  6. 1 2 3 Terry Kelly (15 September 2008), "Music venue plan for old brewery", Shields Gazette, retrieved 2010-10-16
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Erik Petersen (12 October 2009), Blue Monkey Brewery's Guerilla porter is SIBA's champion beer of the Midlands., Nottingham Evening Post, retrieved 2010-10-12
  8. ↑ Erik Petersen (9 October 2009), The Robin Hood Beer Festival opened Thursday at Nottingham Castle., Nottingham Evening Post, retrieved 2010-10-16
  9. ↑ "Giltbrook Retail Park - Brand new shopping for Nottingham". British Land. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
    "Giltbrook Retail Park, Nottingham". Mclaren Construction. Archived from the original on 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  10. ↑ Lee, John.M. (2001). A Brief History of Kimberley (First ed.).
  11. ↑ Bruce, George (1982). Kimberley Ale Hardys & Hansons 1832-1982 (First ed.). H Melland. ISBN 0-9500730-9-1.
  12. ↑ "DBC, Derbyshire Brewers Collective". Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  13. 1 2 "Stratford upon Avon Beer Festival". Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "List of real ales at Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival". CAMRA. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  15. ↑ "Stoke Beer Festival Beer List". Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gold Medal for Blue Monkey BG Sips at Peterborough Beer Festival" (PDF), The Nottingham Drinker, CAMRA Nottingham (94): 4, October–November 2009, retrieved 2010-10-16
  17. ↑ "Blue Monkey Simians Summer". PubsAndBeer.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Beer - Steve Hobman's Beer Almanac". Brunning and Price Ltd. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  19. ↑ "Blue Monkey Ape Ale". ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  20. ↑ Erik Petersen (8 June 2009), The Waggon and Horses, Bleasby, has received the refurbishment it deserves., Nottingham Evening Post, retrieved 2010-10-16
  21. ↑ "Blue Monkey Brewery". Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  22. ↑ Dawkins, Richard (2004). The ancestor's tale: a pilgrimage to the dawn of evolution. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-618-00583-3. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
  23. 1 2 "Beer Competitions » 2009/2010". Society of Independent Brewers. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-16. (judging date 8 October 2009)
  24. ↑ Winners March 11th, 2010 (2010-03-11). "SIBA Beer Competitions". Siba.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-08-11. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  25. ↑ "Hinckley Beer Festival". Hinckleyandbosworthcamra.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  26. ↑ Martin Naylor (16 July 2010), "Derbyshire beers take three out of four awards", Derby Telegraph, retrieved 2010-10-16
  27. ↑ "Hinckley Beer Festival". CAMRA Hinckley & Bosworth Branch. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
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