We love … Howling Hops
Yeast geek Ed Taylor’s little ale factory has beer fans howling with delight
In the beery belly of The Cock Tavern, Hackney, brewer Ed Taylor produces the house ale line Howling Hops. Sister pub to the noble Southampton Arms, The Cock is a haven for those with a thirst for a fine beer, especially those looking to do damage to their Untappd lists. Ed’s beers stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest of UK microbreweries, on both keg and cask.
Now 24, Ed has been home brewing for six years. His passion for fermentation came from home experimentation, starting with cider, wine and mead, eventually moving to beer. His commercial brewing career started with Redemption Brewing Company in Tottenham after finishing his degree in cell biology. Last year, he moved on to Howling Hops to help pub owner Pete get the basement brewery into shape. A self-confessed ‘yeast geek’, Ed’s new home in the cellar of the Cock Tavern is a perfect place for someone honing their craft.
“People like Ed can look to craft exciting new booze to delight curious palates and maybe change the minds of the old guard”
Brewing takes place two or three times a week, with each brew making about 650 litres of beer, around 1,150 pints. The majority of this is sold at The Cock Tavern with the odd cask making its way to the Southampton Arms. Some of the range has made it into bottles, which are available in a few select shops, notably Noble Fine Liquor on Broadway in Hackney and Huckle the Barber in Old Street.
The depth in quality of the Howling Hops range shows a great deal of talent and a strong eye for English brewing tradition. Some new ideas and flair slip into the mix and we have a really exciting little ale factory. This eye for an experiment is becoming more and more common and so are breaks in tradition. Bigger breweries are slaves to market demand and their own heritage, whereas new brewers can move with the times.
As UK hop growers toy with new varieties, people like Ed can look to craft exciting new booze to delight curious palates and maybe change the minds of the old guard.
The Howling Hops range covers all bases with plenty of pales taking in the world of hops, with a focus on English and American. There’s also some real strength in the dark side of the brew, with both Chocolate (5.5%) and Victorian style stouts and a recent Smoked Porter (5.2%), all bold in flavour. The Old London Victorian Stout is a cruiserweight at 6.5%, but endlessly drinkable. Recently bottled Ruby Red (5%) is something for all palates, coming in at 5% with great hoppy character and a subtle sweetness. Ruby Red was initially created by the brewer as a romantic gesture for his girlfriend, and the love certainly comes through in the taste.
To date, there have been around 12 beers that will become regulars, with eight different brews in the cellar at any one time. The future for Howling Hops is pretty exciting, as they’re planning to expand their capacity under the pub to include a bigger mash tun (more IPAs), an extra fermenter and three cellar tanks for conditioning beer. Once this is done Ed is hoping to regularly produce a house Kölsch (Cologne style Lager) to satisfy the public’s demand for a cold fizzy beer on draught.
A lot of craft leans towards the higher ABVs, but Howling Hops are covering everything, finding flavour at session strength and in more formidable brews. Ed has injected great flavour into traditional styles like mild, and also conjured a session strength Wit IPA that’s pretty delightful. The setting for all of this couldn’t be more perfect, as The Cock is a fantastic traditional pub; no cards, no big breweries, no gastro-menu. If you want a beer from an independent UK brewery, it’s the place to be.
Follow Ed and the team on twitter @HowlingHops or visit www.howlinghops.co.uk
After trying two of the beers in Grand Teton Brewing ’s 2012 Cellar Reserve series I was interested in finding out if their year round releases were as excellently brewed. Fortunately when I was back in Colorado, I received a couple of bottles of Grand Teton beers, one Howling Wolf Weisse and one Sweetgrass Pale Ale as part of a Christmas present from a couple of good friends. In lead up to my upcoming review of the first 2013 Cellar Reserve beer, Double Vision Doppelbock, I am going to take advantage of my Christmas beers. If you have been reading for a while, you are likely aware of my love of wheat beers so Howling Wolf seemed like an obvious choice to open and try first. If you would like more information on Grand Teton Brewing, check out my earlier posts on XX Bitch Creek Double ESB and Snarling Badger . On to the review. On Beeradvocate , Howling Wolf has a score of 83. Over at ratebeer it has a score of 56 overall and an 82 for style. As is often the case, the ratebeer score comes in low but they often give good beers low scores, and less impressive beers high scores. They Say: Howling Wolf Weisse Bier is an unfiltered Bavarian-style Hefeweizen. Brewed with a hearty amount of wheat, this Weissbier pours a light clouded golden color with a generous head. Gently hopped to balance the malt sweetness, Howling Wolf’s flavors and aromas are subtle with a hint of fruit and spice. At 5% alcohol by volume, this light-bodied ale is a refreshing session beer for any time of year.