Welcome to Gina's blog page. For up to date information we are on Facebook - "Opa Hays Brewery"
Well I suppose that it is time to start blogging and I have been given the job because everyone else is too busy. Well the brewery is up and running and we are steadily getting more and more inquiries about our beers. No advertising just word of mouth, there have been inquiries from far afield from people who have fervently tracked us down.
Well I don't really know much about beer but I am willing to learn, I have tried the Amber Ale it has a nice crisp, clean refreshing taste. The Best Bitter is also very popular; Arnth got up at five this morning to switch the hot water on in the brewery so that he could start brewing at 9 a.m. He will probably be in the brewery until very late evening. Bang goes our Sunday family days out, well we all have to sacrifice in the name of real ale. My sixteen year old son Nicholas has worked on the web page and I am very pleased with the work he has done. Samuel my ten year old son is responsible for bottle-labeling and very excellently he does that. My eldest son Richard 22, could probably fill the position of beer taster. So we are all doing our bit. Even our beautiful Pyrenean mountain dogs Coco and Orson are featured on the bottle labels. Of our five cats the very handsome and aloof Edgar is our good luck brewery cat.
Arnth is brewing porter today which is my own personal favourite; it is very smooth and full bodied. I find it a lot nicer than Guinness. Arnth brewed an EPA last week and told me that very much the same brewing methods were employed as over a hundred years ago and it would have a very similar taste.
The Smithfield Hotel in Swan Street Manchester very kindly collected four casks for their winter beer festival, hope that goes well. So it would be nice to receive some feedback from the contingence of real ale drinkers in the North. The Porter Arnth brewed is particularly good, I really enjoyed it, very smooth and velvety and not as bitter as some dark beers. Arnth is doing a new EPA we tried it last night it had a buttery popcorn taste to it.
Well would you believe it, I was watching Randall and Hopkirk last night and the phone rang it was Mike Knowles who organised the Winter Beer Festival at The Smithfield Hotel along with Jim Bibby and Dave Bottomley, I asked Mike how the beer festival was going, all the time thinking in the back of my mind that he was going to say that our beer didn't take off . To my surprise he said that we had won beer of the festival......well done Arnth!!!!
Saturday the 24th Arnth had another brewing day; he made the Best Bitter again. It was very popular.
March CAMRA Leicester -All four of Arnths beers were bought for the festival.
The Kings Head Beccles - MATILDA'S REVENGE- Arnth brewed an exclusive beer for the Kings head, it launches on Friday 20th March. Read the story at the following link. Its a ghostly tale, brilliantly co-ordinated by Martin Grove of the Kings Head Hotel Beccles.
Our bottled beers are now available at the REAL ALE SHOP WRENTHAM, Nr Beccles
April 1st
Our bottled beers have now gone on sale at the WAVENEY RIVER CENTRE just a couple of miles down the road from our brewery at BURGH ST. PETER. Ruth Knight has designed the bottle label with the Waveney River Centres logo "Eddie" featuring on the labels. You can take a look at their website. www.waveneyrivercentre.co.uk and check out "Eddies blog".
Arnth plans to brew a new beer called "ETHER PARTY" a strong pale ale - watch out for more news about this beer.
The LAKENHAM HEWETT RUGBY CLUB are holding their first ALL NORFOLK BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL WITH ADULT TAG RUGBY TOURNMENT on Saturday 11th April 2009 11.00am to 11.30 pm, Hog roast, camping etc. its at the New Clubhouse Norwich Rd, Swardeston Norwich NR14 8DU. Tickets £2.50 on the door, there will be over 4o Ales and Ciders from all over Norfolk. Engel's Pale Ale and Engel's Amber Ale will be there.Good luck with that Ian.
All in all the first few months of running OPA HAY'S BREWERY have been enjoyable, we have met some lovely people and Arnth's passion for brewing is being fulfilled however hectic things become. I do apologise to the bottle label collectors for not having sent off our labels to you, I will do this as soon as I can find time.
We are pleased to report that the exclusive beer we made for the KING'S HEAD HOTEL BECCLES 'Matilda's Revenge' is doing extremely well. With their kind permission we may well see this beer at a Festival in the not too distant future, possibly Great Yarmouth Beer Festival. 2009.
May 1st
May Day Bank Holiday the Kings Head Hotel, Beccles-the very popular Matilda's Revenge will be selling in bottles there is a limited amount of only 48 bottles available- so therefore only 48 labels are being made for this event.
BANBURY BEER FESTIVAL 7-9TH MAY -TA CENTRE OXFORD RD, BANBURY. North Oxfordshire CAMRA.
Its the 9th annual beer festival, this year they are having an East Anglian theme. Mike Knowles very kindly collected ETHER PARTY and AMBER ALE. Its Ether Partys first outing, so hope it is well received. Arnth decided to call his new beer after the Ether partys and frolics that were held in the 1840's when they were experimenting with anaesthesia and we all know that beer can make us a bit sleepy if we drink too much, so there is the connection.
Matilda's Revenge I am happy to hear reports from Martin and Stuart at the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles, that "MR" is going from strength to strength, there appear to be some regular devotees of this particular beer.In fact at this very moment in time Arnth is brewing the next batch in the brewery.
GREAT YARMOUTH BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL 2009 Thursday May21 to Sunday May 24th. Our Amber Ale, Ether Party and for the first time with the kind permission of the KINGS HEAD HOTEL,BECCLES,Matilda's Revenge will be available at this festival. We are looking forward to going along on Thursday.We have got Ether Party as a guest beer at the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles this week. We will be bottling Matilda's Revenge in the not too distant future and so bottles will be available at the Kings Head and also at the Wrentham Real Ale Shop.
June 20th
I've been really busy so I have'nt had much time to keep up to date with events etc, Sunday Father's Day- Shadingfield Fox near Beccles are having a beer festival- Engel's Best Bitter will be in attendance. Somerleyton are having a fayre tomorrow also - we have draught and bottles available there. We went to a great local pub on Wednesday- The Green Dragon at Bungay, we had a really good curry- and we had a tour of their brewery, Arnth liked their beer, I was driving.
Arnth has gone to Germany this weekend to see his parents and no doubt gain some inspiration for a new beer from his local "pub" there. He wants to do a traditional German Wheat Beer- I think he wants to call it Opa Hay's Liquid Bread, sounds interesting!
We have been invited to take part in the first ever Snape Maltings Brewers Market from 12-6pm on Sunday 26th July It will be a really good market to stock up on the best East Anglian beers that are available and a chance to meet the brewers who make them. Mark Dorber will be hosting the two talks and tastings on the day at 12 noon and 3pm. These will take place within House and Garden, adjacent to the market. This tasting is £5 per person and can be booked in advance.
The Best Bitter sold out very rapidly at the Somerleyton Fayre we are pleased to report, we are getting a lot of inquiries and orders from Beer Festivals at this time of year and we are doing our best to supply to them, however time as always is the defining factor, Arnth is working long hours at this day job, he does have this weekend available to brew though. I think it is going to be the Amber which is a nice summery, light refreshing beer. Arnth loves his "Ether Party" which he reminds on a daily basis when he has a pint at night. I don't mind trying the beer but he asks me to try out his wine, hes got about 65 grape vines overtaking our garden and he produces copious amounts of white wine of which I am not a lover. So who knows Engel Fine Wines could catch on.
30th July
We really enjoyed our day out at Snape Maltings Brewers Market. it was a lovely sunny day and the event was very well attended. We enjoyed meeting so many people and to hear first hand people's opinions of our beers.It was nice to meet other local brewers and to swop a bottle of beer with them. We had never been to Snape Maltings before but we will certainly go again.We took some bottles of Matilda's Revenge with us and by the end of the day I cant count how many times I had to retell the story of that poor girls life as everyone wanted to know all about Matilda's Revenge.
One of our favourite Norwich pubs is The Murderers/Gardeners on Timber Hill. We are very pleased to have a cask of our Amber Ale on draught there this week- it really is a haven for Real Ale enthusiasts.
New Beer 4.3% ABV |CLIFFHANGER- available at the Cliff Hotel Gorleston. It will be very convenient for Arnths work colleagues.It will be on sale in a couple of days I believe. We are almost brewing entirely for Elizabeth Hotels -and very pleased we are as they keep our beer very well. Arnth is still developing his Wheat beer unfortunately due to the flu virus he has had to work extra shifts on his day job.
The Waveney River Centre (shop) is doing very well with their bottle sales of our beer-I went to restock them yesterday and they only had one bottle left. I like going down there it is so tranquil and beautiful, I feel like I am on holiday when I go down there-really worth a visit if you have never been.
On Saturday the 1st August the Metfield Stores a beautiful village near Harleston, Suffolk held a Graze and Buy local fiesta. I took some of our bottled beers along and I am pleased to say that sales went very well. There were some very nice stalls there selling local produce I enjoyed the morning there and met some lovely people. Arnth was working so I went along on my own, I was a bit worried to be going without Arnth as he usually answers all the technical questions about his brewing process.
I hadn't been home long when I saw a van parking outside of our house, it was Mike Knowles, he was returning empty casks. After exchanging pleasantries he casually and incidentally informed me that Arnth had won beer of the festival at the Harlequin, Sheffield for Matilda's Revenge, well done Arnth. The King's Head Hotel in Beccles were very pleased to hear the news also. In fact it had sold out so quickly that Mike didn't even get the chance to try it. I have promised him a mini-keg next time he collects a cask.
We all went up to Scarborough for a few days in August , the weather was good. I met up with some of my old friends. My dear friend Geoffrey Brown and I met up in Cafe Heart near the market place - GB's favourite cafe. We chatted, caught up with our news, Geoffrey told me that he thought that my blog was not chatty enough and that I did not keep it up to date. Geoffrey impressed me with his extensive knowledge of the Periodic Table, as our conversation unfolded further I think I impressed him with some information about the Glycemic Index. GB is so sweet and amazingly acerbically witty for an accountant.( I.Q. Chartered, Scarborough) I also met up with another dear friend Peter Graham from Whitby who has not changed in the thirty years I have known him. In fact we are going to a Mott The Hoople Reunion gig at Hammersmith Apollo next month. Peter liked the beer I gave him to sample- I was pleased with his comments as he used to drink sixteen pints a night in his younger days and likes his beer.
Arnth is going to The Royal Albert Hall on Saturday for a performance of Handels Messiah and then he will be going to Germany shortly after for his mothers birthday. We are running out of beer Arnth!!! Hurry home. Arnth is organising an October Beer Fest at the Burrage Centre at Gorleston for late October when he wants to showcase his Octoberfest German wheat beer. Details to follow. Matilda's Revenge is still our top selling beer. Martin from the Kings Head Hotel in Beccles has thrown some new seasonal ideas at us that sound very interesting. One of them was hot beer - a Polish delicacy I believe. Arnth looked quite puzzled at this notion as he is a traditional German beer drinker. He will try it though
We had a very good weekend, we went to Hyde Park for the Proms in the Park concert. Barry Manilow was really good, we got to be very near the front near the stage. It was a long day but certainly worth the effort. Arnth was going to brew today - Tuesday 15th September, alas he has had to work to cover sick leave, so that means we will have to brew at the weekend. It is Arnths birthday on Friday he is having to work, we were going to celebrate his birthday on Saturday- it looks like we will have to celebrate with him in the brewery. I cant believe that I have only used 2395 words so far it seems like more. I can remember writing essays at University with two thousands words in that only took a couple of hours- seemingly.
Well the summer is well and truly over, thankfully. It really was too hot. There is a more grounded feeling to autumn - so hopefully Arnth can produce more beer which I can sell for him. My friend Julia went to the Kings Head in Beccles with her husband to try Matilda's Revenge, they liked it- it is becoming a bit of a pilgrimage venturing out to Beccles to try Matildas Revenge. I always take a few bottles to Scarborough with me for family and friends. Maybe one day we could sell a cask to the Tap and Spile on Falsgrave Rd, as it is our favourite real ale pub in Scarborough.
.Arnth made a new beer last weekend , which has not really got a name yet a German Lager type beer he made using German Yeast. I went ot Southwold Pier for a cup of tea with my friend Barbara from Scarborough today it was like a Summers day and very busy. She is staying for a few days and wants to see all the sights. It is my son Nics birthday on Sunday and he has turned down a night at Ronnie Scotts in favour of going to the cinema. Arnth is making his yearly trip to the Dingle conference , Eire and will no doubt be celebrating the big Guinness Birthday over there.
I have had a dreadful cold/flu virus for the last few weeks so I have not kept things up to date.
NORWICH/NORFOLK CAMRA BEER FESTIVAL
26-31 OCTOBER
St Andrews Hall
www.norwichcamra.org.uk/festivalhtm
All details of the festival can be found on their site. I know that Arnth took three different beers there. His Oktoberfest style beer. The ever popular Matilda's Revenge and his new beer "Down came the Wall"I will add more details when I find out. Hope it goes well and everyone has a smashing time. Whats more hope you like the beer we took there.
Arnth went to the trade evening on Monday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was in Scarborough with Nic and Samuel and we had a great time. Arnth and I went to the beer festival last night (Thursday). I could not believe how busy it was and how many people were there. I was reliably informed that it is the third largest beer festival in the country. I thought it to be a very well organised event considering its scale.
I was in the Sakura Japanese restaurant, Norwich on Wednesday and received a call on my mobile. It was Des O'Brien from Norwich CAMRA- he rang to say that Matilda's Revenge , Oktoberfest and the Wheat beer had been received well. In particular Matilda's Revenge- everyone just loves that beer. I thanked him for his kind comments and passed them on to Arnth. Incidentally we got an e-mail from Chris the Brewery Manager at the Fat Cat Brewing Company to say that he had very much enjoyed Arnths beers. Well that really is good praise from fellow brewers and especially from such a prestigious Brewery/Pub as the Fat Cat. Arnths labour of love is paying off when he gets such positive comments. His daytime profession dictates mosts of his time- so he really does enjoy submerging himself into brewing at every given opportunity where he is in his own little world concocting his ales.
He really is passionate about brewing and achieving high standards from his labours. Alongside the Norwich festival- that great pub The Gardeners/Murderers in Norwich is running a beer festival . we have Oktoberfest there, it sold out pretty quickly as I had to deliver another cask on my way to the hairdressers with Samuel.(his headmaster should be pleased that he has had his haircut as he was moaning about it being too long)The Menu looks really good there and I cant wait to try it next time I collect an empty cask, there was a lot of vegetarian things on the menu and a great atmosphere- check it out if you haven't already.
Good News Arnth won Bronze at the Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA Beer Festival. It was in the specialist category for his German Wheat Beer.
Just got back from our weekend in Scarborough it was my mothers birthday. We had a jolly time. Saw some old friends, Whitby Pete took us to a pub on Sunday afternoon we had never been to a Karaoke pub before. Pete sang some Morrisey songs and "cheered" us all up on a wet sunday afternoon. I must buy Morriseys greatest hits cause I didn't know I liked his music, what I did know was that he is a very committed vegan, so he must be a good person. I have broken my arm and it is hard to type single handedly. Met up with me old mate Brian, only briefly as he was returning to Siberia the next day.
Brian never fails to shock me with his alternative lifestyle. He goes to Peru bi-monthly , he was telling us how he ritually sits with his friends there and they drink some sort of herbal tea that spiritually cleanses one, it is followed apparently by communal vomiting presumably that is when the cleansing takes place. Saw another bloke we know who shall remain nameless ,who was wearing a woolie sking hat with a 3 inch price tag still attached to it oblivious and nonchalant to the fact once I had pointed it out, I cant believe he got a double first at Oxford. They all have one thing in common the need some beer, we took some "Down Came The Wall" with us and handed it out to friends.We are going to be really busy soon bottling- good news for the people who have waited so long for our bottled beers.
*********SNAPE MALTINGS BREWERS CHRISTMAS MARKET****************
SUNDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2009
12 - 3 PM. We are going along with some of our beers, we thoroughly enjoyed it last time we went. Trouble is our stocks are so limited we don't often have very much left to sell. The beer Arnth brewed for the "Down came the wall" commemoration will be renamed - Samuel Engel's Meister Pils.Samuel is eleven years old today 3rd December 2009. He has had a starwars lego toy for his birthday which he will build on his return from school. Well Arnth has been brewing for a year now and I am very pleased for him that in his first year he has won three awards for his beers.The certificates take pride of place in our study. Well I better go and look for a Christmas tree as I have heard that they are in short supply this year. We are going to see Rick Wakeman at the Old Granary, Maypole Green on Friday- just a mile or so down the road from where we live, looking forward to that during this long dark winter we need to be cheered up. Arnth will brew a seasonal porter, it was very good last year.
2010
Belated Happy New Year, don't know where time goes, I have got a new hobby so I am not devoting as much time as I should to keeping the website updated. We have some new beers on the horizon, so new in fact that I have not even been given the tasting notes, it has been tried and tested by fellow real ale enthusiasts who do enthuse about it, one of the names is New Landlord, Arnth tests his beers on fellow brewers, I don't know whether thats a good or bad thing really. I have been waiting for Nicholas to put some new photos on the website, it could take a while as I am sure that my requests for help are hugely overshadowed by the beckoning call of playing Resident Evil on PS3 or to chat incessantly on the internet with other equally bedroom bound teenagers.
We have sold some beer to some great pubs in Norwich recently - wont be on sale for a couple of weeks yet. We really must find the time to do some bottling as we have a waiting list at the moment, Arnth has to visit his elderly parents as often as he can, then he works some days until 9 or 10 p.m. at his day job, he puts as much attention and care to his patients as he does to his beer making.
BOTTLED BEER
Our old favourites the KING'S HEAD HOTEL , BECCLES have kindly agreed to be a bottle stockist for our beers, there are not any off-licenses in Beccles so thats great. I was in there on Friday delivering and that were some amazing cooking aromas wafting throughout the hotel, the food there is really good, of course washed down with a pint of Matilda's. I could not participate in this fine fayre as I am trying to lose weight for my approaching significant birthday,which one?, vanity forces me not to reveal that sensitive information.
Well the winter seems to be dragging on and the cold weather certainly does not help in the brewery, Arnth has been really busy and our beer bottling regime has not materialised yet, Nic and Sam have lost all interest in helping out, even the lucrative rewards they receive will not tempt them for their hibernation retreats,( firmly ensconced in their bedrooms playing games) yes everyone wants to help out when its warm and sunny, alas poor Arnth must shoulder the responsibility in all areas of his brewing venture, I don't think its going to be the start of some great brewing dynasty anyway as Samuel wants to be an Egyptologist , Nic wants to pursue his acting/film directing desires and Richard, well I don't think his postmodern conceptual existential talent lies in anything like brewing.
Arnth has made a new beer, it is a strong IPA called 6460 it is 6.4% ABV,it is the 23rd March and Arnth is brewing today, the new beer will be on sale in Norwich, Thurlton, a couple of beer festivals. We shall have to see how popular it is.
Well the 6460 went well. We took some to my friend Linda's pub The Valley Bar in Scarborough which she runs with her husband John, its a CAMRA award winning pub for some very good beers on sale and trade is good so they are sold very quickly and in very fresh condition. Arnth has double brewed this week because of the flight cancellations he couldn't get back to Germany.
Aha summer is here, its gone from being too cold to being too hot alas no happy medium. Arnth has been really busy brewing. The Porter has run out so he will have to make some more because it is the only beer I like.
FRUITY LITTLE NUMBER his new 3.9% light coloured beer is going great guns with some very positive reviews.
The GREAT YARMOUTH BEER AND CIDER FESTIVAL 2010 is coming up soon and we will have 4 beers participating there.Matildas Revenge, 6460,Fruity Little Number and Samuel Engel Meister Pils.The Festival begins on the 27th May so if your in the area pop along and try some I'm sure you wont be disappointed.
Arnth is back from Helsinki and is going to do some brewing this week, probably Fruity Little Number. Arnth saved the last of the porter for me and I drank it at the weekend, I love it but it has the most pronounced soporific effect on me and I must learn to drink it with caution.I am going to set up a facebook account for Opa Hays Brewery as soon as I can, it seems like it is most popular with people in general. I am no fan of facebook as Mick a poet friend of mine said when I asked him if he indulged in fb " I am not interested in knowing when someone has had a bacon sandwich" , there were some expletives in that comment which I removed for the more sensitive,I totally agree but nevertheless I will pursue it for OHB. There is already too much Big Brother watching/monitoring us going on without people stupidly subscribing and volunteering personal information. I sat through an eight hour David Icke lecture and you would not believe whats going on. www.DavidIcke.com . I will probably get into trouble with Arnth for my comments- so what!