Best New Beers of 2014…BBNo 01|08 Saison Wai-iti & Lemon

Photograph from CAMRGB post on Brew By Numbers, used with permission

The second week of December; time for the annual look back at the most memorable new British beers of the year! The UK brewing scene is still forging ahead, producing stunning beers as the result of some truly imaginative brewing. Over the next six days, I’ll be listing my picks for the best new beers of 2014. As they are roughly in order of release, for the first selection we head all the way back to the very start of the year, for that perfect microcosm of the London brewing scene – a New Zealand-hopped saison, brewed in Bermondsey…

01|08 Saison Wai-iti & Lemon (6.2% but can vary)
Brew By Numbers, London
(keykeg/bottle, January)

It’s totally fitting that in the world of Brew By Numbers, the 01-prefix denotes saison. Not only is it the branch of the beery tree that Dave and Tom truly excel at, it has been the style of 2014. BBNo’s history with this particular type of beer stretches back to their foundation (hence the 01, of course), and a strain of saison yeast that they acquired and used to brew a debut that was taken – nervously, one presumes – to the Craft Beer Company in Clerkenwell to see whether they had what was necessary to make a real go of Brew By Numbers. As it turned out, they had nothing to fear; that beer would eventually become 01|01 Citra Saison, the first ‘official’ Brewed by Numbers release.

Over the two years since, I’ve had a few of their 01-series – but none more immediately enervating as the eighth in line that first appeared just after the turn of the year. 01|08 Saison Wai-iti & Lemon was a perfect answer to a long, grey February week. BBNo have really dialled in their saisons – they must be one of the very best proponents of this tricky style in the country (I can think of another straight away, based in East Sussex). Dave and Tom have developed a way of judging when and how to lift these beers with added, complementary, ingredients to bring out the best from the hops – and that all-important saison yeast.

Speaking of hops, Wai-iti is one I’d never heard of at the time. This isn’t saying much; the race for new varietals resorts in blank looks from me on a fairly regular basis. Released at a similar time to Kohatu, and a taste-cousin of the here-today-gone-tomorrow Riwaka, Wai-iti is pure lemon and lime. You’d think, then, that Dave and Tom had taken a big risk adding more citrus to the 01|08, but it was so well judged. Adding lemon to Wai-iti makes everything that bit more pronounced; it lifts the citrus-profile of the hops, whilst the yeast profile ensures the twinned citrus doesn’t run away with everything.

Brew By Numbers Saison 01|08 Wai-iti and Lemon is one of the longer beer names of the year – but one of the very best beers, full stop. Anything that can shine a light into an impenetrable Edinburgh February deserves all the plaudits it gets…

Drew’s Brew blog also enjoyed the lemon + lemon effect of 01|08, and makes an interesting flavour comparison. Head back to the BeerCast tomorrow for the second (in order of release) best new British beer of 2014, which hails from the great brewing county of Cornwall. Check back then to find out exactly what it is. Dave and Tom went from strength to strength in 2014, and are now central players in the pavement-clogged Bermondsey Mile. Their latest saison, 01|11, was released last month, and features the unusual brewing ingredient of quince.