Red Willow Meet the Brewer

I was lucky enough to catch the “Meet the Brewer” session at the Bollin Fee in Wilmslow last night (lucky because I happened to be in the Fee for some other reason as it happened). The session was with Toby from Red Willow Brewery in Macclesfield.
The Fee had a large number of Toby’s beers on: Wreckless, Mirthless, Ageless, Smokeless and Headless. In addition to trying the beers I was able to sit in on Toby’s informal presentation which was fascinating. He was passing round hops, handing out tastings and showing some of the other wacky things he puts in his beers, such as the chipotles (smoked Mexican chillies) that go in Smokeless (smoked porter).
I have to say I am hugely impressed with what Toby is doing – he only started brewing commercially last November and he has already won various awards (such as winning the beer competition at the Mark Addy in Manchester, for which Red Willow will now be the house beer for the next year). Not only does Toby produce top quality regular ales (try Wreckless or Mirthless and you’ll understand what I mean) but he’s also not afraid to try some pretty wild new things such as adding the chipotles, making stout with real oysters and making a Thai beer with no hops – just bittered with Thai spices such as tamarind and lemon grass.
One other thing that I got to try was Ageless (outrageously hoppy 7.2% Double IPA) from both the cask and bottle, side by side. This was fascinating, and not something you’d normally be able to do. Guess what? They were utterly different, like they weren’t the same beer. Not surprisingly the cask was far better – smoother, better aroma and much less gassy.
You can follow his blog here. Seek out his beers, you won’t be disappointed!