The hottest ticket in town
At the end of last month I droned on at some length on the subject of Meet the Brewer events – one of the very best ways for beer-makers to build interest in their products. There was a time when these sorts of evenings were rapid, shouty affairs as the brewer wobbled on the bartop looking out onto a sea of disinterested regulars, suddenly wondering why the jukebox had been silenced. Well, no more – now that drinkers have caught up with foodies and the concept of provenance applied to beer (for some people, at least), MTB nights have become more involved, more upmarket. People want to listen.
Well, they were listening last night at Edinburgh’s Hanging Bat, as Evin O’Riordain brought fifteen of his Kernel Beers to Scotland, for a takeover/MTB event. The fifth such at the Bat, this one sold out (two nights worth of tickets) inside a couple of hours – proof indeed of the rampant interest in the modern beer scene, when pitched in the right direction. Foolishly I was away from my desk during those fleeting moments when tickets were available, so had to resort to turning up early and diligently working through as many of the Kernel beers on offer as suited a bitingly cold Tuesday night.
Fortunately, Evin was standing at the bar when I got there, so we managed to catch up before he was whisked away for pre-meet food. Some brewers revel in being the centre of attention – undoubtedly at the top of that bracket is Stone’s crowd-surfing Greg Koch – but others prefer not to become the centre of attention as much.* Evin is firmly in this camp, but he was still game for it, no doubt holding attention with his languid, considered style. The Bat staff certainly looked after him well, hammering a silk curtain to the downstairs area in preparation.
*Although, there are Vegas firework displays that attract less attention than Greg Koch
Things are mightily busy for the Kernel – as always, of course. Still unable to keep up with demand, despite moving to larger premises last year; Evin puffed out his cheeks when I asked if there would ever be a time when they’d get on top of the enormous interest. As the London beer scene mushrooms, requests for Kernel beers seem to be rising exponentially – even with all the new producers appearing in the city. That doesn’t mean they are solely churning out IPA’s, though – experimentation with sours and barrel ageing continues aplenty.
As part of the MTB event, Evin had brought three of these specials along with him – including a Saison’d Table Beer. It was a cracker, soft and fruity and with a slight spicy tingle. Of the more mainstream beers on offer, standouts included the grapefruit, lemon bitterness of 4C Pale Ale and the sweet passion fruit of Mosaic IPA. Scanner Darkly took top prize though; produced in conjunction with Brodies, it’s fascinating – red berries, leather, soy and orange all at once. An absolute beauty. Collaborations, barrel-ageing, beery roadshows. The new holy trinity?
The Kernel Meet the Brewer event continues tonight (27th March) at the Hanging Bat. Although all tickets are gone, the beers will be on offer – including, from 9pm, the three specials.
