Wychwood

WYCHCRAFT

WYCHCRAFT, the fiendishly fragrant 4.5% abv brew from Wychwood Brewery, winner of the Tesco 2005 Spring & Summer Beer Challenge, continues to cast her spell, gaining significant new listings with Waitrose, Asda and Morrisons.

The aromatic, pale coloured ‘blonde ale’ was designed by Wychwood’s head brewer, Jeremy Moss, especially to be poured straight from the fridge and is the first new beer to be created at Wychwood following the redesign of the Oxfordshire brewery in June 2004.

Wychwood’s Managing Director, Rupert Thomson, comments:

“Wychcraft has been a big success story for us, and the fact that it is blonde, 4.5% and fragrantly hoppy means that it has given us a great double act, contrasting as it does with Hobgoblin, our deliciously dark, almost chocolaty flagship brand.

“Using a lager malt for Wychcraft allows the beer to be lighter bodied than many ales, and this gives us a delicate base to which we have added massive infusions of Styrian Goldings hops, which give citrus-lime fruit flavours and fullness to the palate.

“This is the ‘Sauvignon Blanc’ of beers, a refreshing zesty brew which both excites the taste-buds and goes stunningly well with smoked fish, salads, shellfish, bbq’d chicken or cream cheeses.

As Head Brewer, Jeremy Moss says:

"My philosophy is to brew the best possible beers from the best possible ingredients and devise new recipes, so each has its own unique character and identity. I want to brew Wychcraft to show all those "lagerboys" out there that you get more taste for your money with a traditional crafted British beer and it will hopefully encourage more beer drinkers to give traditional British Beer a go"

Editors’ notes:

  • Wychcraft is available in Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Morrison’s stores at £1.60 per 500ml.
  • Wychcraft’s innovative new recipe includes adding three infusions of Styrian Goldings hops to the copper. A light base of delicately flavoured English Fuggles hops, and the use of lager malt, help retain the signature hop character and create a wonderfully aromatic and fragrant summertime beer.
  • Wychcraft’s label design depicts the 4 "elementals", or spirits from Myths and fables which represent the 4 elements of Air, Fire, Earth & Water. This recognises the brewers craft in summoning together the basic elements and ingredients of the brew;
  1. Water - to steep the barley, and constitute the mash
  2. Fire - to "roast" the malted barley in the kiln and boil the wort
  3. Earth - providing hops & barley
  4. Air - a must for growth of the yeast

More information can be found at www.wychwood.co.uk/wychcraft .

Wychwood Brewery's bottled beer portfolio includes: The Legendary Hobgoblin Strong Dark Ale, Scarecrow Organic Pale Ale, Fiddlers Elbow Wheat Brewed Ale, and Goliath Mighty Ale in 660ml bottle.

For further information, contact Katherine Robbins on 020 7384 1333 or Rupert Ponsonby at rupert@randr.co.uk