Friday, 13 September 2019

Leeds based brewery, North Brewing Co, have teamed up with ice cream innovators, Northern Bloc to create a brand new sour beer that pushes the boundaries of taste, flavour and colour in the beer world.

North Brewing Co have been renowned for their brightly coloured Triple Fruited Gose beers, since adding them to their range of limited-edition specials in March 2018. This series of beers has seen the brewery experiment with adding triple the amount of fruit that would usually be found in a fruited sour to produce bright, sour beers, with an almost smoothie-like mouthfeel. This has been achieved through the addition of lactose to the beers. Since summer 2019 the North Brewing Co core range have all been vegan, meaning that the brewery was keen to experiment with an alternative to lactose in their sour beers.
Northern Bloc have been working to redefine ice cream through their championing of natural ingredients, refusal to use additives, and experimentation with vegan products. Both Northern Bloc and North Brewing Co are true innovators in their fields, prioritising quality and flavour above all else. Collaborating on this vegan beer felt like a natural fit.
Sorbet Sour is brewed with organic raspberry puree and forced Yorkshire rhubarb from the famed E. Olroyd & Sons, located in the ‘rhubarb triangle’. The beer clocks in at an easy drinking 4.8% and is tart and juicy, thick, and vegan friendly. Head brewer, Seb Brink, visited Northern Bloc’s ice cream factory here in Leeds to chat all things flavours with fourth generation ice cream champion, Manolo. The fruits chosen are based on one of Northern Bloc’s recently launched rhubarb & raspberry vegan ice cream… A new team favourite, with the rhubarb providing a nod towards the two brands’ Yorkshire roots. Seb and Manolo combined North’s methods of making a Triple Fruited Sour with Northern Bloc’s vegan innovation.

North X Northern Bloc Sorbet Sour is being released on Friday 13th September at the North Brewery Tap at 4pm. It will be available on tap, and in 440ml cans to drink in or take home to fill your fridge. It will also be available at the Vegan edition of North’s weekly street food fair, Eat North, on Saturday 14th September.
The beer will then be on general release from Monday 16th September. It will be available from independent retailers in Leeds and the surrounding area, will be listed on the Honest Brew and Beer Hawk webshops, and has already been pre-ordered by customers in Norway, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Copenhagen and Shanghai. North will be further showcasing the beer at the renowned Borefts Beer Festival as guests of Brouwerij De Molen later in September, and at October’s Independent Manchester Beer Convention.

Seb Brink, head brewer at North Brewing Co says “After the success of tweaking our core range to be fully vegan this summer, I was keen to look at alternative ways of producing the triple fruited sours that we have become so famous for. We are seeing more and more people moving towards a plant based life style in 2019, and want to support this. From a nerdier point of view working with Manolo was fascinating. He breaks down ice cream to a molecular level, and really understood what I was looking to achieve in the mouthfeel of the beer. I am really proud of the finished product and the brewery team are looking forward to relaxing with a few schooners at the launch on Friday afternoon.”

Manolo, R&D Director at Northern Bloc says “At Northern Bloc we are leading the way in vegan innovation and it was exciting to be able to work with Seb and the team at North Brewing Co. We were able to apply our science to truly achieve an all natural vegan creamy texture and taste to the beer. Ice cream and Beer! What’s not to love!”

Sorbet Sour is a true showcase of innovation in the North. It partners two flourishing businesses who are driven by quality, flavour and experimentation, whilst celebrating local ingredients.

Ends

Images available via dropbox here
For further comments or images please contact
Liena Wright on liena.wright@northern-bloc.com
or
Sarah Hardy on sarahhardy@northbrewing.com

Launch details:
Address
North Brewing Co
Taverner’s Walk Industrial Estate
Sheepscar Grove
Leeds
LS7 1AH
0112 345 3290
Opening Hours:
Friday 16.00 – 22.00
Saturday (Eat North vegan food festival) 12.00 – 22.00

North Bar and North Brewing Co
North Bar was opened by John Gyngell and Christian Townsley in Leeds in 1997 with the shared vision of blending global craft beer and local breweries, interesting wines and spirits, great quality food and eclectic music and art. North Bar quickly became renowned for its alternative approach, quirky style and excellent, friendly service - winning the prestigious ‘Best places to drink in Britain’ in the Observer Food Monthly Awards.
They have since expanded the North Bar family of bars to seven venues in Leeds and the surrounding area: from Preston Bar nestled in leafy Oakwood to the cycling hub at North Bar Social in Otley and the skandi-inspired North Bar in Harrogate.

In 2015 they turned their 10-year dream of making their own beer into a reality by opening a 15bbl brewery, North Brewing Co, featuring a 200-person capacity tap room, just half a mile from their original flagship North Bar in Leeds.

The core range and seasonal specials epitomise what they look for in beer: big juicy flavours with tonnes of hops; fun, playful and interesting flavour combinations; classics that demonstrate an uncompromising approach to quality.

In 2018 they created a third business – North Brewing Leisure, this contains the front facing bar operation of the brewery. The first of these opened in November 2018, the North Brewing Tap Room, located on Sovereign Street in Leeds.

Northern Bloc
At Northern Bloc we set out to create a great tasting natural ice cream. We’re ice cream pioneers challenging the norm and changing the game to make ice cream much more than just a summer treat. Based in our inner city HQ in the North, we don’t compromise and believe that you shouldn't have to either – whether that’s on flavour, ingredients, values, ethics, or anything else.
We’re straight talking and always stay true to the principle of using only the best natural ingredients. Ice cream is both a technical science and an art. Our 4th generation ice cream scientist (and world champion no less) continues to innovate in the pursuit of perfection.
Our unique, bold flavoured ice creams are ground-breaking. Just have a scoop of our 100% plant based ice cream and you’ll see. This is Ice Cream. Done Different.