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We’ve been at it again, getting busy with the other Norfolk brewers and our Belgian friends, and this time we have brewed a classic Belgian Blonde beer called Strangers’ Blonde, at 8%. If you want to skip the ‘about the beer’ information, then scroll right down to the bottom where you’ll find details about the launch party at The Plough and another opportunity to try.
Strangers’ Blonde is the second in our series of Strangers to Friends collaborations, following on from Strangers’ Red (we’re working our way through the Belgian flag you see), and is part of a bigger relationship and friendship between a group of Norfolk brewers and brewers from Leuven, in the Flemish region of Belgium. If you want to read how it all started, then have a look at this blog about our first trip.
The collaboration continues a cultural connection between Norwich and Flanders that dates back to the 14th century, when Flemish refugee weavers, who became known as the “Strangers” settled in Norwich after fleeing religious persecution in the Low Countries. Their arrival transformed Norwich’s textile industry bringing prosperity and wealth to the area, and left a lasting cultural influence that still links the two regions today.
The beer itself was designed over WhatsApp by Dimitri from Adept and Bart at De Coureur (both Leuven breweries) working with Phil and Marc from Grain, David from Moongazer, and Mike from Tindall Brewery. We wanted to create a true Belgian classic, meaning STRONG, and using authentic ingredients, such as Belgian candi sugar and Belgian yeast, and then combining it with the malted barley grown around us in Norfolk. When it came to the brew day, Bart skipped over on the Eurostar and got stuck in with the Norfolk brewers here at Grain, and the union of cross-channel brewers, brewing styles and ingredients has worked creating a big, bold, blonde at 8%. The beer itself will be available in cask, keg and soon to come, bottle.
For a big beer we need a big party to celebrate, not only the launch of the beer itself, but also the on-going friendship between the two cities of Norwich and Leuven, and the larger regions of Norfolk and Flanders, so we will be hosting a launch party at The Plough, St Benedicts St, Norwich on 28 May, from 6pm. We had such fun when we launched Strangers Red, with a live television link to De Coureur in Leuven, that we will be doing it all over again, so drinkers in both Norwich and Leuven can celebrate together.
Not only will you be able to try Strangers Blonde (though you’ll have to wait until after 6pm for that), but we will have a variety of beers from Belgium for you to try, with some old favourites as well as others, brewed by our friends, that we are pretty sure you will never have had before. The Norfolk brewers will be there to chat beer too.
There is more…
Although the beer launches on 28 May, we thought it was too good an opportunity to miss when Cambridge Beer Festival begged us to let them have some at the Cambridge Beer Festival (running from 18 to 23 May). We are not ones to miss a good beer festival so Visit Flanders have teamed us up with the with the Cambridge University Belgium Society to offer free tasting of Strangers Blonde at 4pm on Tuesday 19 May. Come along to both!
Cambridge Beer Festival tasting: 19 May 4pm at Jesus Green, Cambridge
Strangers’ Blonde launch party: 28 May 6pm at The Plough, Norwich
