Granola Returns!
Sparing no expense to bring you back an UnBarred favourite…
Big milestones deserve big celebrations. We’ve all got a bucket list of things we have to do for those big moments in our lives. The keen-eyed amongst you will have spotted from our social posts and our newsletters that we’re turning 10 this year and that to celebrate, each and every month, we’ll be bringing back a big beer from our past. We thought it would be a great way to raise a glass to this incredible milestone, but also to reward you, our loyal fans who have been here with us on this journey. January saw the release of our cult-classic Dank Juice, alongside its new cousin Danker Juice and OG Porter, The Long Black - all of which have played huge parts in our story. However, there aren’t many bigger beers in the UnBarred playbook than Granola!
First brewed back in 2015 with Blindside Brewery, a Brighton-based nano brewery that sadly no longer operates, the story started off in quite a familiar fashion. ‘We met in a pub..’ Jordan, Head Brewer and Founder of UnBarred recalls. ‘... that seems to happen a lot and it’s where some of our best ideas originate! Just like Honeycomb Milkshake, there’s something about the pub environment that gets the creative juices flowing!’. The idea was to recreate a popular breakfast cereal, a cereal that at its core is very simple, but has all the elements to make the perfect breakfast bowl. It has texture, crunch, balance, it’s refreshing but yet has bags of flavour, and it’s satisfying yet leaves you wanting more. Best of all though, it’s open to interpretation and there are countless versions that are all unique, but are all granola. And in a way it’s very similar to creating the perfect beer. The concept was fantastic, but the first batch came with a very interesting challenge. ‘Initially it was first brewed on a 500L kit, and we brewed it with so many white peaches that we lost money on it!’. Jordan laughs as he remembers having to tell people that wanted more they’d have to wait! ‘The beer was incredible, it got rave reviews, but it took a while before we could scale up, buy in bulk and even out the cost. It’s still an incredibly expensive beer to make but sometimes you just need to make an amazing beer, so why not when you’re turning 10 years old!’
There will likely be three types of people out there when it comes to Granola. You’re either in the camp of never having tried Granola before, or you’ve tried Granola but the last time you had it was a fair while ago so you can’t quite recall. And then there’s the third one, the ones that dream about it every time they lift a spoonful of the cereal into their mouths, recalling that incredible beer and wondering when it’ll be back. For each of you, today is your lucky day. Our big, youghrty, fruity, smooth breakfast inspired Pale Ale is back! Packed full of sweet peaches & soft apricots, it has got waves and waves of soft, sweet and refreshing breakfast fruits. We’ve created our own in-house oat milk, as we do with most of our hazy style beers, by combining the oats with water in the mash tun. Along with the honey this home-made oat mik lends a creamy, smooth and full bodied texture to the beer, along with a nice layered sweetness. We’ve then crammed in a load of Amarillo & El Dorado hops to create a touch of balancing bitterness, while lending peach and apricot fruit flavours, again layering in levels of sweet, fresh and juicy breakfast fruits. Just like its namesake breakfast dish, it has every single element to make the most incredibly satisfying experience.
Our interpretation of this breakfast favourite is available now in cans on our webshop and in our Taproom, and also on draught in our Taproom and great pubs all across the country. We encourage you to make the most of this comeback and to raise a glass with us to our 10th anniversary!
