Friends With Benefits
“I think both Jordan and I got on immediately, which made it easier to plan something very, very cool” Seb, from Brighton whisky institution Cut Your Wolf Loose says as we sit down to talk about our brand-new beer, Whisky Sour. “It came about as we wanted to create a really unique beer that could capture a bit of both of our brands”.
Friendships come in all forms and are forged in many different ways. For Jordan, Head Brewer and Owner here at UnBarred and Seb it was a friendship that was never in doubt. Both beer and whisky lovers, having opened up their own independent businesses here in Brighton, and created incredible brands in the process, you can hear the passion when they’re talking about their creations. “CYWL is a unique experience to the senses” Seb explains. “We have 400-500 open bottles of whisky from all over the world to try by the dram, and every cocktail made at the bar has whisky as its base spirit. Everyone will find something they love here no matter your preference”. It’s that kind of commitment to product, experience, and customers that you’ll find at our Taproom, and in all our beers, too. What’s more, for all of CYWL whisky releases, they work alongside artists from all over the world to design and create the labels for the bottles, which is something very close to home. “Both of us collab with local and national artists for our labels so the fit seemed quite natural.”
When a friendship is born on such similar outlooks, it is of course only natural that eventually something beautiful will form from it. A collab had long been on the cards, and probably something Brighton has been calling out for some time, we think you’d agree. “Jordan’s Berliner Weisse has a natural tang to its taste, a freshness that is similar to that of the sours part in a whisky sour. Being one of the most recognised whisky cocktails, we thought it was a match made in heaven, the perfect marriage of our brands and what we stand for - what we excel at!”
With a plan in mind, Jordan got to creating the beer. “Once we had the concept, we sat down to try out a few Whisky Sours, for research purposes, of course!” laughs Jordan. “We dissected what a great Whisky Sour is made up of, or what features we could take and translate into the beer with fresh ingredients. Lemons and whisky were right up there, of course, but the beer also needed to be balanced with sweetness and have a tart-like character, but with no bitters - we were clear on that!”.
With a taste profile nailed down and a tick-list of ingredients, it was time to create the beer. To get us started, we used our base famed Berliner Weisse base and dialled it up to 8% - the biggest we’ve ever gone for the style. “We got Seb busy hand-zesting a load of lemons, which was painstaking work but really important to the beer. This was added in to the boil and the whirlpool to build on the tart base of the beer and add different levels of citrus to the profile of the beer”. Once finished, the beer was transferred in to Cameronbridge Single Grain Scotch Whisky casks to draw our gorgeous whisky notes and a delicious oaky character.
The result is a beer that is both bold and artfully balanced. Hot on the heels of the tart, lemony opening note is the warmth and delicious oaky character of a smooth scotch. A stunning sour beer that is as thirst-quenching as it is intriguing, being very UnBarred with a huge influence from CYWL.
A product of the marriage of two very unique people, with two very unique visions. A master brewer and a whisky connoisseur coming together to create a very unique experience. An experience designed specifically for you.
You can get your hands on Whisky Sour right now, on draft, and in can in our Taproom and in can at Cut Your Wolf Loose from Wednesday. Trust us, you won’t want to miss out on this one!
