The Making Of Strawberry Line

An amalgamation of sweet strawberry and sour beer fermented on grape must, this is a proud representation of west country terroir. Our journey started with 800kg of Strawberries, one oak foudre, some barrel aged beer and a barrel wrangler called James, then we let nature run its course. 

Strawberry line has built in two of our previous fermented grape beers that we held back, as well a whopping 800kg of farm fresh strawberries (more than just a couple of punnets). 

The Farm  

We bought our strawberries from Nynehead fruit farm which is on the outskirts of Taunton in Somerset. Jan Butterley, the owner of the fruit farm, has grown fruit there for 38 years. Originally it started as a few acres of land and as time has gone on, they have continued to purchase surrounding fields to keep up with demand. She expressed that while the pandemic has been impactful on some businesses, for Nynehead Farm demand has been booming for her fresh and locally grown fruit from both local customers and wholesalers, including the Co-Op.

The Process

The creation of this new sour started with ten wine and sherry casks that were filled with 2018 Squashed Grape and 2019 Pressed for Time. We then gathered 800kg of elegant Somerset strawberries, mashed them by hand and added them into one of our 30 hectolitres foeders on top of the blended base. All in all, 250g per litre of this delicious beer is strawberries, meaning 1/4 of each bottle is jam packed with the freshest fruity and tart strawberries we could find.

This beer then went through a re-fermentation on the fruit for a month, which really penetrated the heart of those tart and jammy flavours.

The Result

Strawberry Line has a bright pink and slightly translucent appearance, matched by its deep and full-on aroma of fresh strawberries with the balancing character of our mature barrel aged beer. The flavour is refreshing and juicy, leaving a clean but crisp impression.