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THE BRISTOL MINCE PIE OFF

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We love mince pies, and we religiously eat them all through December at the distillery. We make it our mission to try mince pies from as many awesome Bristol independents as we can. This year we decided to take it a little more seriously and try to taste them all, it has been a tough job but someone had to do it. Here is a rundown of how things went, along with some of of our favorites.    The Pies we tried: The Bristol Loaf, Farro, Pearly King, East Bristol Bakery, Assembly bakery, Harts, Forrest Bakery (from Coffee & Beer), Pinkmans (from 25a Old Market), Marks bread, Bakers & Co, AhhToots, Brockley Stores. And here is what we thought: We are going to preface this with a note that all of these mince pies were awesome, we are not comparing supermarket pies here, the list is all thriller and no filler (or is that all thrilling with great filling) and you should go and eat all of them!  The Bristol Loaf - A real solid classic, nice chunky pastry, and quite a chunky size, good

The distillers apprentice

We are on the look out for the right person to come and join our distillery family. We have a new position available for a distillery apprentice. The position involves working with the teams at both of our distilleries, learning on the job as well as through external accredited courses in distillation. There is no experience necessary, but there are a few attributes that will certainly come in handy. Attention to detail, computer literacy, an interest in science, a driving license and a good head for numbers would all certainly help. However the most important things we are looking for are a desire to learn and a passion for flavour. The role is based on 30 hours a week of work and 10 hours a week of independent learning leading to internationally recognised qualifications. We are a living wage employer, we have some great perks and we pride ourselves in being a good employer. We will genuinely consider all applicants. If you're interested, then email a C.V. along with a cover l

HOMEBREWING WITH MR KEEGAN

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All this begins with one question. Is it possible, with modest expense & knowledge, to make drinkable beer in a two bedroom flat in St. Pauls? Herein lyes the answer..... I’d been interested in making beer for a little while and was curious to see if I could make some worth drinking. Needless to say I’d been interested in drinking beer, responsibly of course, for quite some time. By way of preparation, I watched several youtube videos, both by commercial entities and enthusiastic amateurs, in order to get an idea of what equipment and ingredients were needed. I was encouraged by one that assured me that “as long as you can make macaroni cheese from a box, you can make beer”. This of course was from an American site. This gave me confidence as, and this really isn’t me bragging, I can make macaroni cheese from scratch. Turns out, along with the raw ingredients, a large sauce pan / stock pot, a measuring jug, a thermometer, a funnel, a syphon, a fermentation vessel - in this cas

What we are...

DANNY Watching: Binge watching Ru Paul's Drag Race! Reading: Momofuku Listening: Charles Bradley Black Velvet, such a great album. Shopping: Brockley stores are doing a great click and collect service. Got eggs, fresh sourdough (East Bristol Bakery) and a veg box, all nice and local, got a cheeky pork pie too! Good social distancing practiced, paid online and it was ready for me to collect. Drinking: Mostly tasty beers from Dan at Coffee&Beer. Notable highlight was "Home Over There" by Boxcar. LIAM Watching: Westworld [season 2] {f**king amazing sci-fi} Reading: Isaac Asimov - The caves of Steel {f**king amazing sci-fi} Listening to: Radio 4 {not sci-fi} Shopping: Degusta {delivered by Danny!} Drinking: Circumstantial Mixed grain. Neat. Every night. MARK Watching: Better call Saul (from the start). Reading: Time's Arrow. Listening: Lots of 6 Music + David O'Doherty's isolating podcast. Shopping: Been getting our fruit and

ZARA'S CHOCOLATES GIN TRUFFLES

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We love collaborating with other local independent producers in a variety of fields and like all other local chocoholics, we are massive fans of Zara’s Chocolates! We have previously been inspired by her products for ‘Distillers Table-CHOCOLATE’ and love tasting what the talented team create from each of our seasonal recipes throughout the year. Here Zara lets us behind the scenes on her process in creating the latest Spring Gin Truffle with ‘Freyja’. Process: On looking at the botanicals in the 'Freyja', and smelling the aromas, we immediately felt an urge to trial the gin with a frangipan style filling, to pair with the apricot and orange blossom notes. We felt like a lighter, sweeter take for Spring this time with our gin truffle, a change from our stronger boozy, fruity pairings we've done previously. Grinding up some freshly toasted almonds to make a smooth nut paste, we then paired this with a white chocolate, and some organic orange oil for a sweet frangipa

The history of the 'Gimlet'

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This post is dedicated to the Gimlet. A classic gin cocktail, firm favourite of mine and the inspiration for our 2nd medicinal inspired drink at the recent distillers table session. Like most origin stories there is always plenty of ‘hear say’ and differing of options, but here are the 3 main stages of the drinks creation as I believe it. SCURVY Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C. Initially it presents with fatigue, spots on the skin and bleeding and as it advances, there can be yellow skin, fever and finally death... It was at one time it was common among sailors and others aboard ships who were at sea longer than fruit and vegetables could be stored (they lived on salted meats and dried grains). It was one of the major limiting factors of marine travel, often killing large numbers of the passengers and crew on long-distance voyages. Between 1500 and 1800, it has been estimated that scurvy killed at least two million sailors! In 1740, citrus juice (usua

WHY 'GRAIN SPIRIT'?

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In our first full year of production we have released four very different spirits. All are based on different whole grain cereals with the exception of our Mixed Grain. We call each “Grain Spirit.” Why not whisk(e)y? Simple; it isn’t old enough yet. We have also produced a white rum but more on that in another post. According to EU law a whisk(e)y is a spirit drink derived from the: - distillation of a mash made from malted cereals with or without whole grains of other cereals, which has been: saccharified by the diastase of the malt contained therein, with or without other natural enzymes, fermented by the action of yeast; - one or more distillations at less than 94.8% abv, so that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used, - maturation of the final distillate for at least three years in wooden casks not exceeding 700 litres capacity. There’s a bit more regarding minimum alcoholic strength, the addition of alcohol and sweeteners but the las