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Pure Gold by Willard Clarke, 03/11 These are exciting times in the world of beer. Hard on the heels of oak-aged beer comes ale produced by the méthode champenoise, which takes bottle-conditioned beer on to a new level. Artisan Gold (5.7%) is produced by the Bowland Brewery near Clitheroe in Lancashire, which has built a good reputation for a range of both cask-conditioned and bottle-conditioned beers. Artisan Gold is in a handsome 750ml champagne-style bottle, complete with cork and cradle. Richard Baker, the owner and brewer at Bowland, explains the manner in which the beer is made: "Artisan Gold is brewed in the same way as all our ales for cask or bottle, then we transfer it to conditioning tanks with a lot of dry hops for two weeks before transferring it to a lager tank at zero degrees, where it's held for three weeks. Then it's bottled with priming glucose and a champagne yeast: secondary fermentation takes place for three to four weeks at 10-11 degrees C. "After two weeks of secondary fermentation, we transfer the bottles to the pupitres [racks or 'pulpits'] where they're 'riddled' each day - a quarter turn - allowing yeast and proteins to sediment down to the necks. We then freeze the necks in glycol at -30 degrees C before removing the crown to allow the C02 to push the ice plug out, leaving clear, sediment-free, bottle-conditioned ale. The bottles are topped up in the bottle filler before corks and muzzles are fitted." Richard tried ale yeast for the champagne stage, but says "it didn't work. It was too sticky and left deposits inside the bottle. We got a special champagne yeast embedded in alginate beads, which was developed for us in Portugal." "Even the amount of riddling is critical," he added. "Too much too fast and you disturb the sediment but too slow and you end up with lines in the neck." He describes Artisan Gold as "a journey rather than a product and it's changed the way we brew all our beers." Artisan Gold is made with Maris Otter pale malt and wheat, with a small amount of pale crystal malt. The hops are Hallertau Brewers Gold from Bavaria and Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand. They're added at different points during the copper boil and subsequently during conditioning. The beer is produced in batches of 700 bottles. It's on sale in the brewery shop, nearby Northcote Manor (with a Michelin-starred restaurant) and online from www.bowlandbrewery.com. Richard Baker is keen to encourage other leading chefs to taste and use the beer. Raymond Blanc has served it at his Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire and James Martin has also used it. Richard plans to meet Heston Blumenthal in a bid to interest him in the beer. Bowland Brewery, Artisan Gold (England) The beer has a pale bronze colour with a deep fluffy head of foam that quickly subsides. There's a luscious yet subtle citrus fruit nose with peppery hops and light toasted malt. Bitter orange fruit, spicy hops and sappy malt build in the mouth. The finish is bittersweet to start then hop bitterness becomes more intense but overall the beer is well balanced by tart fruit and malt. It finally becomes dry with a lingering biscuity malt note. Malt: medium. Fruit: high. Hops: medium. 5.7% ABV, 75cl, £15.99 from the brewery shop or the brewery website (post and packing depend on the area and the number of bottles ordered).

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